GABBATHA găb’ bə thə (Γαββαθᾶ, G1119; Aram., גּﯴבְבָתָא, open space, or גַּבְּתָא, meaning uncertain: ridge [?] height [?]). A location in Jerusalem, where Pilate judged Jesus.

John 19:13 identifies Gabbatha as the “Hebrew” (Aram.) name for Gr. Λιθόστρωτον, q.v., Pavement (“of stone”), which is otherwise unknown. Attempts to equate Gabbatha with Γαβάθ (gibeah) = λόφος, “ridge” or “crest” in Jos. War, V. 2. 1 (Arndt, p. 148), or with Lat. gabata, “platter,” hence a dish-shaped area (C. C. Torrey, ZAW, 65 [1953], 232, 233), remain speculative. The fact that Gabbatha lay outside the praetorium, or governor’s residence (John 19:9, 13), would indicate either the palace of Herod in the W part of Jerusalem or the fortress of Antonia in the E. The latter, at the NW corner of the Temple area, is favored by L. Vincent’s identification at this spot of 2500 square yards of pavement, beneath the present church of the Dames de Sion, as belonging to the NT fortress. The stone slabs are over one yard square and one ft. thick, some still bearing marks suggestive of Rom. soldiers’ games (cf. John 19:2, 3, 24).

At Gabbatha, Pilate sat on the βῆμα, G1037, “judicial bench,” and ultimately acceded to the pressure of the Jewish leaders, delivering Jesus to them for crucifixion (19:16).

Bibliography HDB, II, 74, 75; M. Burrows, BA, 1 (1938), 17-19; Arndt, 704 (πραιτώριον, G4550); L. Vincent, Jerusalem de L’AT (1959), 216-221.