Gibeon
גִּבְעוֹן
Where was biblical Gibeon? At el-Jib, about 9 km northwest of Jerusalem. I mark it certain.
The Gibeonites dressed in worn-out clothes and packed moldy bread to convince Joshua they came from far away, and they won a treaty. When five Amorite kings attacked them, Joshua marched all night to save them, and in that battle he asked the sun to stand still over Gibeon.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- el-Jib, about 9 km northwest of Jerusalem
- How sure
- Certain The name, the sources and the finds all agree.
- Other names
- Givon
- Location
- 31.8475° N, 35.1864° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The Arab village of el-Jib keeps the first part of the name. It sits on the Benjamin plateau near Beeroth, Kfirah and Kiryat Yearim, the other Gibeonite towns in Joshua's list.
The proof came out of the ground. Excavators found dozens of wine-jar handles inscribed with the name "Gibeon" in ancient Hebrew script. The city wrote its own name on its jars.
They also uncovered a huge round pool cut into the rock, with a spiral staircase leading down to water. It fits "the pool of Gibeon," where the men of Joab sat on one side and the men of Abner on the other before the fighting began. It fits "the great waters in Gibeon" from the days of Jeremiah, where Ishmael son of Nethaniah was overtaken after he murdered Gedaliah. Few biblical cities are as securely identified.
Gibeon had a high place too, the greatest of its day. Young King Solomon offered a thousand sacrifices on its altar. That night G-d appeared to him in a dream, and Solomon asked for wisdom.
Visiting today
The rock-cut pool with its spiral steps and the water tunnel can still be seen at the edge of el-Jib, though access is limited and the site is not developed.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Gibeon on the interactive map →
The whole Land on your wall
A hand-drawn map of Biblical Israel, with more than 160 places from Dan to Kadesh Barnea, printed on archival matte paper.
Free with every print: a companion ebook on every place on the map, a $19.99 value.
From $49.99 · Free US shipping
Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Ramah (Ramathaim Zophim) 4 km east
- Gibeah of Saul 5 km southeast
- Mizpah 5 km northeast
- Nephtoah 6 km south
- Nob 6 km southeast
- Mozah (Motza) 6 km south