GIBEON gĭb’ ĭ ən (גִּבְעֹ֖ון, LXX Γαβαών, meaning hill). A city about six m. NW of Jerusalem.

1. Biblical record. Gibeon is first mentioned in connection with Joshua’s assault on the hill country. After taking Jericho and Ai, his march would have taken him N of Jerusalem. A delegation from Gibeon came to him, however, under the guise of having taken a long journey (Josh 9:3ff.). Joshua made a peace treaty with them before learning that they had come from nearby Gibeon. The treaty also included the towns Chephirah, Be-eroth, and Kiriath-jearim (9:17).

This treaty caused several problems. Upon discovering the ruse, Joshua did not destroy them but put them in servitude to the Israelites as “hewers of wood and drawers of water” (9:23). Their action precipitated what is now called the Battle of Beth-horon. Joshua 10 records that Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, and the other Amorite kings planned to attack Gibeon; but Joshua, now committed to defend Gibeon by treaty, fought against them. Joshua and his army, after a night march, slaughtered many at Gibeon and chased the remainder over the Beth-horon pass. God sent hailstones and later had the sun stand still at the command of Joshua (10:6-14).

The occupants of Gibeon were Hivites (perhaps Horites or Hurrians) according to Joshua 11:19. After the division into tribes, Gibeon became a part of Benjamin (18:25; 21:17).

Another problem was Saul’s apparent intolerance of non-Israelite peoples in Israel. 2 Samuel 21:1ff. alludes to Saul slaughtering many Gibeonites. Later, in David’s day, the Gibeonites demanded revenge on the house of Saul. Since they would not accept money in payment for the blood, David finally yielded up seven of Saul’s sons whom the Gibeonites promptly hung. Only Mephibosheth was spared.

The famous contest between the twelve soldiers of Abner and the twelve of Joab at the pool of Gibeon had nothing to do with the people of Gibeon themselves (2 Sam 2:12ff.). Because all twenty-four of the young men died, the name Helkath-hazzurim (the field of the sword edges) was given to that site in Gibeon. Since the war by representation was indecisive, Joab chased Abner across the Jordan but failed to apprehend him.

The last major happening at Gibeon was Solomon’s going to the high place to sacrifice (1 Kings 3:4; 2 Chron 1:3ff.). While there he had the dream in which God asked him what gift he desired, and the famous king chose wisdom. That high place is mentioned twice again (1 Chron 16:39; 21:29).

Five hundred years later, Melatiah the Gibeonite and other men of Gibeon helped Nehemiah rebuild walls (Neh 3:7; cf. Neh 7:25).

The false prophet Hananiah, whose death Jeremiah foretold, was from Gibeon (Jer 28:1ff.). There was also a personal name, Gibeon, in the genealogies (1 Chron 8:29; 9:35).

2. Archeological results. During the summers of 1956, ’57, ’59 and ’60, James B. Pritchard directed the expeditions of the University of Pennsylvania Museum to el-Jib, the modern Arab. name of Gibeon. These expeditions not only thoroughly excavated the most famous feature of both ancient and modern Gibeon, viz., the great pool (2 Sam 2:13; Jer 41:12), but they also revealed other interesting aspects of the city. Although el-Jib, because of the similarity of the sound, had been suggested as the site of Gibeon as early as 1838 by Edward Robinson, no certain proof came until the archeologists unearthed many jar handles, twenty-four of which bore the name “Gibeon.” Other handles bore the typical names of Amariah, Azariah, and Hananiah. The jars may have been used in connection with the wine industry of Gibeon. Cut into the solid rock of the hill were some sixty-six cavities, or cellars, in which the wine could be stored at a constant temperature. In the immediate vicinity were the other accouterments of wine making: presses, troughs, etc.

The dead during the Rom. period were buried most exquisitely in the necropolis of Gibeon. Several tombs plus a columbarium were excavated. These produced some of the finest pottery specimens.

By far the most spectacular feature was the great pool, thirty-seven ft. in diameter and eighty-two ft. deep with a circular staircase of seventy-nine steps cut out of the rock. This pool is one of the best-known archeological attractions. Actually the pool was never used to hold water but was part of a rather complete waterworks that assured the citizens of water even during times of siege. To reach the water required the descent of seventy-nine steps of the circular “pool” and then a tunnel 167 ft. long that descended ninety-three more steps. At the bottom was the cistern room filled with water from the main spring outside the city wall. This tunnel also was cut from the solid rock, although the crookedness of it indicates that the engineers followed the natural fissures of the rock. See Water.

Bibliography J. B. Pritchard, Gibeon, Where the Sun Stood Still (1962).