Reference: Gebal
American
1. The Gebalene of the Romans, was a district of Idumea, called also at the present day Djebal, signifying mountains. It is the northern part of the range of mountains skirting the eastern side of the great valley El-Arabah, which runs from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea, Ps 83:7.
2. A seaport and district of Phoenicia north of Beyroot, called Byblos by the Greeks, now Jebail; population, 2,000. The inhabitants were called Giblites, and are denoted in the Hebrew word rendered "stone-squarer" in 1Ki 5:18. Their land and all Lebanon were assigned to the Israelites, but never fully possessed, Jos 13:5. It was an important place, Eze 27:9, and the seat of the worship of Thammuz.
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Easton
a line (or natural boundary, as a mountain range). (1.) A tract in the land of Edom south of the Dead Sea (Ps 83:7); now called Djebal.
(2.) A Phoenician city, not far from the sea coast, to the north of Beyrout (Eze 27:9); called by the Greeks Byblos. Now Jibeil. Mentioned in the Amarna tablets.
An important Phoenician text, referring to the temple of Baalath, on a monument of Yehu-melek, its king (probably B.C. 600), has been discovered.
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Fausets
(See SEIR, MOUNT) "a line", namely, of mountain boundary (Ps 83:7). An Idumean clan, on the right of Ammon, as Amalek was on the left; for in the psalm it is coupled with Moab, Ammon, Amalek, and Edom. Probably the modern Djebal, mountainous region S. of the Dead Sea; the Gebalene of the Romans, the Gobolitis of Josephus. A portion of the range of Edom. The psalm, probably by Jahaziel of the sons of Asaph, is a thanksgiving for the victory anticipated by faith over the hordes of invaders who sought to root Israel out of his inheritance, and who, marching S. round the Dead Sea, let no tidings reach Jehoshaphat until he heard that a great multitude was within his territory at Engedi (2Ch 20:2,7-11,14,18-19).
Smith's Bible Dictionary identifies the Gebal of Psalm 83 with Gebal in Eze 27:9, "the ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy caulkers" (stoppers of chinks in ships), evidently the Phoenician city and region between Beyrut and Tripoli, famed for skilled workmen, "the Giblites" (stone carvers) (1Ki 5:18 margin). So "the inhabitants of Phoenician, Tyre" are numbered with the invaders (Ps 83:7). But the collocation of Gebal between the "Hagarenes" and "Ammon" favors the men of Gebal being Idumeans. "The Giblites" in Jos 13:5 were from the region of Lebanon; the Septuagint term them Biblians, namely, of Byblus, on the Phoenician borders, N. of the river Adonis, afterwards a Christian see.
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Hastings
1. A place apparently S. of the Dead Sea, whose inhabitants made a league with Edomites, Moabites, and the Bedouin of the Arabah against Israel, on some unknown occasion (Ps 83:7), possibly the Gentile attack described in 1Ma 5:1-68. It is the modern Jebal. 2. A town in Ph
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Morish
Ge'bal
1. Maritime city of Phoenicia. Identified with Jebeil, the ancient Byblus, near the mouth of the river Adonis, 34 8' N. Its inhabitants are called GIBLITES in Jos 13:5. Some were workers in stone and assisted in the work of the temple. 1Ki 5:18, margin. Others were calkers. Eze 27:9. In this last passage the LXX reads 'Biblians,' and the Vulg. 'Giblians.'
2. Apparently part of the mountainous range of Edom. Ps 83:7. But some believe that this passage also refers to No. 1.
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Smith
Ge'bal
(mountain), a maritime town of Phoenicia, near Tyre,
known by the Greeks as Byblus. It is called Jebail by the Arabs, thus reviving the old biblical name.