Gibeon
גִּבְעוֹן · giv.on · H1391גִּבְעֹנִי · giv.o.ni · H13933 other spellings“hill; cup; thing lifted up” Hitchcock's 186944 mentions in 10 books, most in Joshua (13)
Where it is
31.85° N, 35.18° E
Coordinates and map: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0 · drawn without map tiles
Mentioned most in
Counted from 44 references · STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
About this place
Gibeon was a significant city in ancient Israel, located in the territory of Benjamin, about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was inhabited by Hivites, a Canaanite people group.
When Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan, the Gibeonites tricked them into making a peace treaty by pretending to be from a distant land (Joshua 9:3-15). Despite the deception, Joshua honored the treaty when the truth was discovered.
Gibeon's importance is underscored by the fact that its king, Hoham, led a coalition of five Amorite kings against Israel (Joshua 10:1-5). In response, Joshua asked God for the sun to stand still during the ensuing battle, allowing Israel to defeat the coalition (Joshua 10:12-14).
After the conquest, Gibeon was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin and designated as a Levitical city (Joshua 18:25, 21:17). The tabernacle was set up at Gibeon for a period, and it became a major worship center (1Ch.16.39, 21:29).
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
44 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Joshua13 mentions
Joshua 9:3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,Joshua 9:17The children of Israel traveled and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.Joshua 10:1Now when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the…Joshua 10:2they were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.Joshua 10:4“Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.”Joshua 10:5Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went…Joshua 10:6The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Don’t abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in…Joshua 10:10Yahweh confused them before Israel. He killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon, and struck them to Azekah and to Makkedah.Joshua 10:12Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still on Gibeon! You, moon, stop in…Joshua 10:41Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Gibeon.Joshua 11:19There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took all in battle.Joshua 18:25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,Joshua 21:17Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,
2 Samuel12 mentions
2 Samuel 2:12Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.2 Samuel 2:13Joab the son of Zeruiah and David’s servants went out, and met them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool.2 Samuel 2:16They each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.2 Samuel 2:24But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. The sun went down when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.2 Samuel 3:30So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.2 Samuel 5:25David did so, as Yahweh commanded him, and struck the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.2 Samuel 20:8When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was clothed in his apparel of war that he had put on, and on it was a sash with a sword fastened on his…2 Samuel 21:1There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Yahweh. Yahweh said, “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the…2 Samuel 21:2The king called the Gibeonites and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the children of Israel had sworn to them…2 Samuel 21:3and David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless Yahweh’s inheritance?”2 Samuel 21:4The Gibeonites said to him, “It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” He said, “I will do for you…2 Samuel 21:9He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites; and they hanged them on the mountain before Yahweh, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest…
1 Kings3 mentions
1 Kings 3:4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.1 Kings 3:5In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.”1 Kings 9:2Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
1 Chronicles6 mentions
1 Chronicles 8:29The father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, lived in Gibeon1 Chronicles 9:35Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, lived in Gibeon.1 Chronicles 12:4Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader of the thirty; Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad the Gederathite;1 Chronicles 14:16David did as God commanded him; and they attacked the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer.1 Chronicles 16:39and Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests, before Yahweh’s tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon,1 Chronicles 21:29For Yahweh’s tabernacle, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
2 Chronicles2 mentions
2 Chronicles 1:3Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Yahweh’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness.2 Chronicles 1:13So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.
Ezra1 mention
Nehemiah2 mentions
Jeremiah3 mentions
Jeremiah 28:1That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in…Jeremiah 41:12then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.Jeremiah 41:16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah…
What the dictionary says
Hill-city, “one of the royal cities, greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty” (Josh. 10:2).
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data
- OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0 · www.openbible.info/geo/
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) · Public domain