Difference between revisions of "Riblah"

<p> '''1.''' A landmark on the eastern border of [[Israel]] (&nbsp;Numbers 34:11), between [[Shepham]] and the sea of Cinneroth, on the "E. side of the spring." Probably, without the vowel points and the final '''''-Ah''''' of motion towards, the true name is '''''Ηarbel''''' "the Mount of Bel" or "Baal". &nbsp;Judges 3:3, " '''''Ηar-Βaal-Ηermon''''' ", [[Septuagint]] reads '''''Αr-Bela''''' , which confirms Harbel; the summit of Hermon, the southernmost and highest peak of Antilibanus, 10,000 ft. high, overtopping every mountain in Palestine. </p> <p> The ruins of a [[Baal]] sanctuary still remain on it. However, "go down from Shepham to Riblah" seemingly implies [[Riblah]] was lower; therefore Riblah was probably one of the many sanctuaries with which the sides, as well as the summit, of Hermon were covered. The landmark of &nbsp;Judges 3:3 would be unlikely to he omitted in &nbsp;Numbers 34:11. The "spring" or "fountain" ( '''''Αin''''' ), E. of which was Riblah, was probably, as [[Jerome]] and the later targums understood it, the fountain of the Jordan. The two most celebrated sources of Jordan, [[Daphne]] and Paneas, are in the plain at the S.W. foot of Hermon; streams from the western slopes of the mountain feed the longest branch of the river. </p> <p> '''2.''' Riblah or Riblathah in the land of Hamath, on the high road between [[Palestine]] and Babylon, where the [[Babylonian]] kings remained in directing the operations of their armies in Palestine and Phoenicia; where [[Jehoahaz]] was put in chains by [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho]] (&nbsp;2 Kings 23:33), and Zedekiah, after seeing his sons slain, had his own eyes put out (&nbsp;Jeremiah 39:5-7; literally, &nbsp;Jeremiah 39:9-10), and other leading captives were slain, probably by the [[Assyrian]] death of impaling (&nbsp;Jeremiah 39:24; &nbsp;Jeremiah 39:27), as depicted on the monuments. </p> <p> Still called ''Ribleh'' , on the right bank of the [[Orontes]] (Asy), 30 miles N.E. of Baalbek; consisting of 40 or 50 houses and the remains of a quadrangular building. In the midst of a vast and fertile plain, stretching in all directions save S.W., and on a mountain stream; an admirable encampment for the [[Egyptian]] and Babylonian hosts. The curious '''''Κamoa [[El]] Ηermel''''' is visible from Riblah, a pyramidal top resting on a quadrilateral building in two stories. It is on a high mound several miles higher up the Orontes than Riblah. The lower story has figures of dogs, stags, and hunting instruments. From Riblah the roads were open by the [[Euphrates]] to Nineveh, or by Palmyra to Babylon, by the S. of [[Lebanon]] and the coast to Palestine and Egypt, or through the Bekaa and [[Jordan]] valley to the center of Palestine. </p>

<p> [[Riblah]] ( ''Rĭb'Lah'' ), ''Fertility.'' An ancient city in the northeastern frontier of Canaan. &nbsp;Numbers 34:10-11. The ancient town was upon the great road from Palestine to Babylon, and was a convenient military headquarters for the Babylonian kings and others invading the country. Here the Egyptian king Pharaoh-nechoh put Jehoahaz in chains and made [[Eliakim]] king, and here [[Nebuchadnezzar]] brought Zedekiah, murdered his sons before his eyes, and then put out his eyes and bound him in chains to be carried to Babylon. &nbsp;2 Kings 23:29-35; &nbsp;2 Kings 25:1-7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 39:5-7. Riblah is now a mean and poor village. </p>

<p> ''''' rib´la ''''' ( רבלה , <i> ''''' ribhlāh ''''' </i> ; Ῥεβλαθά , <i> ''''' Rheblathá ''''' </i> , with variants): </p> <p> (1) Riblah in the land of Hamath first appears in history in 608 BC. Here Pharaoh-necoh, after defeating [[Josiah]] at [[Megiddo]] and destroying Kadytis or [[Kadesh]] on the Orontes, fixed his headquarters, and while in camp he deposed Jehoahaz and cast him into chains, fixed the tribute of Judah, and appointed [[Jehoiakim]] king (&nbsp;2 Kings 23:31-35 ). In 588 Bc N ebuchadnezzar, at war with Egypt and the [[Syrian]] states, also established his headquarters at Riblah, and from it he directed the subjugation of Jerusalem. When it fell, Zedekiah was carried prisoner to Riblah, and there, after his sons and his nobles had been slain in his presence, his eyes were put out, and he was taken as a prisoner to Babylon (&nbsp;2 Kings 25:6 , &nbsp;2 Kings 25:20; &nbsp;Jeremiah 39:5-7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 52:8-11 ). Riblah then disappears from history, but the site exists today in the village of <i> ''''' Ribleh ''''' </i> , 35 miles Northeast of Baalbek, and the situation is the finest that could have been chosen by the Egyptian or Babylonian kings for their headquarters in Syria. An army camped there had abundance of water in the control of the copious springs that go to form the Orontes. The [[Egyptians]] coming from the South had behind them the command of the rich corn and forage lands of Coele-Syria, while the Babylonian army from the North was equally fortunate in the rich plains extending to Hamath and the Euphrates. Lebanon, close by, with its forests, its hunting grounds and its snows, ministered to the needs and luxuries of the leaders. Riblah commanded the great trade and war route between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and, besides, it was at the dividing-point of many minor routes. It was in a position to attack with facility Phoenicia, [[Damascus]] or Palestine, or to defend itself against attack from those places, while a few miles to the South the mountains on each side close in forming a pass where a mighty host might easily be resisted by a few. In every way Riblah was the strategical point between North and South Syria. Riblah should probably be read for Diblah in &nbsp;Ezekiel 6:14 , while in &nbsp;Numbers 34:11 it does not really appear. See (2). </p> <p> (2) A place named as on the ideal <i> eastern </i> boundary of Israel in &nbsp; Numbers 34:11 , but omitted in &nbsp;Ezekiel 47:15-18 . The Massoretic Text reads "Hariblah"; but the Septuagint probably preserves the true vocalization, according to which we should translate "to Harbel." It is said to be to the east of <i> ''''' ‛Ain ''''' </i> , and that, as the designation of a district, can only mean <i> ''''' Merj ''''' </i> <i> ''''' ‛Ayun ''''' </i> , so that we should seek it in the neighborhood of Hermon, one of whose spurs Furrer found to be named <i> ''''' Jebel ''''' </i> <i> ''''' ‛Arbel ''''' </i> . </p>