GIBBETHON

(Gibʹbe·thon) [Back; Mound].

A city originally assigned to the tribe of Dan (Jos 19:40, 41, 44) but later given to the Kohathites as a Levite city. (Jos 21:20, 23) Centuries later, Gibbethon was in the hands of the Philistines, and it was while Israel’s King Nadab was attempting to wrest the city from them that the conspirator Baasha assassinated him. (1Ki 15:27) Gibbethon was under Philistine control some 24 years later when Omri, army chief of Israel, encamped against it. Acclaimed as king by the Israelite camp there, Omri broke off the siege of Gibbethon to attack the rival Israelite king Zimri.​—1Ki 16:15-18.

Gibbethon is generally identified with Tell el-Melat (Tel Malot), about 9 km (5.5 mi) N of the suggested site of the Philistine city of Ekron.