Original Word: גִּבְעָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: gib`ah
Pronunciation: ghib-aw'
Phonetic Spelling: (ghib-aw')
KJV: hill, little hill
NASB: hills, hill
Word Origin: [feminine from the same as H1387 (גֶּבַע - Geba)]

1. a hillock

hill, little hill

Feminine from the same as Geba'; a hillock -- hill, little hill.

see HEBREW Geba'

Word Origin
fem. from the same as Geba
Definition
a hill
NASB Translation
Gibeath-haaraloth* (1), hill (30), hills (39).

I. גִּבְעָה noun feminine hill — absolute גִּבְעָה 2 Samuel 2:25 13t. + Ezekiel 6:13 (strike out Co q. v.) 1 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 6:3,4 (compare Dr); construct גִּבְעַת Joshua 5:3 8t. + 1 Samuel 10:5 (compare Dr); suffix גִּבְעָתִי Ezekiel 34:26 (but strike out Co), גִּבְעָתָהּ Isaiah 31:4; plural absolute גְּבָעוֺת Deuteronomy 12:2 35t.; construct גִּבְעוֺת Deuteronomy 33:15; Habakkuk 3:6, גִּבְעֹת Genesis 49:26; suffix גִּבְעוֺתֶיךָ Ezekiel 35:8; — hill, height, elevation, both high and low, compare Psalm 148:9 ההרים וכל גבעות, Psalm 65:13; —

1 in ordinary prose, hill, lower than mountain Exodus 17:9,10 (E) 2 Samuel 2:25; it may be proper name in 1 Samuel 7:1; 1 Samuel 10:10; 2 Samuel 6:3,4 see also below II. גִּבְעָה.

2 especially as place of illicit worship גְּבֹהָה ותחת כל עץ רענן ׳עַל כָּלגֿ 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; Jeremiah 2:20; compare Deuteronomy 12:2; 2 Kings 16:4; 2Chronicles 28:4 (these two + במות); also Hosea 4:13; Jeremiah 13:27; Jeremiah 17:2; Ezekiel 6:13 (see above).

3 very commonly "" הר in poetry & prophets Deuteronomy 33:15; Psalm 72:3; Psalm 114:4; Psalm 114:6; Psalm 148:9; Songs 2:8; Songs 4:6; Isaiah 2:2,14; Isaiah 30:17,25; Isaiah 31:4; Isaiah 40:4,12; Isaiah 41:15; Isaiah 42:15; Isaiah 54:10; Isaiah 55:12; Isaiah 65:7; Jeremiah 3:23; Jeremiah 4:24; Jeremiah 16:16; Jeremiah 50:7; Ezekiel 6:3; Ezekiel 34:6; Ezekiel 35:8; Ezekiel 36:4,6; Hosea 4:13; Hosea 10:8; Joshua 4:18; Amos 9:13; Micah 4:1; Micah 6:1; Nahum 1:5; Habakkuk 3:6; rarely in prose Deuteronomy 12:2; sometimes as high and majestic (poetry) עולם ׳ג Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15; Habakkuk 3:6 ('everlasting hills'); compare also Job 15:7; Proverbs 8:25(with adjective high, compare above); see also Jeremiah 49:16.

4 hills with special names, some nearly or quite = proper name, of a location, which see under the respective words: מֹרֶה ׳ג Judges 7:1 teacher's hill, in valley of Jezreel; הָעֲרָלוֺת ׳ג Joshua 5:3 hill of the fore-skins; הָאֱלֹהִים ׳ג 1 Samuel 10:5 (a designation of Gibeah); הַחֲכִילָה ׳ג 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1,3; אַמָּה ׳ג 2 Samuel 2:24; הַלְּבוֺנָה ׳ג Songs 4:6 (i.e. hill where frankincense is grown); גָּרֵב֑ ׳ג Jeremiah 31:39; יְרוּשָׁלַם ׳ג Isaiah 10:32; compare Isaiah 31:4 (where "" הַרצִֿיּוֺן), Ezekiel 34:26 (see above) & הַגְּבָעוֺת Zephaniah 1:10 hills on which Jerusalem stands.

Topographical and Symbolic Landscape

“Gibʿah” regularly denotes a discernible rise in the terrain—a knoll or hillock that can be occupied, cultivated, fortified, or sanctified. Because Israel’s central hill country is laced with such elevations, the word appears in military records, boundary lists, poetry, and prophecy. A hill offered visibility to watchmen (Isaiah 30:17), security for armies (1 Samuel 14:5), a platform for covenantal ceremony (Deuteronomy 11:29), and—tragically—an enticing venue for idolatrous worship (Jeremiah 3:6). The term’s roughly seventy-one occurrences therefore trace a theological tension: God grants high ground as an inheritance and stronghold, yet Israel often turns the same heights into stages of rebellion.

Distribution in Tribal Allotments

Joshua catalogues several sites whose very names derive from the root (Joshua 15:57; 18:28; 24:33). Within Benjamin’s inheritance, Gibeah became prominent; Judah also possessed a Gibeah west of Hebron. These listings remind readers that Israel’s land grant was not abstract but topographically specific, inviting stewardship of every ridge and summit.

Gibeah of Benjamin: Collapse and Kingship

1. Moral breakdown (Judges 19–21). The atrocity at Gibeah—“such a vile thing has happened in Israel” (Judges 20:6)—precipitated civil war. Scripture juxtaposes the hill’s elevation with ethical degradation, underscoring the need for righteous leadership: “In those days there was no king in Israel” (Judges 19:1).
2. Royal residence (1 Samuel 10:26). After Saul’s anointing, “Saul also went to his home in Gibeah,” transforming the once-notorious hill into the first royal seat of Israel. Military engagements against Philistines unfolded on its slopes (1 Samuel 13:3; 14:16).
3. Prophetic touchstone. Hosea later invokes “the days of Gibeah” as a fixed point of national guilt (Hosea 9:9; 10:9), proving that unrepentant sin can brand a locale for centuries. Isaiah warns that Assyria will “shake a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 10:32), echoing earlier crises at Gibeah to call the nation to repentance.

Other Named Hills

• Gibeah of Judah (Joshua 15:57) sat among hilltop towns that guarded Judah’s heartland.
• Gibeah of Phinehas (Joshua 24:33) became the burial area for Eleazar’s priestly line, tying priestly heritage to elevated ground.
• Gibeah-haaraloth (“Hill of the Foreskins,” Joshua 5:3) marked Israel’s renewed covenantal obedience after the wilderness years.

Military and Strategic Usage

Elevations afforded tactical advantage. Jonathan and his armor-bearer scaled “the rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other” opposite Michmash (1 Samuel 14:4–13). Watchmen “stood on the tower in Jezreel” (2 Kings 9:17), and a lone banner raised on a hill could rally scattered forces (Isaiah 30:17). Kings calculated the cost of holding or storming a hill; prophets applied the same imagery to spiritual warfare, depicting the LORD as the sure defense whose “foundation is on the holy mountain” (Psalm 87:1).

Cultic and Devotional Associations

Though “high places” (bāmôṯ) is a distinct term, gibʿah often functions interchangeably in narrative settings. Illegal shrines rose on many hillsides (1 Kings 14:23). Yet the same geography could host legitimate, God-honoring gatherings: Samuel summoned Israel to Mizpah (a “watch-tower” hill) for national repentance (1 Samuel 7:5-6), demonstrating that elevation alone does not defile; human intent does.

Prophetic and Poetic Imagery

Psalms and Isaiah harness the hill metaphor to contrast human pride with divine majesty. “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low” (Isaiah 40:4) promises moral leveling before the glory of the LORD. Psalm 121:1 reads, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?”—a searching question answered in the next verse: “My help comes from the LORD.” The topography drives the worshiper to look beyond created heights to the Creator Himself.

Christological and Pastoral Reflections

Golgotha—though rendered “place of the skull”—was nevertheless a hill outside Jerusalem, turning the geography of judgment into the geography of redemption. The moral darkness of Benjamin’s Gibeah and the self-exalting hills condemned by prophets find their resolution at Calvary, where the Son of God bore covenant curses on an elevated stage visible to all (John 19:17-18). Ministers therefore urge believers to remember that no height—literal or figurative—can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39).

Selected Scripture Index

Genesis 31:55; Deuteronomy 11:29; Joshua 5:3; Joshua 15:57; Joshua 18:28; Judges 19:12-15; Judges 20:10-15; 1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 13:15-18; 1 Samuel 14:5; 2 Samuel 2:24; 2 Kings 9:17; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Psalm 15:1; Psalm 121:1; Isaiah 10:32; Isaiah 30:17; Isaiah 40:4; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 10:9.

Key Ministry Takeaways

• Hills remind believers that physical security can never replace covenantal fidelity.
• The repetition of Gibeah in prophetic oracles teaches the church to confront, not conceal, historic sin.
• Elevated places can magnify either idolatry or true worship; discerning hearts must choose obedience.
• God employs geography as a didactic tool, guiding His people from corrupted hills to the hill of atonement and onward to the heavenly Zion (Hebrews 12:22).

בְּגִבְעַ֣ת בְּגִבְעַת֙ בַּגִּבְעָ֑ה בַּגִּבְעָ֔ה בגבעה בגבעת גְּ֝בָע֗וֹת גְּבָע֑וֹת גְּבָע֥וֹת גְּבָעוֹת֙ גְבָע֣וֹת גִּבְע֣וֹת גִּבְע֥וֹת גִּבְעַ֖ת גִּבְעַ֣ת גִּבְעָ֑ה גִּבְעָ֔ה גִּבְעָ֖ה גִּבְעָ֞ה גִּבְעָ֣ה גִּבְעָ֨ה גִּבְעָה֙ גִּבְעָתִ֖י גִּבְעָתָֽהּ׃ גִּבְעֹ֣ת גִּבְעוֹתֶ֤יךָ גבעה גבעות גבעותיך גבעת גבעתה׃ גבעתי הַגְּבָע֑וֹת הַגְּבָע֔וֹת הַגְּבָע֖וֹת הַגְּבָע֥וֹת הַגְּבָעֽוֹת׃ הַגְּבָעוֹת֙ הַגִּבְעָ֔ה הַגִּבְעָ֔תָה הַגִּבְעָֽה׃ הגבעה הגבעה׃ הגבעות הגבעות׃ הגבעתה וְ֠לַגְּבָעוֹת וְגִבְעָ֖ה וְהַגְּבָע֖וֹת וְהַגְּבָע֗וֹת וְהַגְּבָעוֹת֙ וְלַגְּבָע֖וֹת וְלַגְּבָע֜וֹת וּ֝גְבָע֗וֹת וּגְבָע֔וֹת וּגְבָע֖וֹת וּמִגְּבָע֖וֹת וגבעה וגבעות והגבעות ולגבעות ומגבעות מִגְּבָע֑וֹת מִגְּבָע֖וֹת מִגִּבְעַ֥ת מֵהַגְּבָעֽוֹת׃ מגבעות מגבעת מהגבעות׃ bag·giḇ·‘āh baggiḇ‘āh baggivAh bə·ḡiḇ·‘aṯ bəḡiḇ‘aṯ begivAt gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ ḡə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ gəḇā‘ōwṯ ḡəḇā‘ōwṯ gevaot giḇ‘āh giḇ‘aṯ giḇ‘āṯāh giḇ‘āṯî giḇ‘ōṯ giḇ‘ōwṯ giḇ‘ōwṯeḵā giḇ·‘ā·ṯāh giḇ·‘ā·ṯî giḇ·‘āh giḇ·‘aṯ giḇ·‘ō·w·ṯe·ḵā giḇ·‘ō·wṯ giḇ·‘ōṯ givAh givAt givaTah givaTi givOt givoTeicha hag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ hag·giḇ·‘ā·ṯāh hag·giḇ·‘āh haggəḇā‘ōwṯ haggevaot haggiḇ‘āh haggiḇ‘āṯāh haggivAh haggivAtah mê·hag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ mêhaggəḇā‘ōwṯ mehaggevaot mig·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ mig·giḇ·‘aṯ miggəḇā‘ōwṯ miggevaot miggiḇ‘aṯ miggivAt ū·ḡə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ ū·mig·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ ūḡəḇā‘ōwṯ ugevaot ūmiggəḇā‘ōwṯ umiggevaot vegivAh vehaggevaot velaggevaot wə·ḡiḇ·‘āh wə·hag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ wə·lag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ wəḡiḇ‘āh wəhaggəḇā‘ōwṯ wəlaggəḇā‘ōwṯInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts