Arab. ^«i means also to leap in runniTig, to bound or run
y quickly ; hence Siegfried - Stade, to spriTig away. It is, no doubt, possible that the root may have been in use in Heb. in this sense. AV depart early (denom. from the Aram. N*ir^ morning) is quite out of the question.
tribe of Manasseh is first meant, and the order ol descent appears to have been : Manasseh the fatlier of Macliir, the fatlier of Gilead, 'of whom came the family of Oileadites' {'Til'^i Nu20*). Secondly, the inhabitants of the district are likewise thus called, and for this purpose the plirase ' men of Gilead' is also employed ('a vjn Jg 12'). Jair (Jg 10'),Jephthah(Jg ll'),and Barzillai, who befriemled David (2 S 17'-"'), are specially mentioned as ' Gileadites.' Sometimes the name of the district, i'jI^i, is rendered 'Gileadite,' as in Jg 12'. In mentioning the cause of the war between Gilead and Epliraim, a peculiar charge is made against the Gileadites which it is dillicult to explain (Jg 12^). Evidently, bitter reproach or supreme con- tempt was meant, and the charge or insinuation was resented with great violence and bloodshed.
S. MlCltltlLL. GILGAL (Sa^J 'a circle 'of stones, 'a cromlech,' always with the article, except Jos 5^, where a theory of tlie origin of the name is given. LXX has generally Va\ya\a in the [ilur. (.los 4'"- '■" 5'' 10', 1 S 13" etc. etc.), but also in the sing., ttiv rd\7o\a
(1 S
, Tiji rd\ya\a (1 S 10" A, li has roXaciS) ; for
the .-sing, indeclinable form VaXydX see Jos 14'' (15) 15' (A, B has Taa^do), Hos 'J'° etc. These forma are used indifl'erently in reference to the same Gilgal. Vulg. Galgatn, always in the plural).
Three distinct Gilgals are indicated by the refer- ences. 1. A place between Jericho and the Jordan (Jos 4"), Sni; niiD n;(i?3 'in the extreme east of Jericho, i.e. on the eastern border of its territory' (Gesenius). It was the first camp of the Isr. after crossing the Jordan (Jos 4"). Twelve memorial stones taken from the bed of the river were here erected (v.*"). Circumcision of those born in the wilderness (5'"*), consequently the place called Gilgal in memory of the rolling away ('?'?:) of the reiiroach of Egypt (v.*). The passover celebrated (v.'"). The manna ceases (v.'^). Joshua returns every night to this camp during the siege of Jericho (6"). The Gibeonites make their treaty with Joshua here (9''"). They ask aid from Joshua at Gilgal against the league of the live kings of the Amorites (10'). Joshua ascends with the men of war (v.'), and after a successful battle returns to the camp (v."). After taking Mak- kedah (v.^), Libnah (v.^S), Lachish (v.^^j^ Eglon (v."'), Hebron (v."), and Debir (v.''"), and after smiting his enemies from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, he returns again to Gilgal (v."). After completing the northern campai'Ti, culminating in the great battle against the allied kings at the waters of Merom, Joshua is again found at Gilgal (14"), where he assigns by lot the inheritance of Man- asseh, Judah, and Ephraim. The inference is tliat Gilgal was the central camp for the people, not only during the nearer campai™s, but ' until the land rested from war' (11^). In 18' we find the whole congregation assembling at Shiloh, where the other lots were granted.
A Gilgal appears prominently in the history of Saul and Samuel. It was one of the places where Samuel judged the people in his yearly circuit, which inclutled Mizpah and Bethel. These three places are called sacred in the LXX ( 1 S 7'* toU rtyi-aa- IJiivois ToiW-ois). It was clearly one of the central places for sacrifice (10* 13""'" 15-') ; and here Sanmel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord (15**). Here Saul was crowned (11"''°), and rejected as king (\?i^). Though it is not certain that this is the Gilgal of the camp, it is placed here, as the follow- ing points favour the identification : — (1) Refer- ences are made to going down to Gilgal from the hill-country (10" and 151=), and vp to Gibeah (13"). (2) The sacredness of the spot may have been due to the setting up of the twelve stones. We may also notice that while Saul was in Gilgal in fear ei
the Philistines, many Hebrews crossed the Jordan to Gad anil Gilead.
Tlie Gilj;al of the camp is plainly mentioned in 2 S 19'°, where the people assemble at Gilgal to conduct David back over Jordan on his return from exile.
The Gilgal of Hoa 4"> 9" 12" and Am 4« 5" (in connexion with Bethel), evidently a place whose sanctity had been violated, seems to be the Gilgal mentioned above as a central place of worship, and is placed under this head for the reasons given. It may be identical with the Beth-gilgal of Nell 122'.
The GUgal of Jos 15' also should be here, as it is placed in Benjamin near the north border of Judah, over-against the going up of Adummim, which has been identitied with the peak Tala'at ed-Uumra, south of the Wady el-Kelt, about half- way from Jericho to Jerusalem. [Driver thinks this impossible. See Gelii.otii]. In the parallel
Eassage, 18", it is called Geliloth (niV-V^). There as been much dispute as to the identity of the Gilgal of Dt ll"", but upon the whole it should most probably be placed here (see the very careful note by Driver, ad loc, also 2nd ed. p. xxi ; and G. a. Smith, HGHL, App. 675 ; Buhl, GAP 202). This Gilgal is to be looked for between Jericho and the Jordan. In 1865 Zschokke heard the name JiljuHch applied to a mound or tell near the tamarisk, .Sejerei el-ItlUeh, 4^ miles from the Jordan and IJ miles from modern Jericho. In 1874 Conder recovered the same name, as applied to a birket or pool near the tree. According to Jos. (Ant. V. i. 4), Galgala is 10 stadia from Jericho and 50 from the Jordan. The former distance corre- sponds very well with the position of the birket. The distance of 50 stadia is impossible, as the plain is only from 50 to 52 stadia wide at this part, but reading 30 (X) for 50 (v) we get the distance from the Jordan at once, 3i miles, which corresponds better to the position of Birket Jiljuliek. In the 4tli cent. Jerome (see 'Galgala' in the Onovmstirim) describes it as a deserted spot, 2 miles from Jericlio, held in great veneration by the inhabitants of the region. Whether the twelve stones were still pointed out is not clear, as the expression in the Epit(ynu:E Paulm (§ 12), 'Intuitaest castra Galgiil.c et secundffi circumcisionis mysterium et duoilcHini lapides,' may mean considered, and not bckdd. Arculf (A.I). 700) saw a Galgalis, 5 miles from Jericho, with a large church covering the twelve stones of commemoration. Willibald (c. 7.'50) mentions a moderatelj'-sized church of wood, and places (Jalgala 5 miles from the Jordan, which he says is 7 miles from Jericho. In the 13th and 14tli cent, the stones are mentioned by Thietmar and Ludolf de Suohem respectively. Thus the site of the Birket Jiljuliek corresponds very well to the description of Josepluis, Jerome, and Willibald. Hence the early Christian tradition may have been based on an oluer Jewish iilciitilication.