Gilgal ( he, גִּלְגָּל ''Gilgāl''), also known as Galgala or Galgalatokai of the 12 Stones ( grc-gre, Γαλαγα or , ''Dōdekalithōn''), is the name of one or more places in the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
camped after crossing the Jordan River (Joshua 4:19 – 5:12). The Hebrew term ''Gilgal'' most likely means "circle of stones". Its name appears in
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
According to Joshua 4:19, Gilgal is a location "on the eastern border of Jericho" where the Israelites encamped immediately after crossing the Jordan River. There, they erected 12 stones as a memorial to the miraculous stopping of the river when they crossed. Joshua then ordered the Israelites who had been born during
the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
to be
circumcised
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topic ...
at this spot. The Bible refers to this place as ''Givat Ha'aralot'', then says that Joshua called the place Gilgal because, in his words, "today I have removed (''galoti'') the shame of Egypt from upon you."
Some scholars speculate that the circle of 12 stones was the (unnamed) religious sanctuary that was condemned in
Amos
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* ''Amos' ...
Hosea
In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; he, הוֹשֵׁעַ – ''Hōšēaʿ'', 'Salvation'; gr, Ὡσηέ – ''Hōsēé''), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BCE prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is t ...
"The king of Goyim, of Gilgal" is listed as one of the 31 kings defeated by Joshua. His city is identified by
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
with
Jaljulia
Jaljulia ( ar, جلجولية, he, גַ׳לְג׳וּלְיָה), officially also spelled Jaljulye, is an Arab town in Israel near Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .
History
In Roman times the village was known as ''Galgulis'', while duri ...
.
"Gilgal" is mentioned as a location on the border between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, near
Ma'ale Adumim
Ma'ale Adumim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים; ar, معالي أدوميم) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. ...
Mount Ebal
Mount Ebal ( he, ''Har ʿĒyḇāl''; ar, جبل عيبال ''Jabal ‘Aybāl'') is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of Nablus in the West Bank ( biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley i ...
.
In the Book of Samuel
A place named Gilgal was included in Samuel's annual circuit, and is the location where he offered sacrifices after
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
was anointed as king, and where he renewed Saul's kingship together with the people.
In
1 Samuel 15
1 Samuel 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Sam ...
, Gilgal is where Samuel hewed King
Agag
Agag (; he, אֲגַג ''ʾĂgāg'') is a Northwest Semitic name or title applied to a biblical king. It has been suggested that "Agag" was a dynastic name of the kings of Amalek, just as Pharaoh was used as a dynastic name for the ancient Egyp ...
in pieces after Saul refused to obey God and utterly destroy the
Amalekites
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or th ...
.
On King David's return to Jerusalem after the death of his son Absalom ( 1 Samuel 19), David traveled to Gilgal. From there he was escorted to Jerusalem by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Again it is possible for this to be yet another "circle of standing stones" (or the same one as mentioned in relation to Elijah and Elisha, as Bethel is on the circuit with Gilgal, and other assumed locations show Gilgal to be far further away than the other two locations), and it is significant that it is treated as a holy place by the biblical text, rather than as a heathen one.
In the Book of Kings
In the Books of Kings, "Gilgal" is mentioned as the home of a company of
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
s. The text states that
Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...
and Elisha came from Gilgal to Bethel, and then onward to Jericho and to the
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, suggesting that the place was in the vicinity of Bethel, and far from Joshua's Gilgal near Jericho.
Since "Gilgal" means a "circle of standing stones", it is quite plausible for there to have been more than one place named Gilgal, and although there are dissenting opinions, it is commonly held to be a different place from the one involved with Joshua; it has been identified with the village
Jaljulia
Jaljulia ( ar, جلجولية, he, גַ׳לְג׳וּלְיָה), officially also spelled Jaljulye, is an Arab town in Israel near Kfar Saba. In it had a population of .
History
In Roman times the village was known as ''Galgulis'', while duri ...
, about north of Bethel. It is significant that the Books of Kings treat it as a place of holiness, suggesting that stone circles still had a positive religious value at the time the source text of the passages in question was written, rather than having been condemned as heathen by religious reforms. Another opinion is that it is not different from the Book of Joshua, as it locates it near Bethel as does the
Books of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
.
In Hosea
Gilgal is mentioned in God's rebuke of the Israelites saying: "The Lord says, 'All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels.'"().
Gilgal as a geographic term
The term ''gilgal'' is thought by modern archaeologists to refer to a type of structure, which may then receive additional names, for example "the gilgal by the
terebinth
''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...
s of
Moreh
Givat HaMoreh (Hebrew: גבעת המוֹרֶה), in Arabic: Jebel ed-Duhy, is a hill in northern Israel on the northeast side of the Jezreel Valley. The highest peak reaches an altitude of , while the bottom of the Jezreel Valley is situated at ...
" (Deuteronomy 11:30) or "the gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho" ( Joshua 4:19). Gilgal structures have been found only in the Jordan River valley, and in the Samaritan mountains on the edge of the desert. Pottery discoveries date them to the early Israelite period, with most remains from the 12th–11th centuries BCE. They are located on the lower slopes of a hill, have a footprint-shaped stone outline, and were used for occasional assembly rather than permanent dwelling. These sites are hypothesized to be ritual sites where the early Israelites celebrated holidays together, until worship was centralized. The footprint-shaped outline recalls ancient Egyptian symbolism in which a footprint symbolized ownership. The use of low slopes is in contrast to Canaanite practice, which placed sanctuaries "on every lofty hill" (
2 Kings 17
2 Kings 17 is the seventeenth Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The book is a compilation ...
Edward Robinson first drew the connection to Gilgal to Jiljilyya in 1838,Robinson, 1841, vol 3, p 82 /ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 125 /ref> as did van de Velde and
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Min ...
in 1870.Guérin, 1875, pp 167 168 In 1882, SWP noted: "The name suggests its identity with Gilgal, a town in the mountains near Bethel. This Gilgal (2 Kings ii. i) is mentioned as though ''above'' Bethel (verse 2), which does not agree exactly with the position of Jiljilia (2,441 feet above the sea), and of
Beitin
Beitin ( ar, بيتين ') is a Palestinian people, Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located northeast of Ramallah along the Highway 60 (Israel), Ramallah-Nablus road. The Palestinian village o ...
(2,890), but the descent into the great
valley, Wady el Jib, may account for the expression, 'went down to Bethel."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p 290 /ref>
In the 20th century, archaeologist W.F. Albright disagreed with this identification, while
Abel
Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...
agreed with it.
Abel
Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...
1938:337; cited in Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 557
, possibly associated by the Byzantines with Gilgal and the "twelve stones"
*
Yom HaAliyah
Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day ( he, יום העלייה), is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually according to the Jewish calendar on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel as ...
, Israeli national holiday created to honor the Jewish people carrying the Ark of the Covenant crossing the Jordan River into the Land of Israel at Gilgal as recorded in the Book of Joshua in the Bible.
*
Gilgal I
Gilgal I ( he, גלגל) is an archaeological site in the Jordan Valley, West Bank, dated to the early Neolithic period. The site is located north of ancient Jericho. The features and artifacts unearthed at Gilgal I shed important light on agr ...
, Neolithic site in the Jordan Valley, West Bank
*
Gilgal (kibbutz)
Gilgal ( he, גִּלְגָּל) is an Israeli settlement organized as a kibbutz in the West Bank. Located in the Jordan Valley around 16 kilometres north of Jericho with an area of 1,400 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bik'at HaYarden ...