King James Bible Dictionary

A hill or hill-town, "of Benjamin" (1 Samuel 13:15), better known as "Gibeah of Saul" (11:4; Isaiah 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite's concubine which led to the almost utter extirpation of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19; 20), only six hundred men surviving after a succession of disastrous battles. This was the birthplace of Saul, and continued to be his residence after he became king (1 Samuel 10:26; 11:4; 15:34). It was reckoned among the ancient sanctuaries of Palestine (10:26; 15:34; 23:19; 26:1; 2 Samuel 21:6-10), and hence it is called "Gibeah of God" (1 Samuel 10:5, R.V. marg.). It has been identified with the modern Tell el-Ful (i.e., "hill of the bean"), about 3 miles north of Jerusalem.

a hill

1. Of Judah
Joshua 15:57

2. Of Saul, called Gibeah of Benjamin

The people's wickedness
Jude 19:12-30; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9

Destroyed by the Israelites
Jude 1:20

The city of Saul
1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 15:34; 1 Samuel 22:6

The ark of the covenant conveyed to, by the Philistines
1 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 6:3

Deserted
Isaiah 10:29

3. Another town in Benjamin, called also Gibeath
Joshua 18:28

4. Gibeah in the field
Judges 20:31

Probably identical with Geba
Geba

a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are

1. Gibeah, a city in the mountain district of Judah, named with Maon and the southern Carmel, (Joshua 15:57) and comp. 1 Chronicles 2:49 etc.
2. Gibeah of Benjamin first appears in the tragical story of the Levite and his concubine. (Judges 19:20) It was then a "city," with the usual open street or square, (Judges 19:15,17,20) and containing 700 "chosen men," ch. (Judges 20:15) probably the same whose skill as slingers is preserved in the next verse. In many particulars Gibeah agrees very closely with Tuleil-el-Ful , a conspicuous eminence just four mlles north of Jerusalem, to the right of the road. We next meet with Glbeah of Benjamin during the Philistine wars of Saul and Jonathan. (1 Samuel 13:15,16) It now bears its full title. As "Gibeah of Benjamin" this place is referred to in (2 Samuel 23:29) (comp. 1 Chronicles 11:31), and as "Gibeah" it is mentioned by Hosea, (Hosea 5:8; 9:9; 10:9) but it does not again appear in the history. It is, however, almost without doubt identical with
3. Gibeah of Saul. This is not mentioned as Saul's city till after his anointing, (1 Samuel 10:26) when is said to have gone "home" to Gibeah. In the subsequent narrative the town bears its full name. ch (1 Samuel 11:4)
4. Gibeah in Kirjath-jearim was no doubt a hill in that city, and the place in which the ark remained from the time of its return by the Philistines till its removal by David. (2 Samuel 6:3,4) comp. 1 Samuel 7:1,2
5. Gibeah in the field, named only in (Judges 20:31) as the place to which one of the "highways" led from Gibeah of Benjamin. It is probably the same as Geba. The "meadows of Gaba" (Authorized Version Gibeah), (Judges 20:33) have no connection with the "field," the Hebrew word being entirely different.

(Joshua 15:57), a city in the mountains of Judah, the modern Jeba, on a hill in the Wady Musurr, about 7 1/2 miles west-south-west of Bethlehem.

(Joshua 15:57, R.V. marg.), a city on Mount Ephraim which had been given to Phinehas (24:33 "hill," A.V.; R.V. marg. and Heb., "Gibeah."). Here Eleazar the son of Aaron was buried. It has been identified with the modern Khurbet Jibia, 5 miles north of Guphna towards Shechem.

(Joshua 5:3, marg.), hill of the foreskins, a place at Gilgal where those who had been born in the wilderness were circumcised. All the others, i.e., those who were under twenty years old at the time of the sentence at Kadesh, had already been circumcised.