Geba
Geba is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Jaba. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
This Geba, identified with Jaba in the Benjaminite hill country, represents the principal biblical site of that name, a strategically positioned town on the ridge overlooking the valley of Michmash. Its appearance in the tribal allotment of Benjamin (Joshua 18:24) and its designation as a Levitical city (Joshua 21:17; 1 Chronicles 6:60) establish its importance from the period of the conquest onward. The town's position made it a natural military flashpoint, most memorably in the account of Jonathan's daring attack on the Philistine outpost (1 Samuel 13:3), which triggered a wider military engagement that resulted in Israelite victory. Geba served as the traditional northern boundary of Judah: "from Geba to Beersheba" (2 Kings 23:8; Nehemiah 11:31), and Josiah's reform extended to its high places. The returning exiles settled here (Nehemiah 11:31), and Levitical singers were recruited from Geba and nearby towns for the dedication of Jerusalem's rebuilt walls (Nehemiah 12:29), illustrating the city's continued religious significance into the post-exilic period.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Geba is most consistently identified with modern Jaba, situated on the southern ridge of the Michmash valley approximately nine kilometers north-northeast of Jerusalem. The Arabic place name preserves the ancient Hebrew toponym with minimal alteration. The site's topographical position corresponds precisely with its biblical role as a border fortress commanding the strategic Wadi Suweinit pass. Surface archaeological surveys have confirmed Iron Age occupation at Jaba. The site has not undergone systematic stratigraphic excavation, limiting detailed knowledge of its material culture. Its proximity to excavated Benjaminite sites such as Tell el-Ful (Gibeah) and Khirbet Raddana places it within a well-documented Iron Age settlement cluster in the highlands north of Jerusalem.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]