Gibeah
Gibeah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Burj el Bardawil. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
This Gibeah appears to be a site in the hill country of Ephraim, distinguished from the more infamous Gibeah of Benjamin. The single verse referencing this location, likely 2 Chronicles 13:19 or a related text, places it in the northern context during the divided monarchy period. The name Gibeah, meaning 'hill,' was applied to multiple settlements throughout ancient Israel, reflecting the characteristic landscape of the central highland region. This particular Gibeah appears to have been a fortified town in the territory north of Jerusalem, situated in the hill country where Israelite and Judahite spheres intersected. During the ongoing conflicts between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, settlements in this borderland frequently changed hands. The identification with Burj el-Bardawil in the Samarian hills suggests a location of military significance along the watershed ridge, where control of hill-country passes and agricultural villages was continuously contested between the rival kingdoms throughout the ninth and eighth centuries BC.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
This Gibeah is tentatively associated with Burj el-Bardawil, a site in the Samarian hills north of Jerusalem. The toponym preserves an Arabic place-name that may reflect an ancient Semitic designation. Surface surveys in the vicinity have recorded Iron Age remains, consistent with occupation during the divided monarchy period. However, systematic excavation has not been undertaken at this specific site. The numerous locations sharing the name Gibeah in the biblical record present challenges for archaeological identification, and this site's single biblical reference limits the contextual data available for precise localization within the broader landscape of the Ephraimite hill country.
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]