RIBLAH rĭb’ lə (רִבְלָה׃֙; LXX ̓Ρεβλαθά and other forms, meaning unknown). A town in Syria c. thirty-five m. NE of Baalbek.

Pharaoh Neco of Egypt made a campaign through Pal. during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah (2 Kings 23:28ff.). In an effort to stop the pharaoh, Josiah lost his life at Megiddo. In his stead, the people made Josiah’s younger son, Jehoahaz, king. This popular choice did not please Neco nor God, for Jehoahaz “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath “that he might not reign in Jerusalem” (2 Kings 23:31-33). Neco had apparently reached the Orontes River by that time and was making it his headquarters. He made Jehoahaz’s older brother, Eliakim, king, but changed his name to Jehoiakim (v. 34).

Riblah is c. fifty m. S of Hamath and upstream from Lake Homs. The modern town of Ribleh represents it. Topographically and geographically, it is well situated, and one can understand why a military monarch would have chosen it for a base of operations.

In 605 b.c., c. five years after Neco’s campaign, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians gained the upper hand and made Riblah their staging ground for operations against Pal. Zedekiah the new king whom Nebuchadnezzar had put on the throne in Jerusalem, resisted such vassalhood and rebelled against the king of Babylon. When Jerusalem was besieged, Zedekiah fled. Nebuchadnezzar’s army captured him near Jericho, took him to Riblah, and put out his eyes just after making him witness his sons’ execution (2 Kings 25:1-7; cf. Jer 39:1-7; 52:1-11). Later, other rebellious Israelite leaders lost their lives at the same town (2 Kings 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27).

Some authorities read “Riblah” (see RSV) at Ezekiel 6:14, although the MT has “Diblah.”

Numbers 34:11 mentions Riblah as a point on the E border of the Promised Land (Ezek 47:15-18 does not mention it, however). In this one instance, the name has the definite article הָרִבְלָ֖ה (the Riblah). It is an unidentified town somewhere NE of the Sea of Galilee. The LXX reads ̓Αρβηλα, but any name resembling it in the area of Golan is not to be found.