Gabbatha

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Gabbatha ( Γαββαθᾶ) occurs only in  John 19:13, as the ‘Hebrew’ or, more correctly, Aramaic equivalent of Λιθόστρωτος. For the etymology of the word see E. Nestle in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible ii. 74 f., with the literature there cited. The word is apparently connected with a root גבב, of which the fundamental idea is that of something curved or convex . Hence it cannot be taken as identical in meaning with λιθόστρωτος, which implies a level tesselated surface. A surface of that kind on the summit of a hill, or with a rounded porch or an open cupola over it, beneath which might permanently stand, or be placed occasionally, the βῆμα or ‘judgment-seat,’ would best meet the conditions of the ease. Such a spot might well be known amongst one class of the people (the Romans and their associates) as the Pavement, and amongst another as Gabbatha. The latter name has not yet been found elsewhere than in the NT. For the attempts to identify the locality, and for the usages involved in the reference, see Pavement.

R. W. Moss.

GABRIEL is mentioned in Luke 1 as appearing to Zacharias to announce the future pregnancy of Elisabeth and the birth of John, and to Mary with a similar announcement of the birth of Jesus. To Zacharias he declares that he is wont to stand in the presence of God, and that he is sent by Him on the mission stated. When he is asked for a sign, he is competent to impose the severe sign of dumbness until the fulfilment of the prediction that has been made. The Gospel mention of Gabriel, then, is as a messenger of the signal favour of God, at least in connexion with the Messiah and His forerunner.

He has a somewhat similar function in the only OT passage in which he is mentioned, Daniel 8-10. Daniel was perplexed at the strange vision which he had seen. Pondering over it, he sees one ‘standing before him like the appearance of a man,’ and a voice is heard bidding Gabriel, for it is he, explain the vision. Daniel falls in a faint as the messenger approaches, and Gabriel lifts him up and explains the mysterious vision. Again he appears to the prophet under similar circumstances, and is now called ‘the man’ Gabriel. Still again Daniel has a similar experience ( Daniel 10:5 ff.). The details are identical or in harmony with the account in previous chapters, but the name of the messenger is not given. It is, however, generally assumed that the author had Gabriel in mind. He asserts that he is a prince who presides over the interests of Israel, as other supernatural beings preside over other nations.

Gabriel belongs to the creations of the imagination of the Jews in post-exilic times. When God had to them become universal and correspondingly great and glorious, but without parallel spiritualization of His attributes, He was thought to require agents whom He might send as messengers, ‘angels’ to transmit His messages. These angels were at first nameless, later they received names. Gabriel was one of the most important of them—one of four, of seven, of seventy, according to different enumerations in Jewish writings. See Jewish Encyc. s.v.

O. H. Gates.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A memorable word in the believer's recollection, and rendered both solemn and sacred to the meditation, when frequently by faith the soul is looking over again the transactions at the hall of Pilate. The word Gabbatha our translators have thought proper to preserve, in our Testaments, in the original Hebrew; and yet have given the English of it, calling it Pavement. ( John 19:13) It means an elevated spot; probably it formed a balustrade, or gallery, from whence to the court below, Pilate might more conveniently speak to the people. Let the reader figure to himself this gabbatha, with a seat for the Governor to sit above the people, and probably separated by railing. Let him fancy he sees the rabble below surrounding the sacred person of our Lord, and Crying out, "Away with him, away with him; crucify him." Let him behold the meek and suffering Lamb of God, silent, patient, and submissive. And while with that contempt which marked Pilate's character, we hear him say, "Shall I crucify your king?"the chief priests, unconscious of what they said, answered,"We have no king but Caesar;"thereby fulfilling the dying patriarch Jacob's prophecy (that "the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;"  Genesis 49:10 and thus proving from their own testimony, that the Shiloh was come.) Let all these interesting views be but in the reader's contemplation when he reads of these transactions, and he will have a lively idea of the Gabbatha of Pilate's palace.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

GABBATHA (  John 19:13 ). The meaning of this word is most uncertain; possibly ‘height’ or ‘ridge.’ It is used as the Heb. or Aramaic equivalent of the Gr. lithostrôton or ‘ pavement .’ There is no mention in any other place of either Gabbatha or ‘the Pavement.’ That it was, as has been suggested, a portable tessellated pavement such as Julius Cæsar is said to have carried about with him, seems highly improbable. Tradition has identified as Gabbatha an extensive sheet of Roman pavement recently excavated near the Ecce Homo Arch. It certainly covered a large area, and the blocks of stone composing it are massive, the average size being 4 ft. × 3 ft. 6 in. and nearly 2 ft. thick. The pavement is in parts roughened for the passage of animals and chariots, but over most of the area it is smooth. The paved area was on a lofty place, the ground rapidly falling to east and west, and was in close proximity to, if not actually included within, the Antonia.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 John 19:13. Pilate came out of his own hall to his judgment seat on the "Pavement" (Chaldee Gabbatha ). Josephus (Ant. 15:8, sec. 5) implies that the temple was near the castle of Antonia, and (Ant. 15:11, sec. 5) that Herod's palace was near the castle. Therefore, Pilate's hall, which was part of the palace, was near the castle. From Ant. 6:1, sec. 8, it appears a pavement was near the castle; therefore it was near Pilate's hall. Thus, Josephus circuitously confirms John that near Pilate's residence there was a pavement. It was outside the judgment hall (Praetorium), for Pilate brought forth Jesus from the hall to it. Pilate's "judgment seat" ( Beema ) was on it, whereon he sentenced our Lord to crucifixion. Gabbatha is related to Gibeah , a bore round hill, implying height and roundness; a rounded elevation with tesselated mosaic.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An elevated place, the name of a place in front of Pilate's palace, whence he pronounced sentence against our Savior,  John 19:13 . In Greek it was called the pavement. It was not the usual judgment hall, which the Jews could not then enter, but some palace in the vicinity of the crowd without,  John 18:28;  19:4,9,13 . It appears to have been a checkered marble pavement, or mosaic floor, on which his seat of judgment was erected. Such ornamented pavements had become common at that day among the wealthy Romans.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The Aramaic name of the place of judgement in Jerusalem, where the Lord was condemned. The meaning of Gabbatha is 'elevated place' and its Greek name was λιθόστρωτος, 'the pavement.' It was doubtless a raised platform, with a tesselated pavement, which the Romans so often made. It would thus answer both descriptions.  John 19:13 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Gabbatha ( Găb'Ba-Thah ), Platform. The place of Pilate's judgment-seat; called also "the pavement."  John 19:13. The judgment-hall was the Prætorium, on the western hill of Jerusalem, and the pavement, or Gabbatha, was a tesselated pavement outside the hall.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a place in Pilate's palace, from whence he pronounced sentence of death upon Jesus Christ,  John 19:13 . This was probably an eminence, or terrace, paved with marble, for the Hebrew means elevated.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 John 18:28 19:13

Holman Bible Dictionary

 John 19:13 lithostrotos

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Γαββαθᾶ , in some MSS. Γαβαθᾶ ) occurs  John 19:13, where the evangelist states that Pontius Pilate, alarmed at last in his attempts to save Jesus by the artful insinuation of the Jews, "If thou let this man go thou art not Caesar's friend," went into the praetorium again, and brought Jesus cut to them, and sat down once more upon the Βῆμα or tribunal, in a place called Λιθόστρωτον , but in the Heb. Gabbatha. The Greek word, signifying literally Stone-Paved, is an adjective, and is generally used as such by the Greek writers; but they also sometimes use it substantively for a stone pavement, when Ἔδαφος may be understood. In the Sept. it answers to רַצְפָּה ( 2 Chronicles 7:3;  Esther 1:6).

Jerome reads, "Sedit pro tribunali in loco qui dicitur Lithostrotos." The Greek word, as well as the Latin, is frequently used to denote a pavement formed of ornamental stones of various colors, commonly called a Tesselated or mosaic pavement. The partiality of the Romans for this kind of pavement is well known. It is stated by Pliny (Hist. Nat. 36:64) that, after the time of Sylla, the Romans decorated their houses with such pavements. They also introduced them into the provinces. Suetonius relates (Caesar, 46) that Julius Caesar, in his military expeditions, took with him the materials of tesselated pavements, ready prepared, that wherever he encamped they might be laid down in the praetorium (Casaubon, ad Sueton. page 38, etc., edition 1605). From these facts it has been inferred by many eminent writers that the Τὸπος Λιθόστρωτος , or place where Pilate's tribunal was set on this occasion, was covered by a tesselated pavement, which, as a piece of Roman magnificence, was appended to the praetorium at Jerusalem. The emphatic manner in which John speaks of it agrees with this conjecture. It further appears from his narrative that it was outside the praetorium; for Pilate is said to have "come out" to the Jews, who, for ceremonial reasons, did not go into it, on this as well as on other occasions ( John 18:28-29;  John 18:38;  John 19:4;  John 19:13). Besides, the Roman governors, although they tried causes, and conferred with their council ( Acts 25:12) within the praetorium, always pronounced sentence in the open air. May not, then, this tesselated pavement, on which the tribunal was now placed, have been inlaid on some part of the terrace,etc., running along one side of the praetorium, and overlooking the area where the Jews were assembled, or upon a landing-place of the stairs, immediately before the grand entrance? It has been conjectured that the pavement in question was no other than the one referred to in  2 Chronicles 7:3, and by Josephus (War, 6:1, 8), as in The Outer Court Of The Temple; but though it appears that Pilate sometimes sat upon his tribunal in different places, as, for instance, in the open market-place (War, 2:9, 3), yet the supposition that he would on this occasion, when the Jews were pressing for a speedy judgment, and when he was overcome with alarm, adjourn the whole assembly, consisting of rulers of every grade, as well as the populace, to any other place, is very unlikely; and the supposition that such place was any part of the Temple is encumbered with additional difficulties. It is suggested by Lightfoot (Exerc. On John, ad loc.) that the word is derived from גִּב , a surface, in which case Gabbatha would be a mere translation of Λιθόστρωτον .

There was a room in the Temple in which the Sanhedrim sat, and which was called Gazith ( גָּזִית ) because it was paved with smooth and square flags; and Lightfoot conjectures that Pilate may on this occasion have delivered his judgment in that room. But this is not consistent with the practice of John, who in other instances gives the Hebrew name as that properly belonging to the place, not as a mere translation of a Greek one (compare  John 19:17). Besides, Pilate evidently spoke from the bema — the regular seat of justice — and this, in an important place like Jerusalnem, would be in a fixed spot. Nor in any case could the praetorium, a Roman residence with the idolatrous emblems, have been within the Temple. Yet it may be said that the names אֲבִדּוֹן and Ἀπολλύων , which John introduces in a similar way ( Revelation 9:11), are synonymous; and if the word Gabbatha be derived, as is usual, from גָּבִהּ , "to be high or elevated," it may refer chiefly to the terrace, or uppermost landing of the stairs, etc., which migiht have been inlaid with a tesselated pavement. Schleusner understands an elevated mosaic paveenent, on which the Βῆμα was placed, before the praetorium. The most natural inference from John's statement is that the word Gabbatha is "Hebrew;" but it has been contended that the writers of the New Testament used this word by way of atcommnodation to denote the language (Syriac, or Syro-Chaldee, it is said) which was commonly spoken in Judna in their time, and that when John says Ε᾿Βραστί , he Means in the SyroChaldaic; but into the extensive controversy respecting the vernacular language of the Jews at Jerusalem in the time of our Savior, this is not the place to enter. It may suffice for the present purpose to remark that the ancient Syriac version, instead of Gabbatha, reads Gepiptha. See Iken, De Λιθοστρώτῳ (Bremme, 1725); Lightfoot's Works. 2:614, 615 (London, 1684); Hamesveld, Bibl. Geogr. 2:129; Seelen, Medit. Exeg. 1:643. (See Pavement).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Gab´batha occurs , where the Evangelist states that Pontius Pilate, alarmed at last in his attempts to save Jesus, by the artful insinuation of the Jews, 'If thou let this man go thou art not Caesar's friend,' went into the praetorium again, and brought Jesus out to them, and sat down once more upon the tribunal, in a place called in Greek Lithostratos, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha. The Greek word signifies literally stone-paved, and is frequently used to denote a pavement formed of ornamental stones of various colors, commonly called a tessellated or mosaic pavement. The partiality of the Romans for this kind of pavement is well known. From this fact it has been inferred by many eminent writers, that the place where Pilate's tribunal was set on this occasion, was covered by a tessellated pavement, which, as a piece of Roman magnificence, was appended to the praetorium at Jerusalem. The emphatic manner in which St. John speaks of it agrees with this conjecture, it further appears from his narrative that it was outside the praetorium; for Pilate is said to have 'come out' to the Jews, who, for ceremonial reasons, did not go into it, on this as well as on other occasions . Besides which, the Roman governors, although they tried causes, and conferred with their council , within the praetorium, always pronounced sentence in the open air. May not then this tessellated pavement, on which the tribunal was now placed, have been inlaid on some part of the terrace, etc. running along one side of the praetorium, and overlooking the area where the Jews were assembled, or upon a landing-place of the stairs immediately before the grand entrance?

The word Gabbatha is probably synonymous with Lithostratos.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gab´a - tha  : Given ( John 19:13 ) as the name of a special pavement (τὸ λιθόστρωτον , tó lithóstrōton ), and is probably a transcription in Greek of the Aramaic גּבּתא , gabhethā' , meaning "height" or "ridge." Tradition which now locates the Pretorium at the Antonia and associates the triple Roman arch near there with the "Ecce Homo" scene, naturally identifies an extensive area of massive Roman pavement, with blocks 4 ft. x 3 1/2 ft. and 2 ft. thick, near the "Ecce Homo Arch," as the Gabbatha. This paved area is in places roughened for a roadway, and in other places is marked with incised designs for Roman games of chance. The site is a lofty one, the ground falling away rapidly to the East and West, and it must have been close to, or perhaps included in, the Antonia. But apart from the fact that it is quite improbable that the Pretorium was here (see Praetorium ), it is almost certain that the lithostrōton was a mosaic pavement (compare  Esther 1:6 ), such as was very common in those days, and the site is irretrievably lost.