GEBAL AND GIBLITES &= and ; Sept.
FaXtdO, Alex. Pap/a 40ktur cely). A very ancient city of Phcenicia, situated on the coast, at the foot of Le banon, 24 Roman miles north of Beyrout. Joshua speaks of the land of the Giblites' (xiii. 5) in such a way as to shew that the territory then attached to the city \vas large, apparently including the whole ridge of Lebanon north of Sidon. The Giblites were cele brated for their skill in architecture, and they were employed by Solomon in building the temple, probably on the recommendation of Hiram, king of Tyre, whose subjects they were. In Kings v. 18 the word tvinn, The Giblites,' is \ vrongly trans lated stone-squarers! Ezekiel, in describin, the glories of Tyre, says, The ancients of Gebar, and the wise men thereof, were in thee thy calkers (xxvii. 9); from which it appears that the Giblitcs were also famous as naval architects.
The Greeks changed the name Gebal into Byblos,BipXos (B6pAos, Stephan. Byz.); hence the Septuagint give in Kings v. IS, and Ezek. xxvii. 9, BipNcoi. Among the heathen the town was noted as the birth-place and principal sanctuary of Adonis (Strabo, xvi. p. 52o; Lucian, de Dea Syria, c. 6 ; Reland, 269). In the time of Alexander the Great it possessed a fleet of war vessels (Arrian, Exped. Alex. ii. 2o). It continued to flourish for many centuries (Pliny, H. N. v. 17 ; Ptolemy, v. 15), and became the seat of a bishop in the early ages of Christianity (Car. S. Paul. Geog. Sacr. p. 293). Under Arab rule it resumed its ancient name, but soon lost all its ancient power and splendour. The modern name7ebeil is the diminutive of the Hebrew Gebal.
Jcbeil stands on a spur of Lebanon, close to the shore. Below it is the ancient harbour, now so choked up with sand and ruins as to be only cap able of sheltering a few fishing-boats. The old ramparts are in ruins ; but the castle or citadel is still an object of special interest. Its substructions arc formed of massive bevelled masonry, and afford one of the best specimens of mural architecture extant, well worthy the fame and skill of the ancient Giblites. Some of the stones are nearly 20 feet long. The traces of a Roman theatre re main ; and great numbers of granite columns are strewn through the streets and ruins, and even over the surrounding fields, shewing how splendid the city once was. Now a poor village, of some 600 inhabitants, is its only representative (Maundrell, in Bohn's Early Travels, p. 4io; Pococke's Travels,
ii. 98 ; Burckbardt, Tray. in Syr., 179 ; Biblio theca Sacra, vol. v., p. 6, sey.; Wilson, Lands of the Bible,ii. 40o, seq.)—J. L. P G EBER (-op; LXX. raplp; Vulg. Gaber ; Joseph. rapcipnr, Antzq. VIII. 2. 3), son of Uri, and one of the twelve officers (conv:) appointed .
by Solomon to superintend the supply of provi sions for his table and household (r Kings iv. 7, 19, 27). These officers probably correspond to the twelve t:/';r1r1 41.V, riders of the substance, of the 'preceding reigm Chron. xxvii. 25-30, but with a more orderly distribution of service, and an enlarged jurisdiction. It may be inferred from Kings iv. 5, that they were placed under the direc tion of a superior officer, one of the chief ministers of the king. To each a distinct district was as signed; but we are not told whether they drew their supplies from the royal flocks and demesnes, as appears to have been the case in the reig-n of David, Chron. xxvii. 31; or from levies on the inhabitants, as is suggested by I Sam. vii. 11-17. The district over which Geber prcsided is described (1 Kings iv. 19) as the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, that is, the whole of thc East-Jordanic division of Pales tine. A difficulty has hence arisen in connection with the concluding clause of the verse just cited. As rendered in A. V., it reads, and he 'was the only officer which was in the land ;' whereas parts of thc same district were assigned to two others of the twelve officers, viz., Ben-Geber, or the son of Geber (whether of this Geber or of some other, is not known), whose bead-quarters were in Ramoth Gilead, and Ahinadab, who was stationed at Mahauaim (vv. r3, 14). It is not, however, easy to determine the exact meaning of the clause. As there is nothing in the Hebrew corresponding to the words he was,' Abarbanel and others after him have explained the clause, there was also a superior officer in the land.' Against this lies the objection, that the inferior officer would be men tioned by name, whilst the superior was nameless, and mentioned only incidentally. The explanation of Grothis appears a better one, 'unus procurator regis in terra quae fuerat duorum regum,' under standing by the land,' all the country of Sihon and Og except the parts which had been pre viously mentioned.—S. N.