GIBEATH-HAARALOTH

(Gibʹe·ath-ha·arʹa·loth) [hill of the foreskins].

The place where all the Israelite males born in the wilderness were circumcised after crossing the Jordan. Gibeath-haaraloth was near the city of Jericho and came to be called Gilgal.—Josh. 5:3-10; see GILGAL No. 1.

GIBEATHITE

(Gibʹe·ath·ite).

An inhabitant of ‘Gibeah of Benjamin’ (1 Chron. 12:1-3); the term is applied to Shemaah whose “sons” served in David’s army.

GIBEON

(Gibʹe·on) [from a word meaning “hill”], Gibeonites (Gibʹe·on·ites).

The city of Gibeon is today linked with el-Jib, about six miles (10 kilometers) N-NW of Jerusalem. Numerous earthenware jar handles, bearing the name “Gibeon” in ancient Hebrew characters, have been found there. Located on a hill that rises some two hundred feet (61 meters) above the surrounding plain, the ancient site covers about sixteen acres (6.5 hectares).

The site has in recent years been the scene of archaeological diggings. Excavators cleared a 167-foot (51-meter) tunnel cut through solid rock. This tunnel was anciently lighted by means of lamps placed in niches at regular intervals along its walls. With its ninety-three rock-cut steps, the tunnel led from just within Gibeon to a man-made cave reservoir fed by a spring about eighty-two feet (25 meters) below the city wall. This ensured the Gibeonites a safe water supply even in time of siege. Excavators also uncovered a round, rock-cut pit or pool having a diameter of more than thirty-seven feet (11 meters). A circular stairway, with steps measuring about 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) wide, leads downward in a clockwise direction around the edge of the pit. From the bottom of the pit, at a depth of about thirty-five feet (10.7 meters), the steps continue for some forty-five feet (13.7 meters) through a tunneled stairwell leading to a water chamber. Whether this pit or pool is to be identified with the Biblical “pool of Gibeon” is uncertain.—2 Sam. 2:13.

DEALINGS WITH JOSHUA

In Joshua’s time Gibeon was inhabited by Hivites, one of the seven Canaanite nations in line for destruction. (Deut. 7:1, 2; Josh. 9:3-7) The Gibeonites were also called “Amorites,” as this designation appears at times to have been applied generally to all the Canaanites. (2 Sam. 21:2; compare Genesis 10:15-18; 15:16; see AMORITE.) Unlike the other Canaanites, the Gibeonites realized that, despite their military strength and the greatness of their city, resistance would fail, because Jehovah was fighting for Israel. Therefore, after the destruction of Jericho and Ai, the men of Gibeon, apparently also representing the three other Hivite cities of Chephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim (Josh. 9:17), sent a delegation to Joshua at Gilgal to sue for peace. The Gibeonite ambassadors, dressed in worn-out garments and sandals and having burst wine skin-bottles, worn-out sacks and dry, crumbly bread, represented themselves as being from a distant land, hence not in the way of Israel’s conquests. They acknowledged Jehovah’s hand in what had earlier befallen Egypt and the Amorite kings Sihon and Og. But wisely they did not mention what had happened to Jericho and Ai, as such news could not have reached their “very distant land” before the supposed departure. Israel’s representatives examined and accepted the evidence and covenanted with them to let them live.—Josh. 9:3-15.

Shortly thereafter the ruse was uncovered. But the covenant remained in force; breaking it would have called Israel’s trustworthiness into question and brought Jehovah’s name into contempt among the other nations. When Joshua confronted the Gibeonites about their craftiness, they again acknowledged Jehovah’s dealing with Israel and then placed themselves at his mercy, saying: “Now here we are, in your hand. Just as it is good and right in your eyes to do to us, do.” They were then constituted gatherers of wood and drawers of water for the assembly and for Jehovah’s altar.—Josh. 9:16-27.

Although Joshua and the other chieftains had been tricked into making a covenant with the Gibeonites, this was evidently in harmony with Jehovah’s will. (Josh. 11:19) Proof of this is seen in the fact that, when five Amorite kings sought to destroy the Gibeonites Jehovah blessed Israel’s rescue operation, even showering down great hailstones upon the foe and miraculously extending the daylight for battle. (Josh. 10:1-14) Also, both in seeking a covenant of peace with Israel and in appealing to Joshua for help when threatened, the Gibeonites manifested faith in Jehovah’s ability to fulfill his word and to effect deliverance, something for which Rahab of Jericho was commended and that resulted in the preservation of her life and that of her household. Moreover, the Gibeonites had a wholesome fear of Israel’s God.—Compare Joshua 2:9-14; 9:9-11, 24; 10:6; Hebrews 11:31.

UNDER ISRAEL’S CONTROL

Gibeon afterward came to be one of the cities in the territory of Benjamin assigned to the Aaronic priests. (Josh. 18:21, 25; 21:17-19) The Benjamite Jeiel apparently ‘fathered’ or founded a house there. (1 Chron. 8:29; 9:35) One of David’s mighty men, Ishmaiah, was a Gibeonite (1 Chron. 12:1, 4), and the false prophet Hananiah, a contemporary of Jeremiah, was from Gibeon.—Jer. 28:1.

In the eleventh century B.C.E., Gibeon and its vicinity witnessed a conflict between the army of Ish-bosheth under the command of Abner and that of David under the leadership of Joab. Initially, doubtless to settle the issue as to who should be king over