[Picture on page 649]

Traditional location of the garden of Gethsemane, with the Golden Gate and a portion of the Dome of the Rock visible across the Kidron Valley

GEZER

(Geʹzer) [portion].

A royal city on the inland side of the Palestinian coastal plain. Gezer is first mentioned when its king unsuccessfully tried to save Lachish from the Israelite army under Joshua. (Josh. 10:33; 12:7, 8, 12) Gezer was assigned as a boundary site to the Ephraimites (Josh. 16:3; 1 Chron. 7:28) but they did not entirely dispossess the Canaanite inhabitants. (Josh. 16:10; Judg. 1:29) Gezer was also appointed to the Kohathites as a Levitical city.—Josh. 21:20, 21; 1 Chron. 6:66, 67.

The city was associated with the Philistines in David’s time, as when he broke their power “from Geba to as far as Gezer.” (2 Sam. 5:25; 1 Chron. 14:16) Also, Sibbecai the Hushathite distinguished himself during the defeat of the Philistines at Gezer by striking down Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim. (1 Chron. 20:4) Egypt’s Pharaoh later came against Gezer for some unstated reason. After burning the city and killing its Canaanite population, he gave it as a dowry to Solomon’s wife. Solomon rebuilt and possibly fortified the city.—1 Ki. 9:15-17.

Gezer also finds frequent mention in secular records. On the walls of the temple at Karnak, Thutmose III recorded the capture of Gezer. The city later played a prominent role in the Tell el-Amarna letters, being mentioned by name at least nine times. Pharaoh Mer-ne-Ptah boasted on his stele that he ‘seized Gezer.’

Geographers consider ancient Gezer to be modern Tell el-Jazar, located about midway on the route between Jerusalem and Jaffa (Joppa). It thus lay near another great highway that has for millennia connected Egypt with Mesopotamia for trade and military purposes. Tell el-Jazar’s elevated position on a ridge of the Shephelah allowed it to command use of both these roads.

Archaeological digging first began at this tell early in the twentieth century. Since then it has become one of the most thoroughly excavated and explored sites in Palestine. Among the finds there are the “Solomonic gate and casemate wall” (stratum six), built upon a layer of destruction debris that some conjecture to be the result of Pharaoh’s burning of Gezer. Its architecture is considered so similar to that found in structures at Hazor and Megiddo as to indicate that all three were built from the same plans. Earlier strata show Philistine pottery in abundance.Perhaps the most famous find to come out of Tell el-Jazar, however, is the Gezer “calendar,” a plaque containing what appear to be a schoolboy’s memory exercises. It has proved to be of value by informing modern researchers of ancient Israel’s agricultural seasons and in providing a glimpse into the Hebrew script and language of Solomon’s day.

GIAH

(Giʹah) [burst forth (from a spring?)].

A site near “the hill of Ammah” mentioned in describing the pursuit of Abner by Joab and Abishai. (2 Sam. 2:24) The context suggests to some that Giah was NE of Gibeon in Benjamin’s territory. Certain scholars have proposed sites based on textual emendation, but Giah’s exact location remains unknown.—See AMMAH.

GIANT

The Bible gives accounts of men of extraordinary size. There was Og, king of Bashan, one of the Rephaim, whose bier was nine cubits (c. 13 feet; 4 meters) in length and four cubits (5 feet 10 inches; c. 1.8 meters) in width. (Deut. 3:11) Goliath of Gath, whom David killed, was six cubits and a span (9 feet 5.75 inches; c. 2.9 meters) in height. Indicative of Goliath’s size and strength was the weight of his armor. His copper coat of mail weighed five thousand shekels (c. 126 pounds; 57 kilograms); the iron blade of his spear weighed 600 shekels (c. 15 pounds; c. 6.8 kilograms).—1 Sam. 17:4-7.

Besides Goliath, there were other unusually large men of the Rephaim, among them being Ishbi-benob, the weight of whose spear was 300 shekels of copper (c. 7.5 pounds; c. 3.4 kilograms) (2 Sam. 21:16); Saph or Sippai (2 Sam. 21:18; 1 Chron. 20:4); Lahmi, Goliath’s brother, “the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of loom workers” (1 Chron. 20:5); and a man of extraordinary size whose fingers and toes were in sixes, totaling twenty-four.—2 Sam. 21:20.

The faithless spies reported to the Israelites that in Canaan they “saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who are from the Nephilim; so that we became in our own eyes like grasshoppers, and the same way we became in their eyes.” (Num. 13:33) These men of extraordinary size, called the sons of Anak (meaning “long-necked”), were not actually Nephilim, as reported, but only unusually tall men, for the Nephilim, the offspring of angels and women (Gen. 6:4), perished in the Flood.

GIBBAR

(Gibʹbar) [mighty man].

The name of a family head ninety-five of whose “sons” (descendants) returned with Zerubbabel from Babylonian captivity in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:1, 2, 20) However, in the parallel passage of Nehemiah 7:25 Gibeon is listed instead of Gibbar. Hence “the sons of Gibbar [Gibeon], ninety-five,” may have reference to the descendants of the former inhabitants of Gibeon, inasmuch as other place-names appear in Ezra 2:21-34, for example, “the sons of Bethlehem.”

GIBBETHON

(Gibʹbe·thon) [mound or height].

A city originally assigned to the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:40, 41, 44) but later given to the Kohathites as a Levite city. (Josh. 21:20, 23) Centuries later Gibbethon was in the hands of the Philistines, and it was while Israel’s King Nadab attempted to wrest the city from them that the conspirator Baasha assassinated him. (1 Ki. 15:27) Gibbethon was under Philistine control some twenty-four years later when Omri, army chief of Israel, encamped against it. Acclaimed as king by the Israelite camp there, Omri broke off the siege of Gibbethon to attack the rival Israelite king Zimri.—1 Ki. 16:15-18.

Gibbethon is generally identified with Tell el-Melat, about four and a half miles (7 kilometers) N of the suggested site of the Philistine city of Ekron.

GIBEA

(Gibʹea).

A descendant of Caleb of the tribe of Judah (1 Chron. 2:42, 49); or, possibly, the city of Gibeah (Josh. 15:57), ‘fathered’ or founded by one of Caleb’s offspring, Sheva.—See ATROTH-BETH-JOAB; GIBEAH No. 1.

GIBEAH

(Gibʹe·ah) [hill].

1. A city in the mountainous region of Judah. (Josh. 15:1, 48, 57) Some scholars link it with modern el-Jebaʽ, about eight miles (13 kilometers) W-SW of Bethlehem. Others, however, believe that ancient Gibeah was located somewhere in the region SE of Hebron, since it is listed among other cities in that general area. (Josh. 15:55-57) This city (or No. 2 below) may have been the home of Maacah (Micaiah) the mother of the Judean king Abijam (Abijah).—2 Chron. 13:1, 2; 1 Ki. 15:1, 2.

2. A city in the territory of Benjamin (Josh. 18:28), also called “Gibeah of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:2), “Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin” (2 Sam. 23:29) and “Gibeah of Saul.” (2 Sam. 21:6) It was apparently situated near the main road between Jebus (Jerusalem) and Ramah. (Judg. 19:11-15) Because of its position on one of the heights of Palestine’s central mountain ridge, Gibeah served well as a lookout point in time of war. (1 Sam. 14:16) Geographers generally identify this city with Tell el-Ful, located about three miles (5 kilometers) N of Jerusalem.

The Hebrew spellings of Geba (masculine form of the word meaning “hill”) and Gibeah (feminine form of the term meaning “hill”) are almost identical. Many believe that this has resulted in scribal errors in the Masoretic text and therefore recommend changing certain scriptures to read “Geba” instead of “Gibeah,” and vice versa. On this, one commentary, with reference to First Samuel chapters 13 and 14, observes: “But commentators are much at variance as to where the substitutions should be made (e.g. Smith reads Geba for Gibeah throughout; Kennedy reads Geba for Gibeah in [chapter thirteen] verse 2, Gibeah for Geba in verse 3, and Geba for Gibeah in xiv. 2); and it is not impossible to understand the progress of the campaign without such alterations.” (Soncino Books of the Bible, Samuel, by S. Goldman, p. 69) However, at Judges 20:10, 33 the context definitely suggests that “Gibeah” is intended, and therefore many translators depart here from the reading of the Masoretic text and employ “Gibeah” rather than “Geba.”

In the period of the judges, the city of Gibeah figured in an incident that led to the near extermination of the entire tribe of Benjamin. An old man invited an Ephraimite Levite and his concubine to stay with him for the night. Soon good-for-nothing men of Gibeah surrounded the house, demanding that the Levite be turned over to them so that they might have intercourse with him. After the Levite gave his concubine into their hands, they so abused her all night that she died in the morning. (This shocking sin may be alluded to at Hosea 9:9 and 10:9.) Since the tribe of Benjamin shielded the guilty men of Gibeah, the other tribes warred against Benjamin. They twice sustained severe losses before finally defeating the Benjamites and consigning Gibeah to the fire. (Judg. 19:15–20:48) (Some link the Biblical record concerning the destruction of Gibeah with the archaeological evidence uncovered at Tell el-Ful indicating that the city was burned.)

Gibeah was the home of Israel’s first king, Saul (1 Sam. 10:26; 15:34), and apparently also of Ittai (Ithai), one of David’s mighty men (2 Sam. 23:8, 29; 1 Chron. 11:26, 31), as well as of Ahi-ezer and Joash, two warriors who joined themselves to David at Ziklag. (1 Chron. 12:1-3) Gibeah evidently also served as the first capital of the Israelite kingdom under Saul. At Gibeah, messengers from Jabesh (Jabesh-gilead) appealed for aid when faced with an Ammonite siege, and from here King Saul immediately summoned Israel for war to meet this threat. (1 Sam. 11:1-7) Later, Saul’s war operations against the Philistines were launched in the vicinity of Gibeah. (1 Sam. 13:2-4, 15; 14:2, 16; on the relationship of Gibeah to Migron, see MIGRON.) Also, on two occasions men of Ziph made report to Saul at Gibeah concerning the hideout of outlawed David.—1 Sam. 23:19; 26:1.

During the reign of David, seven of Saul’s sons and grandsons were put to death at Gibeah (“Gibeon,” according to Aquila, Symmachus, Vatican 1209 and Alexandrine manuscripts) because of the bloodguilt that had come upon the house of Saul due to his having put many Gibeonites to death. And Saul’s widowed concubine kept watch over the dead men so that scavenger birds and animals would not feed on their bodies.—2 Sam. 21:1-10.

In the eighth century B.C.E., through the prophet Isaiah Jehovah prophetically spoke of Gibeah as having fled from the advancing Assyrian army en route to Jerusalem. (Isa. 10:24, 29-32) And by means of Hosea God prophetically portrays a situation that makes it appear as though the northern ten-tribe kingdom had already been conquered, with the enemy threatening Gibeah and Ramah in Benjamin (in the southern kingdom of Judah).—Hos. 5:8-10.