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Gibeah - location profile

Location and Setting

• The ancient city of Gibeah was situated at an elevation of 2,754 feet in the Hill Country of Judea. Located just north of Jerusalem and higher than the Mount of Olives, its position provided a panoramic view of the entire central region of the Land, including the strategic Central Benjamite Plain.
• Gibeah was situated on the main north-south highway that connected Shechem and Hebron.
• Although several other sites were known as Gibeah (Hebrew, "hill") "Gibeah of Saul" (1 Sam 11:4) in the tribal territory of Benjamin was the most important historically.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Gibeah was one of the main cities in the territory that was assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh 18:28).
• During the period of the Judges of Israel, Gibeah was known for its wickedness and depravity (Hos 9:9; 10:9). In one incident, the residents of Gibeah violated a Levite’s concubine. The Levite was so enraged by this attack that he cut her body into eleven pieces and sent a piece to each of the other tribes of Israel as a challenge to avenge her murder. In the ensuing battle, the eleven tribes attacked and almost annihilated the entire tribe of Benjamin. During this battle, the city of Gibeah was destroyed (Judges 19-21).
• Gibeah was rebuilt and later became the residence of Saul, Israel’s first king (1 Sam 10:26). Saul’s first act as the chosen king was to deliver the Transjordanian city of Jabesh-gilead from an Ammonite siege, an act that gave credibility to his kingship in the eyes of Israel. Reminiscent of the Levite’s call to vengeance many years before, Saul cut up a yoke of oxen at Gibeah and sent a piece to each of the tribes of Israel, calling on them to help him rescue the city of Jabesh-gilead (1 Samuel 11).
• Saul established Israel’s first capital at Gibeah, where he reigned for forty-two years (1 Sam 13:1). It was in the palace courts of Gibeah that David, from Bethlehem, played his harp to calm Saul when he was tormented by an evil spirit (1 Sam 19:9).

Bibliography

1. Owen, G. Fredrick. The Holy Land. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1977.
2. Page II, Charles R. and Carl A. Volz. The Land and the Book: An Introduction to the World of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
3. Swaim, G. G. "Gibeah" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
4. Turner, George A. Historical Geography of the Holy Land. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973.