1. A mountainous region east of the Jordan ; bound- ed on the north by Bashan, on the east bj' the Arabian plateau, and on the south liy Moab and Ammon (Gen. xxxi, 21 ; Deut. iii, 12-17), pioperlj- extending from the parallel of Rabboth-Ammon on the south to tlie river Hieromax on the north. The same name, hoM- ever, was given to the 7-iilffe extending between these parallels. With thj exception of the narrow strip of plain along the bank of the Jordan, the mountains, in fact, cover the whole region ; hence it is sometimes called "Mount Gilead" (Gen. xxxi, 25), "iVh^tl nn ; comp. Deut. iii, 12 ; Jer. 1, 19), sometimes " the land of Gilead" (Numb, xxxii, 1, ^vb'\ "1":^? ; compere Deut. xxxiv, 1 ; Numb, xxxiv, 29 ; Zech. x, 10), and some- times simply "Gilead" (Psa. Ix, 7; Gen. xxxvii, 25; Numb, xxxii, 40; Josh, xvii, 1; Amos i, 3); but a comparison of the several passages shows that they all mean the same thing. Tl)ere is no evidence, in fact, that any particular mountain was meant bj- Mount Gilead more than by Blount Lebanon (Judg. iii, 3) — thc}"^ both comprehend the whole range, and the range of Gilead embraced the whole province, or group of mountains vaguely stated by Eusebius (Onomast. s. V. VnXadc) to be connected \vith Lebanon by means of Mount Hermon. It begins not far from the latter, and extends soutlnvard to tiie sources of the brooks Jabbok and Arnon, thus enclosing the whole eastern part of the land beyond tlie .Jordan (Gen. -xxxi, 21 ; Cant, iv, 1). According to. Michaelis {Mos. Recht, i, 80), this mountain, which gave its name to the coun- try so called, must even be situated beyond the region
sketched in our maps, and somewhere about the Eu- phrates. But this is fanciful. Strict!}-, the name comprehends the mountainous region south of theviver Jabbok, where is the highest part of the mountains east of the Jordan ; and one ridge is still named Jehel Jelad or Jelud, from the ruined towns so called upon it (Bui-ckhardt, Travels in Syria, p. 348 ; Robinson's Researches, ii, 243, 30G ; App. p. 167). The inliabit- ants were called Gikadites (Judg. x, 3 ; 2 Kings xv, 25).
I. Divisions of the Territory. — (a.) Gilead is usualh', therefore, the name of a large district beyond the Jor- dan, continually mentioned in the Scrijjturcs in con- tradistinction to, or apart from, Bashan (Deut. iii, 13 ; Josh, xii, 5 ; xiii, 11 ; xvii, 1 ; 2 Kings x, 33 ; 1 Chron. v, 16; Micahvii, 14); though, to judge from its geo- graphical position (as given Numb, xxxii, 2G ; Deut. iii, 12), it must have comprised the entire possessions of the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and even the southern part of Manasseh (Deut. iii, 13 ; Numb, xxxii, 40 ; Josh, xvii, 2-G) ; corresponding to the region now called el-Beha and Jebel-Ajlun. Sometimes it is put for the territory of Gad and Reuben alone (Psa. Ix, 9 ; cviii, 9) ; at others for the tribe of Gad only (Judg. v, 17 ; comp. v, IG), although tliis usage is not constant, and in 1 Sam. xiii, 7, the land of Gad and Gilead are joined. The cities Ramoth, Jabesh, and Jazer are usually designated as lying in Gilead.
There is a special descriptive term, which maj' al- most be regarded as a proper name, used to denote the great plateau which borders Gilead on the south and east. The refuge-city Bezer is said to be "in the countrj- of the Mishor" (Deut. iv, 43); and Jeremiah (xlviii, 21) saA'S, "judgment is come upon the country of the Mishor'^ (see also Josh. xiii. 9, 16. 17, 21 ; x.x, 8). Mishor (pTC^ and "iCw) signifies a "level plain" or "table-land;" and no word'could be more applicable. This is one among many examples of the minute ac- curacy of Bible topography. See MisiioR.
The extent of Gilead in this general sense we can ascertain with tolerable exactness from incidental no- tices in the Holy Scriptures. The Jordan was its west- ern border (1 Sam. xiii, 7 ; 2 Kings x, 33). A compar- ison of a number of passages shows that the river Hieromax, the modern Sheriat el-lMandhiir, separated it from Bashan on the north. "Half Gilead" is said to have been possessed by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the other half by Og, king of Bashan ; and the river Jabbok was the division between the two king- doms (Deut. iii, 12; Josh, xii, 1-5). The half of Gil- ead possessed bj' Og must therefore have been north of the Jabbok. It is also stated that the territory of the tribe of Gad extended along tlie Jordan valley to the Sea of Galilee (Josh, xiii, 27); and yet "a// Ba- shan" was given to Manasseh (vcr. 30). AVe therefore conclude that the deep glen of the Hieromax, which runs eastward, on the parallel of the south end of the Sea of Galilee, was the dividing line between Bashan and Gilead. North of that glen stretches out a flat, fertile ])lateau, such as the name Bashan (V^'S, like the Arabic hnshah, signifies "soft and le'el soil") would suggest; while on the south we have the rough and rugged, yet picturesque hill country, for wliich Gilead is the fit name. (Sec Porter, in Journal if Sac. Lit. July, 1854, p. 284 sq. ; compare lb. Jan. 1852, p. 364.) On the east the mountain range melts away gradually into the high plateau of Aral)ia. The boundary of Gilead is here not so clearl}' defined, but it ma}' be re- garded as running along the foot of the range. The southern boundary is less certain. The tribe of Reu- ben occupied the country as far south as the river Ar- non, which was the border of Moab (Deut. ii, 36 ; iii, 12). It seems, -however, that the southern section of their territory was not included in Gilead. In Josh, xiii, 9-11, it is intimated that the "plain of Medeba" ("the Mishor" it is called), north of the Arnon, is not