Jabesh-Gilead ( ''Yāḇēš Gīlʿāḏ''), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient

Israelite 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 ...

town in

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> ...

, in northwest

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 ...

. Jabesh is mentioned several times in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' King 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 tri ...

battles against the

Ammon Ammon ( Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; he, עַמּוֹן ''ʻAmmōn''; ar, عمّون, ʻAmmūn) was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in ...

ites and

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

Jabesh means "dry" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, a name possibly attributed to the site's well-draining soil. Gilead means 'heap

f stones F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...

of testimony'. There is also an alternative theory that it means 'rocky region'. mith's Bible Dictionary, "Gil'e-ad"

History

In the Hebrew Bible

Jabesh-Gilead is mentioned in the

Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom ...

, in the first and second

Books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...

, and in the Book of Chronicles.

Benjaminite War

Jabesh is mentioned in the biblical episode of the

Levite's concubine The episode of the Levite's concubine, also known as the Benjamite War, is a biblical narrative in Judges 19–21 (chapters 19, 20 and 21 of the Book of Judges). It concerns a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine, who travel through the Benj ...

, also known as the Benjamite War, during which eleven tribes of Israel had massacred the

Tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentate ...

. The eleven tribes relented from wiping the whole tribe, and decided that they needed to find wives for the 600 remaining Benjaminite men since all other people in Benjamin had been killed. However, they had taken an oath not to give their daughters to a Benjaminites, so they found the one city in Israel that had not joined the fight: Jabesh. The city's inhabitants were executed under the Herem except for 400 virgins. They brought back 400 virgins from Jabesh and gave them to the men on Rimmon Rock (). 067

Nahash of Ammon

Jabesh-Gilead is a central setting of . 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 ...

anointed Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or oth ...

by Samuel,

Nahash of Ammon Nahash was the name of a king of Ammon, mentioned in the Books of Samuel and Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. Nahash appears abruptly as the attacker of Jabesh-Gilead, which lay outside the territory he laid claim to. Having subjected the occupan ...

attacks Jabesh-Gilead. Having subjected the town to a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

, its inhabitants sought terms for

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

, but were told by Nahash that they had a choice of death by sword or having their right eyes gouged out. The population obtained seven days' grace from Nahash, during which they would be allowed to seek help from the Israelites, after which they would have to submit to the terms of surrender. The town's inhabitants sought help from the people of Israel, sending messengers throughout the whole territory, and

responded by raising an army which decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts at Bezek. After the war is over, the Israelites assemble at

Gilgal 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 Hebrew Bible. Gilgal is mentioned 39 times, in particula ...

to renew Saul's kingship over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Saul's Death

After Saul falls on his sword during the

Battle of Gilboa 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 tri ...

, the victorious Philistines recover his body as well as those of his three sons who also died in the battle, decapitate them and display them on the wall of

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...

. At night, the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead retrieve the bodies, showing their devotion to the rescuer of the city. Following a funeral pyre, Saul and his sons were buried them under the

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...

tree in Jabesh (, ). When David learns it was the men of Jabesh-Gilead who had brought Saul to a honorable burial, he sent messengers to bless them (). Later, David takes the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from Jabesh and buries them in Zela, in the tomb of Saul's father (). 077

House of Shallum

In the Books of Kings (, )

Shallum of Israel Shallum of Israel ( he, שַׁלּוּם ''Šallūm'', "retribution", ''fl.'' mid-8th century BC), was the fifteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, and the son of Jabesh. The Shallum dynasty, or the House of Shallum was an ephemeral dynas ...

's father is identified as

Jabesh Jabesh () was the father of Shallum of the Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible. Jabesh is mentioned In the Books of Kings (, ). However, the passage may instead mention a toponym, identifying that Shallum was "the son" of a city called ...

. However, the passage may instead mention a

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

, identifying that Shallum was "the son" of a city called Jabesh. In this view, Shallum may have originated from Jabesh-Gilead.Freedman, Myers (2000), p. 664

Later years

In his Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93-94 CE),

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

describes Jabesh Gilead as a metropolis in the Transjordan. In the early-4th century CE, Greek scholar

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 ...

mentioned "Iabeis Galaad" in his '' Onomasticon'' as a "village beyond the Jordan located on the mountains six miles from the city of

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

on the road to

Gerasa Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital cit ...

Identification

The exact location of Jabesh-Gilead is debated. Most scholars identify it with Tell el-Maqlub, but

Tell Abu al-Kharaz Tell Abu al-Kharaz () is an archeological tell in the Irbid Governorate of modern-day Jordan. Tell Abu al-Kharaz was the site of a fortified town during the Bronze and Iron Ages; it is located in the Jordan Valley, 4 kilometers east of the Jordan ...

is also frequently suggested. Both sites were inhabited during the Iron Age and lie along Wadi al-Yabis, a stream believed to preserve the town's ancient name.

Sources

* *{{citation , last1=Freedman , first1= David Noel , last2=Myers, first2=Allen C. , title=''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' , chapter=Jabesh-Gilead, year= 2000 , publisher=

Amsterdam University Press Amsterdam University Press (AUP) is a university press that was founded in 1992 by the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is based on the Anglo-Saxon university press model and operates on a not-for-profit basis. AUP publishes scholarl ...

, isbn=978-9053565032, chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA664

References

Book of Judges Books of Samuel Books of Chronicles Hebrew Bible cities Former populated places in Southwest Asia House of Shallum