among the last group of the towns of Benjamin, next to Jerusalem). This last name (^^■;:?i^, which fre- quently appears elsewhere in the oi'iginal), being the form of GiBEAii in the construct state, has been joined bv some to the following name, i. e. " Gibeah of Kir- jath-jearim" (Sehwavz, P//?/s. Descrip. of Palestine, p. 132) ; but tliese two cities are evidently' counted sepa- rate!}' in the text. Others regard "Gibeah" here as a mere appellative denoting some hill near Kirjath- jearim (compare 1 Sam. vii, 1, 2). This city is often mentioned in Scripture (Hos. v, 8 : ix, 9 ; x, 9 ; 1 Sam. X, 2G). It was the scene of the atrocious crime which involved in its consequences almost the entire extirpa- tion of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. xix, 12-30; xx, 1-48). It soon recovered from that eventful siege and sack. It was the birth-place of Saul, and continued to be his residence after he became king (1 Sam. x, 26; xi, 4; xv, 33; xxiii, 19; xxvi, 1); and it was doubtless on account of this its intimate connection with Saul that the Gibeonites hanged up here his sev- en descendants (2 Sam. xxi, G). An erroneous trans- lation of the name has led to the misapprehension that this was the scene of Jonathan's romantic exploits against the Philistines (1 Sam. xiv). See Geba. Like Bethel, it seems to have been reckoned among the an- cient sanctuaries of Palestine (1 Sam. x, 5, 6 ; xv, 34 ; xxiii, 19 ; xxvi, 1 ; 2 Sam. xxi, G-10). The inhabit- ants were called Gibeathites (1 Chron. xii, 3). Jose- phus locates it twent}' (^Ant. v, 2, 8) or thirty (\Va.r, V, 2, 1, VajiaSiaaovXii) stadia north of Jerusalem. Je- rome speaks of Gibeah as, in his time, level with the ground {Ep. 8G, ad Eustoch.), and since then it does not appear to have been visited by travellers till re- cently. Dr. Pobinson at first identified it with Jebci,, a half-ruined jdace about five miles north by east of Jerusalem {Researches, \\, IW) ; but he afterwards re- tracted this position as being that of Geba {Biblioiheca Sac7-a, 1844, p. 598) ; and he lias finally fixed upon Tell el- Fid, about four miles north by west of Jerusa- lem, as the site of Gibeah of Saul (new ed. ot Research- es, iii, 28G). Tell el-Ful ("hill of the bean") is a high knoll, with a curiously knobbed and double top, having a lai'ge heap of stones upon it. There seams to have originally been here a square tower, fifty-six feet by fortj'-eight, built of large unhewn stones, and appar- ently ancient ; tills has been thrown down, and the stones and rubbish, falling outside, have assumed the form of a large pyramidal mound. No trace of other foundations is to be seen. The spot is sightly, and commands a very extensive view of the country in all directions, especiallj^ towards the east. There are no other remains around the hill itself; but a few rods further west, directly upon the great road as it en- ters the lower plain or vallej^, there are seen a number of ancient substructions, consisting of large unhewn stones in low massive walls. Probably the ancient city extended down from the hill on this side and in- cluded this spot (Robinson, in Researches and Biblioth. Sacra, ut sup. ; Stanley's Palestine, p. 210). The an- cient road from Jerusalem to Bethel and Shechem passes close along its western base, and Ramah is in full view on another hill two miles further north (ITand- book ofS. and P. p. 325). The narrative of the Levite's journey is thus made remarkably graphic. He left Bethlehem in the afternoon to go home to Mount Ephraim. Two hours' travel (six miles) brought him alongside Jerusalem. Evening was now approaching. His servant advised him to lodge in Jebus, but he de- clined to stop with strangers, and said he would pass on to Gibeah or Ramah. The "sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah," and they resolved to pass the night there (Judg. xix). The site of Gib- eah was well adapted to form the capital of Israel dur- ing the troublous times of Saul, when the whole coun- trj' was overrun by the hostile bands of the Philis- tines. It was naturall}' strong, it was on the veiy crest of the mountain range, and it commanded a wide
III.— H H u
view, so that Saul's watchmen could give timely no- tice of the approach of the enemy.
2. GiBEAii OF JuDAii, situated in the mountains oi" that tribe (Josh, xv, 57, where it is named with Maon and the southern Carmel ; compare 1 Chron. ii, 49), which, under the name of Gabatha (['rt/jftjfi), Eusebius- and Jerome place twelve Roman miles from Eleuther- opolis, and state that the grave of the prophet Habak- kuk was there to be seen {Onomasticon, s. v. Vai3aciSr, Gabaath ; although they there confound it with the Gibeah of Phinehas in Ephraim, and elsewhere [s. v. KiiiXci, Ceila] state that Habakkuk's tomb was shown in Keilah), or, more probably, one of those by a simi- lar name (r«/jnrt, Ftt/SaS'a) lying in the Daroma or near Bethlehem (ib. s. v. rajSaBw]', Gabathon). Dr. Robinson (Researches, ii, 327) identifies it with the vil- lage of Jtbah, which stands upon an isolated hill, in the midst of wady el-Mussur, about ten miles south- west of Jerusalem ; but this is too fiir from the associ- ated names in Joshua, which require a location south- east of Hebron (Kcil, Comment, ad loc.), possibly at the ruins on a mound with caves marked as Erfahjeh on Van de Velde's Map east of tell Zif. See Judah.