Gibeah
Gibeah, a variation of the name Geba, is the name of several places in ancient Israel (See History of ancient Israel and Judah), in each case meaning "hill" or "hill-town".
- A town in the mountainous region of Judah. (Joshuah 15:1, 48, 57) It may have been the homeplace of king Abijah's mother. (2 Chronicles 13:1, 2) Some scholars link it with today's El Jaba southwest of Bethlehem.
- Gibeah - a town "of Benjamin" (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as "Gibeah of Saul". It has been identified with the modern Tell el-Ful (i.e., "hill of the bean"), about 3 miles north of Jerusalem. It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite's concubine which led to the almost utter extirpation of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. 19:1-20:48), only six hundred men surviving after a succession of disastrous battles. It was the home of the first Israelite king, Saul. It is also mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah. Some scholars believe Gibeah and Geba to be one and the same, but most believe them to be two different places.