Riblah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. A landmark on the eastern border of Israel ( 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".  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.

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  Judges 3:3 would be unlikely to he omitted in  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.

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 ( 2 Kings 23:33), and Zedekiah, after seeing his sons slain, had his own eyes put out ( Jeremiah 39:5-7; literally,  Jeremiah 39:9-10), and other leading captives were slain, probably by the Assyrian death of impaling ( Jeremiah 39:24;  Jeremiah 39:27), as depicted on the monuments.

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.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

RIBLAH . 1 . An important town (mod. Ribleh ) and military station on the eastern bank of the Orontes, 50 miles S. of Hamath. It is mentioned in the Bible only in the literature of the Chaldæan period, and was apparently the headquarters of Nebuchadrezzar the Great for his South-Syrian and Palestinian dominions. From this position the PhÅ“nician cities of the coast were within easy command, as also were CÅ“le-Syria and the kingdom of Damascus, along with the land-routes leading farther south. Here judgment was pronounced upon Zedekiah and his officers ( 2Ki 25:6;   2 Kings 25:20-21 ,   Jeremiah 39:5 f.,   Jeremiah 52:9 ff.).

The statement of  2 Kings 23:33 , that Pharaoh-necho put Jehoahaz in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, is to be corrected by the parallel passage   2 Chronicles 36:3 , where the transaction is said to have taken place in Jerusalem itself. The true reading is, ‘and Pharaoh-necho removed him from reigning in Jerusalem’ (cf. also the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ). It was the later action of Nebuchadrezzar with regard to Zedekiah, above referred to, that suggested the change in the text. The phrase ‘in the land of Hamath’ (  2 Kings 25:21 ) is to be compared with the ‘nineteen districts of Hamath’ enumerated in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser iii.

Riblah should be read for Diblah in   Ezekiel 6:14 . See No. 2 .

2 . Riblah (with the article) is, it the reading is correct, mentioned as one of the eastern boundary marks of Israel in   Numbers 34:11 . The place intended was not far N.E. of the Sea of Galilee, but the exact site is unknown.

It was, of course, not the Riblah on the Orontes. It is remarkable, however, that this Riblah is mentioned in connexion with the ‘approach to Hamath’ (v. 8). which, as Winckler has shown, was on the S.W. of Mt. Hermon, and the centre of the kingdom of Hamath of the time of David. Cf.  Ezekiel 6:14 as above corrected.

J. F. McCurdy.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Riblah ( Rĭb'Lah ), Fertility. An ancient city in the northeastern frontier of Canaan.  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.  2 Kings 23:29-35;  2 Kings 25:1-7;  Jeremiah 39:5-7. Riblah is now a mean and poor village.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A city of Syria, in the country of Hamath, at the north-east extremity of Canaan,  Numbers 34:11 . Its site is probably found in the modern village Ribleh, on the river Orontes, at the northern end of the great valley of Lebanon, El-Bukaa.. Through this valley, by way of Hamath and Riblah, was the readiest access to Palestine from the north. At Riblah king Jehoahaz was taken and deposed by Pharaoh- necho; here also Nebuchadnezzar established his headquarters when warring against Judah,  2 Kings 23:33;  25:6,20,21;  Jeremiah 39:5;  52:10 .

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Place apparently on the eastern boundary of Palestine.  Numbers 34:11 . Not identified.

2. City in the land of Hamath, where Pharaoh-nechoh imprisoned Jehoahaz, and whence the king of Babylon carried Zedekiah, when he slew his sons and the priests and chief men of Judah.   2 Kings 23:33;  2 Kings 25:6,7,20,21;  Jeremiah 39:5,6;  Jeremiah 52:9,10,26,27 . Identified with Ribleh, 34 28' N, 36 31' E .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 23:29-35 25:6,20,21 Jeremiah 39:5 52:10 Numbers 34:11Jerusalem

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A city of Syria where judgment was given on Zedekiah, and where his eyes were put out. ( 2 Kings 25:6;  Jeremiah 52:9) If from Rub, it means quarrel.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 23:31-33 2 Kings 25:4-7 Numbers 34:11

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

rib´la ( רבלה , ribhlāh  ; Ῥεβλαθά , Rheblathá , with variants):

(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 ( 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 ( 2 Kings 25:6 ,  2 Kings 25:20;  Jeremiah 39:5-7;  Jeremiah 52:8-11 ). Riblah then disappears from history, but the site exists today in the village of Ribleh , 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  Ezekiel 6:14 , while in  Numbers 34:11 it does not really appear. See (2).

(2) A place named as on the ideal eastern boundary of Israel in   Numbers 34:11 , but omitted in  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 ‛Ain , and that, as the designation of a district, can only mean Merj ‛Ayun , so that we should seek it in the neighborhood of Hermon, one of whose spurs Furrer found to be named Jebel ‛Arbel .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Riblah'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/r/riblah.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Rib´lah, a town on the northern border of Palestine, in the district of Hamath, through which the Babylonians, both in their eruptions and departures, were accustomed to pass (;;;; ). This place is nowhere mentioned but in the Bible.