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גִּבְעָה

Gibeah

BDB lists 4 entries for ‘Gibeah’ fuller range ↓

H1390 Strong's Hebrew
Gibʻâh Transliteration
/ghib-aw'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 43 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

The Hebrew name גבעה centers on the idea of “Gibeah.” The word gravitates to Judges (55%), then 1 Samuel and Hosea. It appears 42 verses across 8 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. Debuting at Joshua 15:57, it then recurs through the corpus. For the data behind this summary, explore 42-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
Gibeah
Modern gloss
Gibeah
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H1390 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

42
distinct verses
The word appears in 42 distinct verses.
8 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 8 of 39 Old Testament books.
Joshua 15:57
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Joshua 15:57.
Hosea 10:9
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Hosea 10:9.
#837
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 837 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 42 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 38 · 90%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 4 · 10%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 42 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 40 verses · 95%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 2 verses · 5%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.

  • King James Version: Gibeah 36×, Against gibeah 2×
  • American Standard Version: Gibeah 34×, Against gibeah 3×, Was in the hill 2×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Gibeah 40×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Gibeah 33×, Gibeah of 9×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H1390 across 44 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Gibeah” 36×
  • “Against gibeah” 2×

Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H1390 across 44 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Gibeah” 34×
  • “Against gibeah” 3×
  • “Was in the hill” 2×

Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H1390 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Gibeah” 40×

Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H1390 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Gibeah” 33×
  • “Gibeah of” 9×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

גבעה I hill

  • 1. in ordinary prose, hill, lower than mountain Ex 17:9, 10 (E) 2 S 2:25; it may be n.pr. in 1 S 7:1; 10:10 2 S 6:3, 4 v. also sub ii. גִּבְעָה. e.g. Exodus 17:9
  • 2. especially as place of illicit worship עַל כָּל־ג׳ גְּבֹהָה ותחת כל עץ רענן 1 K 14:23 2 K 17:10 Je 2:20; cf. Dt 12:2 2 K 16:4 2 Ch 28:4 (these two + במות); also Ho 4:13 Je 13:27; 17:2 Ez 6:13 (v. supr.). e.g. 1 Kings 14:23
  • 3. very commonly ‖ הר in poet. & proph. Dt 33:15 ψ 72:3; 114:4, 6; 148:9 Ct 2:8; 4:6 Is 2:2, 14; 30:17, 25; 31:4; 40:4, 12; 41:15; 42:15; 54:10; 55:12; 65:7 Je 3:23; 4:24; 16:16; 50:7 Ez 6:3; 34:6; 35:8; 36:4, 6 Ho 4:13; 10:8 Jo 4:18 Am 9:13 Mi 4:1; 6:1 Na 1:5 Hb 3:6; rarely in prose Dt 12:2; sometimes as rejoicing ψ 65:13, majestic (poet.) ג׳ עולם Gn 49:26 Dt 33:15 Hb 3:6 (‘everlasting hills’); cf. also Jb 15:7; high Pr 8:25 (with adj. high, cf. supr.) Je 49:16. e.g. Deuteronomy 33:15
  • 4. hills with special names, some nearly or quite = n.pr.loc., which see under the respective words: ג׳ הַמּוֹרֶה Ju 7:1 teacher’s hill, in valley of Jezreel; ג׳ הָעֲרָלוֹת Jos 5:3 hill of the fore-skins; ג׳ הָאֱלֹהִים 1 S 10:5 (a designation of Gibeah); ג׳ הַחֲכִילָה 1 S 23:19; 26:1, 3; ג׳ אַמָּה 2 S 2:24; ג׳ הַלְּבוֹנָה Ct 4:6 (i.e. hill where frankincense is grown); ג׳ גָּרֵ֑ב Je 31:39; ג׳ יְרוּשָׁלַם Is 10:32 cf. 31:4 (where ‖ הַר־צִיּוֹן), Ez 34:26 (v. supr.) & הַגְּבָעוֹת Zp 1:10 hills on which Jerusalem stands. e.g. Judges 7:1

גבעה II loc. (hill)

  • 1. a city of Judah Jos 15:57 (perhaps one of two villages called Gabaa, Gabatha in Onom. v. LagOnom. 246, 128; 2nd ed. 255, 160). e.g. Joshua 15:57
  • 2. city of Benj. Ju 19:14, 16 + 20 times Ju, 1 S 10:26; 14:2; 22:6; 26:1 2 S 23:29 = 1 Ch 11:31; also Ho 5:8; 9:9; 10:9(×2) (cf. Ju 19:12 ff.) 2 Ch 13:2; perhaps also 1 S 7:1; 10:10 2 S 6:3, 4 read also (for גבע) 1 S 13:16 Ju 20:10, 33; = גִּבְעַת Jos 18:28; called also גִּבְעַת בִּנְיָמִין 1 S 13:2, 15; 14:16, & גִּבְעַת שָׁאוּל 1 S 11:4; 15:34 Is 10:29; 2 S 21:6 read prob. גִּבְעוֹן, 𝔊 We Dr. e.g. Judges 19:14
  • 3. a city of Ephraim, called גִּבְעַת פִּֽינְחָס Jos 24:33. e.g. Joshua 24:33

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

I. n.f. hill—abs. גִּבְעָה 2 S 2:25 + 13 times + Ez 6:13 (del. Co q.v.) 1 S 7:1 2 S 6:3, 4 (cf. Dr); cstr. גִּבְעַת Jos 5:3 + 8 times + 1 S 10:5 (cf. Dr); sf. גִּבְעָתִי Ez 34:26 (but del. Co), גִּבְעָתָהּ Is 31:4; pl. abs. גְּבָעוֹת Dt 12:2 + 35 times; cstr. גִּבְעוֹת Dt 33:15 Hb 3:6, גִּבְעֹת Gn 49:26; sf. גִּבְעוֹתֶיךָ Ez 35:8;—hill, height, elevation, both high and low, cf. ψ 148:9 ההרים וכל גבעות, 65:13;—

II. n.pr.loc. (hill)—ג׳ Jos 15:57 +; (הַ)גִּבְעָ֫תָה Ju 20:4 + 5 times; גִּבְעַת Jos 18:28; cstr. גִּבְעַת 1 S 11:4 + 9 times; abs. always c. art. except Jos 15:57; 18:28 Ju 19:12; 20:31 1 S 10:26 2 Ch 13:2;—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from גבעה (gibʻâh) (H1389) — hill.


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

גִּבְעָה

  • 1. hill. Lev. R. s. 10 כמין ג׳ like a hill (the bullock between the two rams). Cant. R. to IV, 6 עשה ערלותיהן ג׳ he piled up their preputia; Gen. R. s. 47 העמידן גִבְעַת ערלות; a. e.—Pl. גְּבָעוֹת. Ḥag. 15ᵃ ברא הרים ברא ג׳ He created mountains, and (corresponding to them) hills. Taan. 8ᵇ (ref. to Job XXXVII, 13) אם לשבט בהרים וג׳ if He sends rain as a scourge, He sends it on mountains and hills. Ab. Zar. 17ᵃ הרים וג׳ ye mountains and hills! Sot. 5ᵃ; a. fr. e.g. Job 37:13
  • 2. pr. n. pl. Gibeah. Gitt. 6ᵇ עסיק בפלגש ג׳ studying the case of the woman murdered in Gibeah (Jud. XIX sq.). Pesik. R. s. 11 בפלגש בג׳ in the war about the woman of G.; a. e.—Shebu. 35ᵇ שמות האמורין בג׳ Rashi (ed. בגִבְעַת בִּנְיָמִין) the names (Adonai, El &c.) used in the chapter about Gibeah (Jud. XX).

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 29 distinct written forms H1390 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
הַ/גִּבְעָ֖ה Noun, Proper Judges 19:14 4
הַ/גִּבְעָ֑ה Noun, Proper Hosea 9:9 3
הַ/גִּבְעָ֔ה Noun, Proper Hosea 10:9 3
הַ/גִּבְעָֽה Noun, Proper Judges 20:19 3
בְּ/גִבְעַ֖ת Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 13:2 2
בַּ/גִּבְעָ֑ה Noun, Proper Judges 19:15 2
גִּבְעַ֣ת Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 11:4 2
גִּבְעַ֥ת Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 15:34 2
הַ/גִּבְעָ֖תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 23:19 2
בַ/גִּבְעָ֖ה Noun, Proper Judges 19:13 1
בְּ/גִבְעַ֥ת Noun, Proper 2 Samuel 21:6 1
בַּ/גִּבְעָ֔ה Noun, Proper Hosea 5:8 1
בַּ/גִּבְעָ֛ה Noun, Proper Hosea 10:9 1
בַּ/גִּבְעָ֜ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 22:6 1
בַּ/גִּבְעָה֙ Noun, Proper Judges 20:13 1
גָֽבַע Noun, Proper Judges 20:33 1
גִּבְעָ֑ה Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 13:2 1
גִּבְעָ֑תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 10:26 1
גִּבְעָ֣ה Noun, Proper Joshua 15:57 1
גִּבְעָ֨תָ/ה֙ Noun, Proper Judges 20:31 1
גִּבְעָֽה Noun, Proper Judges 19:12 1
הַ/גִּבְעָ֑תָ/ה Noun, Proper Judges 20:14 1
הַ/גִּבְעָ֨תָ/ה֙ Noun, Proper Judges 20:4 1
הַ/גִּבְעָה֙ Noun, Proper Judges 20:15 1
הַ/גִּבְעָה֮ Noun, Proper Judges 20:25 1
לַ/גִּבְעָ֑ה Noun, Proper Judges 20:9 1
לַ/גִּבְעָ֜ה Noun, Proper Judges 20:34 1
מִ/גִּבְעַ֖ת Noun, Proper 2 Samuel 23:29 1
מִ/גִּבְעַת֙ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 11:31 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1390, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Shares the same root

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. 3 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Gibeah). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897

A hill or hill-town, "of Benjamin" (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as "Gibeah of Saul" (11:4; Isa. 10:29). 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; 20), only six hundred men surviving after a succession of disastrous battles. This was the birthplace of Saul, and continued to be his residence after he became king (1 Sam. 10:26; 11:4; 15:34). It was reckoned among the ancient sanctuaries of Palestine (10:26; 15:34; 23:19; 26:1; 2 Sam. 21:6-10), and hence it is called "Gibeah of God" (1 Sam. 10:5, R.V. marg.). It has been identified with the modern Tell el-Ful (i.e., "hill of the bean"), about 3 miles north of Jerusalem.

Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863

a word employed in the Bible to denote a hill. Like most words of this kind it gave its name to several towns and places in Palestine, which would doubtless be generally on or near a hill. They are--

+ Gibeah, a city in the mountain district of Judah, named with Maon and the southern Carmel, (Joshua 15:57) and comp. 1Chr 2:49 etc. + Gibeah of Benjamin first appears in the tragical story of the Levite and his concubine. (Judges 19:20) It was then a "city," with the usual open street or square, (Judges 19:15,17,20) and containing 700 "chosen men," ch. (Judges 20:15) probably the same whose skill as slingers is preserved in the next verse. In many particulars Gibeah agrees very closely with Tuleil-el-Ful, a conspicuous eminence just four mlles north of Jerusalem, to the right of the road. We next meet with Glbeah of Benjamin during the Philistine wars of Saul and Jonathan. (1 Samuel 13:15,16) It now bears its full title. As "Gibeah of Benjamin" this place is referred to in (2 Samuel 23:29) (comp. 1Chr 11:31), and as "Gibeah" it is mentioned by Hosea, (Hosea 5:8; 9:9; 10:9) but it does not again appear in the history. It is, however, almost without doubt identical with + Gibeah of Saul. This is not mentioned as Saul's city till after his anointing, (1 Samuel 10:26) when is said to have gone "home" to Gibeah. In the subsequent narrative the town bears its full name. ch (1 Samuel 11:4) + Gibeah in Kirjath-jearim was no doubt a hill in that city, and the place in which the ark remained from the time of its return by the Philistines till its removal by David. (2 Samuel 6:3,4) comp. 1Sam 7:1,2 + Gibeah in the field, named only in (Judges 20:31) as the place to which one of the "highways" led from Gibeah of Benjamin. It is probably the same as Geba. The "meadows of Gaba" (Authorized Version Gibeah), (Judges 20:33) have no connection with the "field," the Hebrew word being entirely different.

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869

a hill

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 42 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 42 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

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