the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Riblah
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Town in the country of Hamath. It is now an insignificant hamlet, known as Riblah, in the Baḳa'ah, the broad valley between the two ranges of Lebanon and Hermon, and on the eastern shore of Nahr el-'Aṣi (Orontes), thirty-five miles northeast of Baalbek. Its position on the banks of a mountain stream, in the center of a vast and fertile plain, and close to the road leading from Egypt and Palestine to Babylon, rendered it a frequent resting-place for the armies of the Egyptian and Babylonian kings. It was at Riblah that Pharaoh-nechoh, after having defeated Josiah at Megiddo, put the latter's successor, Jehoahaz, in "bands" that he might not reign in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:33). It was at Riblah also that Nebuchadnezzar established his headquarters when his army besieged Jerusalem (586 B.C.), and it was here that Zedekiah was brought before him for judgment (2 Kings 25:6 et seq., 20-21; Jeremiah 39:5-6; 52:9 et seq., 26-27).
Most modern expounders (Ewald, Smend, Cornill, and others) read "Riblah" instead of the Masoretic "Diblatah" (the accusative of "Diblah") in Ezekiel 6:14 The location of Diblah is unknown. In Numbers 34:11 a place named "Ha-Riblah" (with the article) is mentioned among the villages forming the borders of the Promised Land. But as this Riblah is situated on the eastern boundary it can not be identical with Riblah in Hamath. It is difficult to determine the location of the Riblah mentioned in this passage.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Riblah'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/r/riblah.html. 1901.
