sions. Shaks. uses 'gaze' for 'gazing-stock' in Macbeth, V. viii. 24 —
•Then yield thee, coward, And live to he the show and paze o' the time ; We'll hiive thee, aa our rarer luonstera are, Painted upon a pole, and underwrit, "Here may you eee the tyrant." '
J. HASTisoa
GAZITES ([D]'n)j;ii).— The inhabitants of Gaza (wh. see), Jos 13' (AV Gazathites), Jg 16'.
GAZZAM (D13). — A family of Nethinim who re- turned mth Zenib. (Ezr 2*'*, Nch ^'j, called in 1 Es 5" Gazera. See Genealogy.
GEBA.— 1. (J'j;, in pause j;33 = GaJa,a'hiir) Acity of Benjamin — one of those assigned under Joshua to the Levites (Jos 21", 1 Ch 6'*>). It was situated on the N.E. border of Benjamin (Jos 18-"). It is abundantly clear from the history of the two king- doms that Geba is to be identified with the modern Jeba. The latter lies some 7 miles to tbe N. of Jerusalem, the road to which joins the main road between Bethel and Jerusalem, jtist N. of Tell el- Fill (Gibeah). It is situated on the S. side of the steep defile of the Wady Suweintt, facing Mich- mash (Mitkhmds) on the other side (1 S 14' 'The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmasli, and tlie other on tbe south in front of Gel)a'). It was from this spot that Jonathan (1 S 14"-).. accompanied only by his armour-bearer, started to descend the precipitous cliti's of the pass, and, in so doing, purposely revealed himself to the garrison of the Philistines on the opposite height. Tlie words of the latter merely served to conlirm the two warriors in their resolve, while the very atidacity of their undertaking ensured its success. Climbing up on their hands and feet (v."), they fell upon the astonished Philistines with un- diminished vigour, and, by tlieir daring, initiated a panic, which quickly spread throughout the Plulistine forces, and caused the complete discom- fiture of the latter at the hands of Saul. Saul, with but a scanty remnant of his forces, would seem to have been encamped at Gibeah (13" Geba must be a mistake for Giljeah ; cf v."), some 3 mUes to the S., so that Jonathan could start on his daring errand without awakening the suspicions of his countrymen as to the object of his expedition. In the reign of Asa king of Judah, this important position on the frontier was fortified with ' the stones of Ramah (er-Rdm) and the timber thereof, where with Baasha (king of Israel) had builded' (1 K lo-^ = 2 Ch 16"). From this period onwards G. appears to have marked the N. limit of the kingdom of Judah. Hence we find the old formula, ' from Dan to Beersheba,' which denoted the extent of the united kingdom, altered into ' from Geba to Beersheba ' (2 K 2.S", cf. Zee 14'"). The position of Geba, its strategic importance, and its distinction from the similar-sounding Gibeah (for tl»e latter point cf. Jos IS-*' ^), are once more clearly sfcown in Isaiah's dramatic picture of the march of Senna- cherib's army against Jerusalem from the N. (Is 10=^-'^ see GlHKAH, 2 (4)) ; while in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah it was still a well-known spot (Neh 11" 12-s . cf. 7M ^.zt 2-", 1 Ch 8«).
In the following passages the Hebrew text wrongly gives Geba for Gibeah: Jg 20"'-*', IS 13'-'"; for further details see Gideah, 2. In Jg 20" (see above) Geba is to be restored in jilace of Gibeah, while in 2 S 5-* it seems probable that we should restore Gibeon for Geba, in accordance with the p.arallel passage 1 Ch 14'°.
2. (roi/Sai) About 3 miles N. of Samaria. It was the southernmost of the three fortresses which commanded the road leading up from Es. draelou, through the pass of En-gannuu (Jenin\
GEBAL
GEDALIAH
117
into Samaria. It was between this fort and Sey- thopolis that Holofemes pitched his camp pre- paratory to attacking Judtea (Jth 3'").
J. F. Stf.nxino.
GEBAL.— 1. S53, raiiSdX or Te^iX, Ps 83» [Eng. ']. A mountainous district south of the Dead Sea, which still bears the name of Jebdl (Robinson, BJi ii. 154). Joseplius regards ro/JoMTis as a part of Idumsea {Ant. II. i. 2, cf. IX. ix. 1), and Jerome explains Seir by GebaUna (Euseb. Onomast. 'Seir'). In Ps 83" Gebal is named, together with Amraon, Amalek, and otlier nations, as forming a confederacy against Israel. The date and occasion of the psalm are unknown, but many commentators connect it witli the events described in 1 Mac 5.
2. ^53, (ol 7rpeff/3i>T£poi) Bi/;3Xiwi',Ezk 27°. GeBALITES D'^njn, AV Giblites, but In 1 K ' the stonesquarers,' Jos 13', 1 K 5"*. A Phoenician city, situated on rising ground near the sea, at the foot of Lebanon, and about 20 miles N. of BeirClt. Tlie name is found frequently in Phoenician [CIS 1) and Assy- rian inscriptions in the forms Gubal or Gubli (cf. Schrader, COT i. 174 and Gloss.), and also on the Tel el-Amarna tablets ; while to the Greeks the town was well known as Byblus (Bu/JXos or Bi;3.\os, cf. Strabo, xvi. p. 755). The modern name is Jebeil. The city was celebrated for the worship of Adonis and Astarte, while its maritime im- portance is attested by Ezekiel, who speaks of the ' elders and wise men of Gebal ' as being the carpenters or ' calkers ' of the ships of TjTe (27''). Accordinj; to Jos 13' the land of the Geis.alites (AV Giblites) was included within the ideal bound- aries of Israel ; but it was never occupied by tlie Israelites, and it seems doubtful whether it coulil in any sense have been regarded as belonging to the Promised Land. Moreover, the passage is syn- tacticaUy incorrect ('^??D n?^'!)' ^nd tlie widely diU'erent reading of LXX points to an early corrup- tion of the text. It is better to read ' as far as the border of the Gebalites,' 'V;?.! "7133 ly, omitting the preceding words n¥Cl 'lib'?, and to suppose that the territory of Gebal extended inland in a soutli- easterly direction (see Dillm. ad loc). The Gebalites are mentioned again in I K 5'* [Heb.'-J, where they are said to have fashioned the stones for the building of the temple along with the builders of Solomon and the builders of Hiram. But here, too, the text is probably faulty. Thenius reads, 'and Solomon's builders . . . fashioned them (the stones), and made a border for them' (u6'^r\ for D'^ajm, LXX (fioKov). H. A. WHITE.