Gibeon (ancient city)

Coordinates: 31°50′51″N 35°11′00″E / 31.847451°N 35.183351°E / 31.847451; 35.183351
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Gibeon.
Not to be confused with Gibeah or Geba (city).
Gibeon
גִּבְעוֹן‎
Israelite
Site notes
Excavation dates1956–1962
ArchaeologistsJames B. Pritchard
ConditionIn ruins

Gibeon (

al-Jib
.

Biblical account

A 1880 map of al Jib showing the well (marked Ain), cisterns (marked Cis), and Caves

Canaanite city

After the destruction of

Joshua 9:17)—and Joshua realised that he had been deceived. He kept the letter of his covenant with the Gibeonites, however, to let them live in exchange for their servitude: they were assigned as woodcutters and water carriers and condemned (or cursed) to work forever in these trades (Joshua 9:3–27). Theologian John Gill suggests that this curse was a particular example of Noah's curse on Canaan.[2]

In retaliation for allying with the Israelites, the city was later besieged by a coalition of five other Amorite kings led by

Eglon. The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua, who led the subsequent victory over the Amorites amid miraculous circumstances, including deadly hailstones and the suspension of the movement of the Sun and Moon, until the Amorites were completely defeated (Joshua 10:1–15).[3]

Israelite city

In the Book of Joshua, ancient Gibeon is described as "a large city, like one of the royal cities" located in the tribal territory of Benjamin (Joshua 18:25). It was given as a Levitical city (Joshua 21:17).

In the first

King Saul.[4]

Following the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines, the remaining part of the Tabernacle was moved from Shiloh to the "great high place" in Gibeon (1 Samuel 4:1–22, 1 Chronicles 21:29).

2 Samuel 21:2 indicates that King Saul pursued the Gibeonites and sought to kill them off "in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 21:5). His anger at the Gibeonites[5] was not personal hatred, but was induced by zeal for the welfare of the Israelites.[6] Following Saul's death, fighting between the soldiers of Joab and those of Abner took place beside the Pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:12). In this area, King David conquered the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:25 and 1 Chronicles 14:16).

David then became the king of the

Merab (Saul's daughter) to the Gibeonites, who hanged them. He saved Jonathan's son, also called Mephibosheth, from this peril because of his covenant with Jonathan (2 Samuel 21:1–9). Amasa was also killed here (2 Samuel 20:8
).

On his accession to kingship, King David's son Solomon met with all of the kingdom of Israel's leaders at Gibeon and offered 1,000 burnt offerings (1 Kings 3:4, 2 Chronicles 1:6). On this occasion, God appeared to him in a dream (1 Kings 3:5) and granted him wisdom (1 Kings 3:12, 2 Chronicles 1:7–12).

Hananiah, son of Azzur, came from this city (Jeremiah 28:1
).

After the exile of the Israelites to Babylon, Gibeon belonged to Judea.[9] Gibeon is mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah as one of the towns resettled by the Jewish exiles returning from the Babylonian captivity and who helped to construct the walls of Jerusalem during the reign of Artaxerxes I (Xerxes).[10][11] Nehemiah further records that those returnees were the very descendants of the people who had formerly resided in the town before their banishment from the country, who had all returned to live in their former places of residence.[12]

Significance

1 Chronicles 16:39 suggests that worship before the tabernacle at Gibeon continued alongside worship in Jerusalem after David brought the Ark of the Covenant back there, although "nothing ... is said of this in the Books of Samuel".

temple in Jerusalem."[14]

In Jewish law

Main article:
Natin

In regard to the Gibeonites and the killing of seven descendants of King Saul: According to the

Babylonian Talmud:[15] "...As to the nethinim,[16] however, let them be summoned and we shall pacify them. Immediately[17] the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them … 'What shall I do for you? and wherewith should I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord'? And the Gibeonites said to him: 'It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul, or his house,' neither is it for us [to put] any man etc. … Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us and we will hang them up unto the Lord etc.'[18] He tried to pacify them but they would not be pacified. Thereupon he said to them: This nation[19] is distinguished by three characteristics: They are merciful, bashful and benevolent. 'Merciful', for it is written, And shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee.[20] 'Bashful', for it is written, That His fear may be before you.[21] 'Benevolent', for it is written, That he may command his children and his household etc.[22] Only he who cultivates these three characteristics is fit to join this nation. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore into Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.[23] Why just these? — R. Huna replied: They[24]
were made to pass before the Holy Ark. He whom the Ark retained [was condemned] to death and he whom the Ark did not retain was saved alive.

R. Hana b. Kattina raised an objection: But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul![25] — He did not allow him to pass.[26] Was there favouritism then! — In fact he did let him pass and it retained him, but he invoked on his behalf divine mercy and it released him. But here, too, favouritism is involved!,[27] — The fact, however, is that he invoked divine mercy that the Ark should not retain him. But, surely, it is written, The fathers shall not be pit to death for the children etc.![28] — R. Hiyya b. Abba replied in the name of R. Johanan: It is better that a letter be rooted out of the Torah than that the Divine name shall be publicly profaned.[29] And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on then by day, nor the beast of the field by night.[30] But, surely, it is written, His body shall not remain all night upon the tree![31] — R. Johanan replied in the name of R. Simeon b. Jehozadak: It is proper that a letter be rooted out of the Torah so that thereby the heavenly name shall be publicly hallowed. For passers-by were enquiring, 'What kind of men are these?' — 'These are royal princes' — 'And what have they done?' — 'They laid their hands upon unattached[32] strangers' — Then they exclaimed: 'There is no nation in existence which one ought to join as much as this one. If [the punishment of] royal princes was so great. how much more that of common people; and if such [was the justice done for] unattached proselytes, how much more so for Israelites

A hundred and fifty thousand men immediately joined Israel; as it is said, And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bore burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountain.[33] Might not these have been Israelites? — This cannot be assumed, for it is written, But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondservants.[34] But that[35] might have represented mere public service![36] — [The deduction,] however, [is made] from the following: And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the Land of Israel, etc. And they were found a hundred and fifty thousand etc. And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountains.[37]

Was it David, however, who issued the decree of prohibition against the nethinim? Moses, surely, issued that decree, for it is written, from the hewer of thy wood to the drawer of thy water![38] — Moses issued a decree against that generation only[39] while David issued a decree against all generations.

But Joshua, in fact, issued the decree against them, for it is written, And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord![40] — Joshua made his decree for the period during which the Sanctuary was in existence[41] while David made his decree for the time during which the Sanctuary was not in existence.

In

Edomites only applied for a certain number of generations or did not apply at all to their daughters, the ban on marriage with Mamzerim and Nethinim was deemed "perpetual and applies both to males and females".[48]

Archaeology

The Pool of Gibeon
N29 G29 O29
N35		 G1N25
or
N29 G29 O29
D36
N35		 G1N25
ḳbꜣꜥꜣnꜣ[49][50]
in hieroglyphs
Era: 3rd Intermediate Period
(1069–664 BC)

The earliest known mention of Gibeon in an extra-biblical source is in a list of cities on the wall of the Amun temple at Karnak, celebrating the invasion of Israel by Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshenq I (945–924 BCE).[49][51] Josephus placed Gibeon at 40 furlongs from Jerusalem.[52] The 10th-century lexicographer

al-Jib with the ancient city Gibeon, which view was corroborated also by the Hebrew Lexicon compiled by Wilhelm Gesenius and Frants Buhl ("now al-Ǧīb").[53]
The first identification of al-Jib with the ancient Canaanite city of Gibeon was made by Frantz Ferdinand von Troilo in 1666, and later adopted by Edward Robinson in 1838 in his Biblical Researches in Palestine. Later discovery of the Al Jib jar handles added weight to this identification.[54] The remains of Gibeon were excavated in six expeditions from 1956 to 1962, led by the University of Pennsylvania archaeologist James B. Pritchard.[3][55][56]

Early Bronze Age

Gibeon was founded in the

First World War
. It is probable that there was a defensive wall, but this has not yet been found. Tombs cut into the rock on the east site of the hill contained EB jars and bowls, formed first by hand and then finished on a slow wheel. The Early Bronze city was destroyed by fire, but no date has been determined for this destruction.

Middle Bronze Age

Permanent settlements in Gibeon appeared in Middle Bronze Age I-II. Many jar handles were stamped with the word gb ̨n(Gibeon). [58]

Late Bronze Age

oil press cave

No trace of a Late Bronze age city has been found.[59] Only seven tombs are known from the period, but they nevertheless point to a degree of sophistication, as they contained imported Cypriote ware and local potters attempted to copy Mycenaean and Cypriote pottery. It would appear that some, at least, of these tombs had been cut during earlier periods and were being reused.[55][56] Pritchard suggested that somewhere in an area not touched by his four-year dig, remains of the Bronze Age "great city" from the Book of Joshua might still be found.[3]

Iron Age

Gibeon well

Gibeon flourished during the late Iron Age II, when the city had large fortifications, a large wine industry and an advanced water system. To the east of the tell, a lavish cemetery of the same period was discovered.[60]

Wall, pool, and spring tunnel

The spring water at Gibeon

During the early

cut in the living rock just inside the wall. In a first phase it was cut with a diameter of 11.8 m to a depth of 10.8 m, with a spiral staircase of 79 steps cut into the walls of the pool, and in a second phase a tunnel was added that continues downwards to a water chamber 24 m below the level of the city. It is possible, but cannot be proven, that this structure is the "pool of Gibeon" of 2 Samuel 2:13. Later in the Iron Age, another tunnel of 93 steps was constructed to a better water source[dubious – discuss] below the city starting from a point near the pool. A second access point to this source from the base of the hill is still in use today.[3][55]

Wine industry

Rock-cut 2 meter deep wine cellars

The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 litres of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.[61]

In the 8th and 7th century BCE there was a considerable wine industry there; cellars with room for 95,000 liters of wine have been found. Impressive among these finds are sixty-three wine cellars. Hebrew inscriptions of גבען (GBʻN) on the handles of wine storage jars, most of which were excavated from a large pool matching the biblical description, made the identification of Gibeon secure and a landmark product of biblical archaeology. Pritchard published articles on their production of wine, the Hebrew inscriptions, the rock-cut wine cellars, and the well engineered water conduits that supplied the city water.[citation needed]

Classical antiquity

From the 6th to the beginning of the 1st century BCE, there is scant evidence of occupation. Potsherds and coinage from the Late Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods, dating to Antiochus III's and John Hyrcanus' reigns, were discovered at the site. During the Roman period there was considerable building, including stepped baths and water conduits.[3][55]

Gibeon was possibly a dependency of Jerusalem, and was probably not fortified at the time.

al-Jib) with the ancient city Gibeon, which view was accepted by Frants Buhl and by other historical geographers[63] and described as such in the Hebrew Lexicon compiled by Wilhelm Gesenius,[64] and proved by Hebrew inscriptions unearthed in 1956.[55]

At a nearby ruin, built on the southern slope of a ridge at the western side of the al-Jib highland, archaeologists discovered a

Hellenistic-Second Temple period dwelling, in which were found a plastered ritual bath with three descending staircases and an industrial zone with lime kilns.[65]

References

  1. ^ Madaba Map, 6th cent.
  2. ^ Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on Joshua 9, accessed 26 March 2017; cf. Genesis 9:3–27
  3. ^
    ISBN 069100210X
    . Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  4. ^ 1 Chronicles 9:35–39
  5. ^ 2 Samuel 21:2
  6. ^ Num. Rashi 8:4
  7. ^ Jerusalem Bible, note at 2 Samuel 21:2: "The account of these events has not been preserved"
  8. ^ Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on 2 Samuel, accessed 18 August 2017, quoting Babylonian Talmud: Bava Kamma, fol. 119. 1: "For indeed where do we find that Saul slew the Gibeonites? It must therefore be because he slew Nob, the city of the priests".
  9. ^ Nehemiah 3:7
  10. ^ Nehemiah 3:7
  11. ISBN 0-8254-2951-X
    .
  12. ^ Nehemiah 7:6
  13. ^ Barnes, W. E. (1899), Cambridge Bible for Schools on 1 Chronicles 13, accessed 22 February 2020
  14. ^ Mathys, H. P., 1 and 2 Chronicles in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 277
  15. ^ Babylonian Talmud: Yebamoth 79
  16. ^ Pl. of nathin. V. Glos.
  17. ^ V. BaH.
  18. ^ II Sam. XXI, 2-4, 6.
  19. ^ Israel
  20. ^ Deut. XIII, 18.
  21. ^ Ex. XX, 17
  22. ^ To be benevolent, [H] lit. 'to practise charity' (E.V. righteousness) Gen. XVIII. 19.
  23. ^ II Sam. XXI, 8.
  24. ^ All the surviving descendants of Saul.
  25. ^ Ibid. 7. Had the selection been made by the Ark, what need was there for David to spare him?
  26. ^ To avoid the risk of being retained
  27. ^ If he who was retained was released another would have to die in his place!
  28. ^ Neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers (Deut. XXIV, 16). Why then were Saul's descendants made to suffer for the sin of Saul?
  29. ^ Which would have been the case had the crime against the Gibeonites been allowed to go unpunished
  30. ^ II Sam. XXI, 10.
  31. ^ Deut. XXI, 23.
  32. ^ [H] lit., 'dragged in'; proselytes who have not been admitted into the congregation, [or, 'self-made proselytes', a class of converts who Judaize in mass under the impulsion of fear. V. Moore, G. F. Judaism I, 337].
  33. ^ I Kings V, 29
  34. ^ Ibid. IX. 22
  35. ^ The labour spoken of in I Kings V, 29.
  36. ^ Not the labour of slaves. [H] perhaps a corruption of the Persian [H] 'day labourer'. Cf. Golds. a.l. and Jast. s.v. [H].
  37. ^ II Chron. II, 16f.
  38. ^ Deut. XXIX, 10. Since these were specially singled out they obviously did not form a part of the congregation of Israel, while their services were exactly those which were peculiar to the nethinim or the Gibeonites
  39. ^ Of his own time
  40. ^ Josh. IX, 27
  41. ^ As it was specifically stated, For the altar (ibid.).
  42. Yebamot
    8:3
  43. ^ a b Cohen 2010, p. 95.
  44. ^ Poppers 1958, pp. 154–155.
  45. ^ Hezser 2005, pp. 109, 137.
  46. ^ Poppers 1958, p. 155.
  47. ^ Baker 2002, p. 207.
  48. ^ Executive Committee of the Editorial Board & Jacobs 1905, p. 233.
  49. ^ a b Gauthier, Henri (1928). Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 5. p. 169.
  50. ^ Wallis Budge, E. A. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II. John Murray. p. 1043.
  51. ^ J. Blenkinsopp, Gibeon and Israel: The Role of Gibeon and the Gibeonites in the Political and Religious History of Early Israel (Cambridge University Press, 1972), p. 3.
  52. ^ Antiquities of the Jews, 7.11.7
  53. ^ Solomon Skoss, The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible known as Kitab Jami al-Alfaz (Agron) of David ben Abraham Al-Fasi, the Karaite (New Haven: Yale 1936), 'Introd.' p. xxxviii.
  54. ISBN 978-90-04-27530-0
    . The el-Jib = Gibeon equation, first suggested by VON TROILO in 1666 and later adopted by POCOCKE (1738), ROBINSON (1838), ALBRIGHT (1924), ABEL (1934), and others, was strongly contested during the thirty years before the discovery of the jar handles, principally on the basis of information preserved in the Onomasticon of Eusebius.
  55. ^ a b c d e E. Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, article "Gibeon", Israel Exploration Society & Carta (1993), Vol 2, pp. 511-514.
  56. ^ a b J. B. Pritchard, Culture and History, in J. P. Hyatt (ed.) The Bible in Modern Scholarship (Abingdon Press, 1965), pp. 313-324.
  57. ^ "The Biblical World. A dictionary of Biblical Archaeology", ed. Charles F. Pfeiffer, art. "Gibeon"
  58. ISBN 9780203087657
    .
  59. ^ Pritchard (1962), pp. 157-158
  60. OCLC 1081371337
    .
  61. ^ Brooks, 2005, p. 93-94.
  62. OCLC 937002750
    .
  63. OCLC 6250553. (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography', Bialik Institute
    , Jerusalem (1962))
  64. ^ Solomon Skoss, The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible known as Kitab Jami al-Alfaz (Agron) of David ben Abraham Al-Fasi, the Karaite (New Haven: Yale 1936), introd. p. xxxviii.
  65. ^ Binyamin Har-Even, "Khirbet el-Jafir (West) – A Rural Settlement of the Second Temple Period in the El-Jib Highland", in: Summaries (Part One): Bible, History and Archaeology, pp. 27 - 28

Sources

External links
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