Gibeah

Illustration of Gibeah

Gibeah was a town in the tribal territory of Benjamin that served as King Saul's hometown and the de facto capital of Israel during his reign. Located on a prominent hill north of Jerusalem along the central ridge route, it held strategic military importance and became the seat of Saul's government after his anointing as Israel's first king. The town is also infamous for the horrific incident recorded in Judges 19-21, where the abuse and murder of a Levite's concubine by men of Gibeah triggered a civil war that nearly annihilated the tribe of Benjamin. Archaeological excavations at Tell el-Ful have revealed a fortress dating to the Iron Age that may correspond to Saul's palace. In prophetic literature, Hosea references Gibeah's sin as a byword for Israel's moral corruption, demonstrating how the town's dark history continued to resonate as a warning throughout Scripture.

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Details

Region
Benjamin
Modern Location
Tell el-Ful, approximately 3 miles north of Jerusalem, Israel
Strongest connections in Scripture
1 Samuel 10 Judges 19

Nearby Places

(within ~40 km)

Key Passages

Saul's Home at Gibeah

1 Samuel 10:26

Saul returns to his home at Gibeah after being anointed, establishing the town as the center of Israel's first monarchy.

A26nd Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

The Crime at Gibeah

Judges 19:22-30

The horrific crime at Gibeah reveals the moral chaos of the judges period and triggers a devastating civil war against Benjamin.

N22ow as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the manโ€™s house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

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