Gebal

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

(See Seir , MOUNT) "a line", namely, of mountain boundary ( Psalms 83:7). An Idumean clan, on the right of Ammon, as Amalek was on the left; for in the psalm it is coupled with Moab, Ammon, Amalek, and Edom. Probably the modern Djebal, mountainous region S. of the Dead Sea; the Gebalene of the Romans, the Gobolitis of Josephus. A portion of the range of Edom. The psalm, probably by Jahaziel of the sons of Asaph, is a thanksgiving for the victory anticipated by faith over the hordes of invaders who sought to root Israel out of his inheritance, and who, marching S. round the Dead Sea, let no tidings reach Jehoshaphat until he heard that a great multitude was within his territory at Engedi ( 2 Chronicles 20:2;  2 Chronicles 20:7-11;  2 Chronicles 20:14;  2 Chronicles 20:18-19).

Smith's Bible Dictionary identifies the Gebal of Psalm 83 with Gebal in  Ezekiel 27:9, "the ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy caulkers" (stoppers of chinks in ships), evidently the Phoenician city and region between Beyrut and Tripoli, famed for skilled workmen, "the Giblites" (stone carvers) ( 1 Kings 5:18 margin). So "the inhabitants of Phoenician, Tyre" are numbered with the invaders ( Psalms 83:7). But the collocation of Gebal between the "Hagarenes" and "Ammon" favors the men of Gebal being Idumeans. "The Giblites" in  Joshua 13:5 were from the region of Lebanon; the Septuagint term them Biblians, namely, of Byblus, on the Phoenician borders, N. of the river Adonis, afterwards a Christian see.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. The Gebalene of the Romans, was a district of Idumea, called also at the present day Djebal, signifying mountains. It is the northern part of the range of mountains skirting the eastern side of the great valley El-Arabah, which runs from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea,  Psalm 83:7 .

2. A seaport and district of Phoenicia north of Beyroot, called Byblos by the Greeks, now Jebail; population, 2,000. The inhabitants were called Giblites, and are denoted in the Hebrew word rendered "stone-squarer" in  1 Kings 5:18 . Their land and all Lebanon were assigned to the Israelites, but never fully possessed,  Joshua 13:5 . It was an important place,  Ezekiel 27:9 , and the seat of the worship of Thammuz.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

GEBAL. 1. A place apparently S. of the Dead Sea, whose inhabitants made a league with Edomites, Moabites, and the Bedouin of the Arabah against Israel, on some unknown occasion (  Psalms 83:7 ), possibly the Gentile attack described in 1Ma 5:1-68 . It is the modern Jebal . 2. A town in PhÅ“nicia, now Jebeil . It was theoretically (never actually) within the borders of the Promised Land (  Joshua 13:5 ). It provided builders for Solomon (  1 Kings 5:18 RV [Note: Revised Version.] Gebalites, AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘stone-squarers’) and ships’ caulkers for Tyre (  Ezekiel 27:9 ).

R. A. S. Macalister.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A Phoenician city, not far from the sea coast, to the north of Beyrout ( Ezekiel 27:9 ); called by the Greeks Byblos. Now Jibeil. Mentioned in the Amarna tablets.

An important Phoenician text, referring to the temple of Baalath, on a monument of Yehu-melek, its king (probably B.C. 600), has been discovered.

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Gebal'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/g/gebal.html. 1897.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Maritime city of Phoenicia. Identified with Jebeil, the ancient Byblus, near the mouth of the river Adonis, 34 8' N. Its inhabitants are called Giblites in  Joshua 13:5 . Some were workers in stone and assisted in the work of the temple.  1 Kings 5:18 , margin . Others were calkers.  Ezekiel 27:9 . In this last passage the LXX reads 'Biblians,' and the Vulg. 'Giblians.'

2. Apparently part of the mountainous range of Edom.  Psalm 83:7 . But some believe that this passage also refers to No. 1.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 27:9 Joshua 13:5 1 Kings 5:18

2. A member of a coalition against Israel which the psalmist lamented ( Psalm 83:7 ). It is the northern part of Arabia near Petra in the mountainous country south of the Dead Sea. The Genesis Apocryphon from the Dead Sea Scrolls also mentions it.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Gebal ( Gç'Bal ), Mountain. 1. A place near Tyre.  Ezra 2:9. 2. Some identify the Gebal of  Psalms 83:7 with northern Edom, called el-Jebal, but others regard it as Geba No. 1.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(kindred with the Arabic Jebel, a mountain), the name of two places in Palestine (although some regard them as one, Schwarz, Palest. page 63), both doubtless so called as being situated in a mountainous region. The root is the Heb. גָּבִל , Gabal', to Twist; whence גְּבוּל , a Line or natural boundary, such as mountain ranges usually form. There seems also to have been an orthography גֹּבֶל , Go'Bel ( Τᾠβελ , Euseb. Onomast. s.v. Βω῏ / Βλος ; comp. Alcobile, i.e., El-Gobel, of the Peutinger tables), whence Gobolites = Sobal. The Gablan ( גִּבְלָן ) in the Mishna, along with Galilee (Sotah, fol. 49, 6), arose out of the גָּוֹלָן , or Jaulan, which is considered as the eastern border of Galilee (Josephus, War, 4:1, 1).

1. (Heb. Gebal', גְּבִל ; Sept. Βίβλιοι , Vulg. Giblii,  Ezekiel 27:9), better known from the Gentile form GIBLITES ( גַּבְלַי ,Sept. Γαβλί ,Vulg. omits,  Joshua 13:5; plur. גַּבְלַים , Sept. Γίβλιοι , Vulg. Giblii, Auth. Vers. "stone-squarers,"  1 Kings 5:18 [32]), the inhabitants of the city and district of Gebal, in Phoenicia, 34 ° 7' N. latitude, 35 ° 42' E. longitude, on the shore of the Mediterranean, under Mount Lebanon. (See a passage from Lucian, quoted by Reland, Paelest. page 269.): "The land of the Giblites," with "all Lebanon," was assigned to the Israelites by the original appointment ( Joshua 13:5); but it does not seem that they ever possessed themselves of it. Gebal was called Byblos ( Βύβλος , sometimes Βίβλος ) by the Greeks, and so the Sept. has it in one passage. It was an important place, and celebrated for the birth and worship of Adonis, the Syrian Tammuz. Pliny and other Roman authors call it Gabale (Hist. Nat. 5:20). The Giblites, or Byblians, seem to have been pre-eminent in the arts of stone-carving ( 2 Kings 5:18) and shipcalking ( Ezekiel 27:9); but, according to Strabo, their industry suffered greatly from the robbers infesting the sides of Mount Lebanon. Pompey not only destroyed the strongholds from whence these pests issued, but freed the city from a tyrant (Strabo, 16:2, 18). Some have confounded Gebal, or Byblus, with the Gabala of Strabo, just below Laodicea, and consequently many leagues to the north, the ruins and site of which, still called Jebili, are so graphically described by Maundrell (Early Travellers in Palestine, by Wright, page 394). By Moroni (Dizion. Eccles.) they are accurately distinguished under their respective names. Finally, Byblus became a Christian see in the patriarchate of Antioch, subject to the metropolitan see of Tyre (Reland, Palest. page 214 sq.). It shared the usual vicissitudes of Christianity in these parts; and even now furnishes episcopacy with a title. It is called Jebail by the Arabs, thus reviving the old Biblical name. It is seated on a rising ground near the sea, at the foot of Lebanon, which here approaches close to the coast. It is walled on the three sides towards the land, and open on the west towards the sea, being perhaps about half a mile in circuit. Within the wall, which seems to be of the age of the Crusades, the chief building is an old castle, which has received modern repairs, and is now used as the abode of the agha or commandant. There are three or four open and lofty buildings belonging to the chief people of the place, a mosque with a low minaret, and an old Maronite church of good masonry; but the houses generally are of poor construction, and nearly half the space within the walls is occupied with the gardens of the inhabitants. The population is estimated at 600, none of whom are Jews (Maundrell's Journey, page 45; Burckhardt's Syria, page 180; Buckingham's Arab Tribes, page 455; Pococke, Travels, 2:98; Wilson, Lands of Bible, 2:40). Its antiquity is attested by multitudes of granite columns which are built into the walls and castles, choke up the small harbor, and lie scattered over the fields. The substructions of the old castle are of beveled masonry, and some of the stones are nearly twenty feet long. Beautiful sarcophagi are frequently dug out of the ruins. The columns are of the Grecian style, like those of the other cities of ancient Phoenicia (Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, page 7). (See Byblus).

2. (Heb. Gebal', גְּבָל , Sept. Γεβάλ , Vulg. Gebal;  Psalms 83:7), a district, or perhaps sovereignty, south of Judaea, in the land of Edom. Gebal signifying a mountain, apparently belongs not to the most ancient times, as it does not occur when the Israelites were actually in this quarter, but is first found in Psalms 83, which was probably written in the time of Jehoshaphat. That king had, in the beginning of his reign, humbled the Philistines and Arabians ( 2 Chronicles 17:9-10), and still more recently had assisted Ahab against the Syrians (ib. ch. 18). Now, according to the poetic language of the Psalmist, there were symptoms of a general rising against him: on the south, besides these Gelalites, the other Edomites, the Ishmaelites, and the Haearenes; on the south-east, Moab and Ammon;alhgi the whole line of the south-west coast (and, with Jehoshaphat's maritime projects, this would naturally disturb him most, see  2 Chronicles 20:36), the Amalekites, Philistines, and Phoenicians, or inhabitants of Tyre; with the aid and comfort even of Assur, i.e., the Syrians, or Assyrians, from the more distant north. The country south of the Dead Sea, and on the east of the Ghor, or great Jordan valley, bears the same name (Jebail) at the present day (Burckhardt, page 401 sq.), and is doubtless the sauce as the Gebal of Scripture, the Gebalitis (or, rather, Gobolitis) of Josephus ( Γοβολῖτις , Ant. 2:1, 2; 3:2, 1; Γαβαλῖται , Ant. 9:9, 1), and the Cebs- Lene of the Romans (Euseb. and Steph. Byz. have Γάβαλα , - Ληνή ; Γέβαλα , - Ληνή ). Josephus says, indeed, that the sons of Eliphaz, son of Esau, settled in that part of Idumaea which was called Gebalitis, and that denominated from Amalek Amalekitis: "For Idumaea," he adds, "was the name of a large country, which in its several parts retained the names of its peculiar inhabitants" (Ant . 2:2, 1). We may therefore take Gelal as the name of the northernmost portion of Iumasea, which was nearest to Palestine. In  Judith 3:1, Lat. Vers., and also in the writingsof the Crusaders, it is called Syria Sobal (q.v.). The Jerusalem Targum generally reads Mount Gablah ( טורא דגבלה ) instead of Mount Seir; so also the Samar. in  Deuteronomy 32:2. 'Seir, however, was the ancient name of Edom, whereas Gebal was only a part of it. (See Reland, Palaest. page 84; Michaelis, Supplem. 1:261 sq.; Robinson, Re Searches, 2:552.) (See Idumea).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gē´bal ( גּבל , gebhal , "border"; Βύβλος , Búblos , and Βίβλος , Bı́blos  ; Byblus , modern Jebeil ):

(1) An ancient Phoenician city, situated on a bluff of the foothills of Lebanon, overlooking the Mediterranean. It was one of the principal seaports of Phoenicia, and had a small but good harbor for small ships. It lies in lat. 34 degrees 8´, nearly, and about 4 miles North of the river Adonis ( Nahr Ibrahı̂m ). It was regarded as a holy city by the ancients. Philo mentions the tradition that it was founded by Kronos, and was sacred to the worship of Beltis and, later, of Adonis, whose rites were celebrated yearly at the river of the same name and at its source in the mountain, at Apheca (see Tammuz ). Gebal was the center of quite an extensive district, extending from the Eleutherus on the North to the Tamyras on the South, a distance of 60 or 70 miles along the coast. It is mentioned by Josh ( Isaiah 13:5 ) as the land of the Gebalites (which see) (the King James Version "Giblites"), and the Gebalites are also mentioned in  1 Kings 5:18 (Hebrew 32) as aiding in the construction of Solomon's temple. The "elders" and the "wise men" of Gebal are among the workmen employed on Tyrian ships (  Ezekiel 27:9 the American Revised Version, margin). The earliest mention of Gebal found in history is in the Tell el-Amarna Letters , which were composed in the first half of the 14th century bc. It had become, in connection with all Phoenicia, a dependency of Egypt in the days of Thothmes Iii and was under Egyptian governors, but, in the reign of Amenhotep Iv (Ikhnaton), the Hittites and Amorites from the North and Khabiri from the South attacked the territory of Gebal, and its governor wrote letters to Amenhotep, calling for help. There are over 60 of these, describing the desperate condition of the city and of its governor, Ribaddi, who was expelled and took refuge in Beirût, but afterward regained his capital only to be besieged and lose all his dependencies, and finally to fall into the hands of the enemy. Gebal afterward became independent, as is shown by the records of Ramses Ix (1442-1423 bc) and of Ramses Xii , for its king retained the emissaries of the former 17 years in captivity, and treated a trusted agent of the latter with scant civility. Its king at this time was Zakkar-Baal, and kings of Gebal are mentioned in the Assyrian records, one paying tribute to Ashurnazir-pal (circa 887 bc) and another to Sennacherib (705-680). The latter king was Uru-melek, and kings of Gebal are mentioned in connection with other Phoenician cities under Persian rule. The city submitted to Alexander the Great without opposition, and furnished a fleet to aid him in the siege of Tyre (332). Strabo refers to it as a town of note in the days of Pompey (xvi.2, 17), and it is frequently mentioned in Phoenician (CIS, 1) and Assyrian inscriptions in the forms Gubal and Gubli ( COT , I, 174).

(2) ( גּבל , gebhāl  ; Γοβολῖτις , Gobolı́tis ): A district Southeast of the Dead Sea, which is referred to in   Psalm 83:7 (Hebrew 8) in connection with Moab, Ammon, Amalek and others, as making a covenant together against Israel (compare 1 Macc 5). Robinson ( BR , II, 154) found the name Jebâl still applied to this region, and Josephus ( Ant. , II, i, 2) speaks of a Gebalitis as forming part of Idumaea. It is a hilly region, as the modern name signifies, and includes the towns of Shobek and Ṭolfı̂eh .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Gebal, 1

Ge´bal, a district, or perhaps sovereignty, south of Judea, in the land of Edom. Gebal signifies a mountain, and apparently belongs not to the most ancient times, as it does not occur when the Israelites were actually in this quarter, but is first found in , which was probably written in the time of Jehoshaphat. The country south of the Dead Sea, and on the east of the Ghor, or great valley, bears the same name (Jebal or Djebal) at the present day, and is doubtless the same as the Gebal of Scripture. We may therefore take Gebal as the name of the northernmost portion of Idumea, which was nearest to Palestine.

Gebal, 2

Gebal [GIBLITES]