GEBAL
759
GEBAL
ferred to in defining the position of the two rocks which stood in the ravine below tiie garrison of Michmash, in terms which iix Geba on the south and Michmash on the north of the ravine (1 Sam. xiv, 5 : the A. V. has liere Gilieah). Exactly in accordance witii this is the position of the modern village oi Jeba, which stands picturesqueh' on the top of its steep terraced hill, on the very edge of the great wad}' Suweinit, looking northwards to the opposite village, which also retains its old name of IMukhmas. (See Stanley, Palest, p. 210, 489; Porter, Hand-hook for Si/7in, p. 215.) The names, and the agreement of the situation witii thi require- ments of the story of Jonathan, make the identitication all Init certain ; hut it is still further confirmed by the list of Benjamite towns visited by the Assyrian army on their road through the country southward to Jeru- salem, whieli we have in Isa. x, 28-32, where the mi- nute details — the stoppage of the heavy baggage (A. V. "carriages"), which could not be got across the broken ground of the wady at jMichmash ; then the passage of the ravine bj' the lighter portion of the army, and the subsequent bivouac ("lodging," ■|'?"2 = rest for the night) at Geba on the opposite side — are in exact accordance with the nature of the spot. Standing as it does on the south bank of this impor- tant w^ady — one of the most striking natural features of tliis part of the country — the mention of Geba as the northern boundary of the lower kingdom is very significant. Tlius commanding the pass, its fortifica- tion by Asa (1 Kings xv, 22 ; 2 Chron. xvi, G) is also quite intelligible. It continues to be named with Mich- mash to the very last (Neh. xi, 31). Geba is pi'obably intended by the " Gibeah-in-the-field"' of Judg. xx, 31, to which its position is very applicable. The "fields" are mentioned again as late as Neh. xii, 29. The town Avas occupied by the Benjamites after the captivit}' (Ezra ii, 2G). It appears to have been unknown to Eusebius and Jerome (Ojwmasticnn, s. v. Fa/ioi, Gabe ; comp. Keland, Palest, p. 708). The village of Jeba is small, and is half in ruins. Among these are occa- sionally seen large hewn stones indicating antiquity. There is here the ruins of a square tower, almost solid, and a small building having the appearance of an an- cient church {Kohinson, PeseiircJies, ii. 113; Uib. Sac. 1841, i, 598-G02 ; Lat. Researches, p.288).— Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. See GiUEAir.
2. The Geba (Taij'iai v. r. Taiiidv') between which and Scythopolis (therefore S. of Mount Gilboa) Hol- ofernes is said to have made his encampment (Judith, iii, 10), must be the Jeba on the road between Samaria and Jenin, aliout 45' S. of Sanur (Van de Yelde, Nar- rat. i, 3G7), witii evident traces of antiquity (Wilson, Lands of Bible, ii, 8i ; Robinson, i. 440 ». The Vulg. strangely renders venit ad Idumceas in terrain Gahba.
Ge'bal (kindred with the Arabic Jehel, a moun- tain), tiie n:im? of two i)laees in Palestine (although some regard them as one, Schwarz, Palest, p. G3), Ijoth doubtless so called as being situated in a mountainous region. The root is the Heb. bnj, rjubaV, to tidst ; whence ?13il, a line or natural boundary, such as mountain ranges usually form. There seems also to have been an orthography b^h, Go'bel (VufieX, Euseb. Onomast. s. v. lirjiXoQ ; comp. AlcoUle, i. e. El-Goliel, of the Peutinger tables), whence Gobolites = Sobal. The Gablan ("335) in the Mishna, along with Galilee (Sotah, fol. 49, G), arose out of the "bis, or Jaiilan, which is considered as the eastern border of Galilee (Josepiius, War, iv, 1, 1).
1. (Heb. Gebal', ^2? ; Sept. B//3Atot, Yulg. Giblii, Ezek. xxvii, 9), better known from the Gentile form GiBLiTES C^Ipn?, Sept. ro/J,\i,Vulg. omits. Josh, xiii, 5 ; plur. Q"'^-?, Sept. Pi/SXioi, Vulg. GibHi, Auth. Vers, "stone-squarers," 1 Kings v, 18 [32]), the in- habitants of the city and district of Gebal, in Phoeni-
cia, 34° 7' N. latitude, 35° 42' E. longitude, on the shore of the Mediterranean, under Mount Lebanon. (See a passage from Lucian, quoted by Keland, Pahvst. p. 2G9.) " The land of tlie Giblites," witli '• all Leb- anon," was assigned to the Israelites by tiie original appointment (Josh, xiii, 5) ; but it does not seem that they ever possessed themselves of it. Gebal was call- ed Bijhlos (13i'i/3/\oc, sometimes Bf/SXoc) by the Greeks, and so the Sept. has it in one passage. It was an im- portant place, and celebrated for the' birth and wor- ship of Adonis, the S.yrian Tammuz. Pliny and other Roman authors call it Gubale (^Ilist. Nat. v, 20). The Giblites, or Byblians, seem to have been pre-eminent in the arts of stone-carving (2 Kings v, 18) and ship- calking (Ezek. xxvii, 9) ; but, according to Strabo, their industry suffered greatly from the robbers infest- ing the sides of Mount Lebanon. Pompey not only destroyed the strongholds from whence tiiese pests is- sued, but freed the city from a tyrant (Strabo, xvi, 2, 18). Some have confounded Gebal, or Byblus, with the Gahala of Strabo, just below Laodicea, and conse- quently many leagues to the north, the ruins and site of which, still called Jebili, are so graphical!}' de- scribed by Maundrell {Flarhj Travellers in Palestine, by Wright, p. 394). By jMoioni (^Dizion. Eccles.') they are accurately distinguished under their respective names. Finally, Bj'blus became a Christian see in the patriarchate of Antiocli, subject to the metropolitan see of Tyre (Reland, Palest, p. 214 sq.). It shared the usual vicissitudes of Christianity in these parts ; and even now furnishes episcopacy with a title. It is called Jebail by the Arabs, thus reviving the old Biblical name. It is seated on a rising ground near the sea, at the foot of Lebanon, wliich here approaches close to the coast. It is walled on the three sides to- wards the land, and open on the west towards the sea, being perhaps about half a mile in circuit. Within the wall, which seems to be of the age of the Cnisades, the chief building is an old castle, which h.is received modern repairs, and is now used as the abode of the agha or commandant. There are three or four open and loft}' buildings belonging to the chief people of the place, a mosque with a low minaret, and an old Maronite church of good masonry; but the houses generally are of poor construction, and nearly half the space within the walls is occupied with the gardens of the inhabitants. The population is estimated at 600, none of whom are Jews (Maundrell's Journey^ p. ■15; Burckhardt's Syria, \>. \^0; Buckingham's Arab Tribes, p. 455 ; Pococke, Travels, ii, 98 ; Wilson, Lands of Bible, ii, 40). Its antiquity is attested by multi- tudes of granite columns which are built into tiie walls and castles, choke up the small harbor, and lie scat- tered over the fields. The substructions of the old castle are of bevelled masonry, and some of the stones are nearly twenty feet long. Beautiful sarcophagi are frequently dugout of the ruins. The columns are of the Grecian style, like those of the other cities of an- cient Piioenicia {Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 7). See BvnLus.