Everything about Gibeon totally explained
Gibeon (pronounced 'Giv'on') was a Canaanite city north of
Jerusalem that was conquered by
Joshua. Today, the
Arab village of
al-Jib sits on the ruins of Gibeon.
Giv'on Hadashah ("New Gibeon") is a
Jewish town located west of
al-Jib.
Biblical era
Joshua's treaty with the Hivites
After the destruction of
Jericho and
Ai, the people of Gibeon (
Hivites) sent ambassadors to trick
Joshua and the Israelites into making a treaty with them. According to the Bible, the Israelites were commanded to destroy all inhabitants of Canaan. The Gibeonites told the Israelites they were from a distant land. Without consulting the high priests, Israel entered into a mutual pact with the Gibeonites. Joshua realized he been deceived but kept his covenant with the Gibeonites, who became the woodcutters and water-carriers (Joshua 9:3-27).
Much later, after the death of
Absalom and king
David's restoration to his throne, Israel was visited by a grievous famine, which was found to be a punishment for
king Saul's, violation (2 Sam. 21:2-5) of the covenant with the Gibeonites.
Other references
Gibeon was located in the tribal territory of
Benjamin (Joshua 18:25), and it was made a
Levitical City (Joshua 21:17). It was the place where God famously made the sun stand still during the Israelites' war with the Amorites (
Josh 10:12).
The fight between the soldiers of
Joab and those of
Abner took place beside the
Pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:12). It was in this area that
David conquered the
Philistines (2 Samuel 5:25 and 1 Chronicles 14:16).
Amasa was also killed here (2 Samuel 20:8). There was a "great
high place" in Gibeon where
Solomon offered one thousand
burnt offerings (1 Kings 3:4). On this occasion the God appeared to him in a dream (1 Kings 3:15).
Hananiah came from this city (Jeremiah 28:1). After the exile of the Israelites to
Babylon, Gibeon belonged to
Judea (Nehemiah 3:7). For some period of time, the Tabernacle of the LORD was set up here at the high place. (1 Chronicles 21:29)
Archeology
The earliest known mention of Gibeon in an extra-Biblical source is in a list of cities on the wall of the Amum temple at
Karnak, celebrating the invasion of Palestine by
Shoshenq I (945-924 BCE).
The remains of Gibeon were excavated in 6 expeditions from 1956 to 1962, led by the
University of Pennsylvania archaeologist
James B. Pritchard.
Significant remains were discovered, many from the Israelite period. Impressive among these finds are 63 wine cellars from the
8th to
7th century BC. Hebrew inscriptions of גבען (GBN) on the handles of wine storage jars, most of which were excavated from a large pool matching the biblical description, made the identification of Gibeon secure and a landmark product of
biblical archaeology. Pritchard published articles on their production of wine, the Hebrew inscriptions, the rock-cut wine cellars, and the well engineered water conduits that supplied the city water.
The first temporary occupation of the site was in the
Middle Bronze Age I. Later in the Bronze Age there was a permanent settlement, but the only evidence found of occupation in the
Late Bronze Age (the time of Joshua, according to traditional chronology) was some pottery and other deposits found in tombs which had been cut at a much earlier date.
Further Information
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