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Mount Gilboa

mountainOld TestamentGalilee9 verses
Country IsraelCoordinates 32.434, 35.414

Mount Gilboa is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. It appears across 8 verses in Scripture.

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Authority Records
Archaeological Data
Occupation Phases
Early Bronze Age IV/Middle Bronze Age I/Int. Bronze2500 BCE – 2000 BCE
Middle Bronze Age II-III1750 BCE – 1550 BCE
Iron Age I-II1150 BCE – 539 BCE
Iron Age III (Persian)539 BCE – 333 BCE
Hellenistic333 BCE – 63 BCE
Roman63 BCE – 324 CE
Byzantine324 CE – 638 CE
UnitoAssyrianGovernance, Villages to Empires Dataset (CC BY 4.0), doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732

Biblical History

Mount Gilboa is indelibly associated with one of the most tragic episodes in Israel's history: the defeat and death of King Saul and his sons. The Philistines gathered their forces at Shunem while Saul encamped on Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 28:4). Terrified by the enemy army, Saul consulted the medium at Endor, receiving the devastating prophecy that he and his sons would die the following day (1 Samuel 28:19). In the ensuing battle, the Philistines overwhelmed Israel on the slopes of Gilboa. Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons, were killed, and Saul, badly wounded by archers, fell on his own sword (1 Samuel 31:1-6). The Philistines fastened Saul's body to the wall of Beth-shan. David's famous lament over Saul and Jonathan includes the haunting curse: "O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you" (2 Samuel 1:21). This poetic imprecation transformed the mountain into a permanent symbol of grief and national catastrophe in Israel's collective memory.

Archaeological & Historical Notes

Mount Gilboa is a mountain range in northern Israel, rising to approximately 508 meters (1,667 feet) at its highest point, located southeast of the Jezreel Valley. The mountain is positively identified and retains its ancient name. The surrounding area contains significant archaeological sites mentioned in the biblical narrative, including Beth-shan (Tel Beit She'an), where extensive excavations have uncovered a major Philistine and Egyptian administrative center consistent with the account in 1 Samuel 31. The mountain slopes today feature a nature reserve known for its endemic Gilboa iris (Iris haynei), and the area has been developed with hiking trails and scenic overlooks. Surveys of the mountain have identified Iron Age settlement remains.

Verse Appearances (9)

References

  1. Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
  2. OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
  3. Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
  4. Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
  5. Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
  6. Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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