RIBLAH (r1511, ` fertility,' from the Arabic • root J.1) ; BaXd ; Pa/That:cu. ; Tel3Xa9ct ; Ae13 /tabli ; Alex. sometimes AtfiXacl, and ,:liepXcact ; Rebla ; Reblatha), a very ancient city of Canaan. In describing the boundaries of the land which the Lord promised to bestow on the Israelites, Riblah is mentioned as one of the land-marks on the east : And ye shall point out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham : and the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain ; and thc border shall descend and shall reach unto tile side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward' (Num. xxxiv. to, II). There is just one other incidental notice in Scripture tending to fix the site of Riblah ; it is said to be in the land of Hamath' (2 Kings xxiii. 33 ; xxv. 21 ; Jer. 9). The land of Hamath lay on the north of the ancient kingdom of Damascus. [HANIATH.1 It embraced the plain on both sides of the Orontes, extending from the city of Hamath southward to the fountain of the Orontes. Somewhere on this plain Riblah must have stood ; and the scope of the passage shows that it must have been near the southern border of Hamath. It is farther described as lying on the east side of Ain' (rlb npn; clirb ciparoX63p erl innics ; Rebla contra fontem Daphne). Ain seems to be a proper name, but is doubtless descriptive ; and it therefore signifies either a noted fountain,' or a town beside a fountain and taking its name from it.
Guided by these indications there can be little difficulty in identifying Riblah. On the right bank of the Orontes, about twelve miles east by north of its great fountain, which still bears the name el Ain, is the little village of Riblah, surrounded by some low mounds containing ruins of former build ings. Its name is identical with that in the Bible ; its site is where the sacred writers represent it to be—in the southern part of the land of Hamath, and on the east side of Ain.' It may therefore be concluded that this is the old border city of Canaan.
An attempt has recently been made to distinguish Riblah the border city from Riblah in the land of Hamath (Smith's 1)1cl. of Bible, iii. ray). The reasons given, however, will scarcely be considered sufficient by any one who will examine carefully the topography of the northern and eastern borders of the promised land. [PALESTINE ; HAMATH.] There is nothing whatever in Num. xxxiv. ri to indicate that Riblah was near the sea of Chinnereth. The renderings of the ancient versions and the Targums only serve to confuse the passage. In the Septuagint the division of the Hebrew words is even mistaken. Thus r6ziri ntvn is rendered ciTC, 1:670a,uap Boa, joining the two first letters of the second word to the first word. The Vulgate,
too, without any authority, inserts the word Daph nim ; and Jerome affirms that Riblah is identical with Antioch (Onomast., s. v. Reblatha). In his commentary on Ezekiel he is still more explicit. He says, From the end, therefore, of the northern side, that is from the temple (atria) Enan, the border extends, according to the book of Numbers, to Sepham, which the Hebrews call Apamia, and from Apamia to Rebla, which is now called Anti Dch of Syria. And that it may be known that Rebla means that city which is now the noblest in Coele-Syria, the words contra fontem are added, which it is manifest signify Daphne' (Opera, vol. v. P- 478, ed. Migne). This singular view appears to be taken from the Tarcrums (Bochart, Opera, i. 430. Some suppose that the Daphne here mentioned was the place near the lake of Merom of which Josephus speaks (Bell. 7ad. iv. 1. ; and that therefore Ain may mean one of the fountains of the Jordan. It will be seen, however, that the name Daphne is inserted without any authority. It Ls a pure hypothesis of some Jewish rabbin ; and as the name Riblah still exists in the southern part of the land of Hamath,' and on the east side of the great fountain' of the Orontes, there car, be no legitimate ground for doubt that it is the Riblah of the O. T.
Riblah lay on the line of route between Palestine and Assyria. It was a favourite camping-ground for the armies both of Assyria and Egypt when marching along this route. Here Pharaoh-necho, after defeating the Jews on the fatal field of Esdrae lon, put the youthful Jehoahaz in chains, and made Eliakim king (2 Kings xxiii. 29-35). Here Nebu chadnezzar encamped while his general invaded Judah and captured Jerusalem. Hither the un fortunate Zedekiah was brought captive, and after being compelled to witness the murder of his sons, his eyes were put out, and he was bound in fetters of brass (2 Kings xxv. 6, 7 ; Jer. xxxix. 5-7). Riblah is now a poor village. Its glory has long since passed away. But its suitableness for the I headquarters of a great army is still apparent. It is encompassed by a vast plain of unrivalled rich ness ; a large river flows past it ; its air is pure and bracing ; and there is ready access from it by easy and open roads to every district of the country, whether maritime or inland. It is a strategic posi tion of the first importance. The military monarch of Babylon, who established his headquarters here, was evidently thoroughly acquainted with the geo graphy of Syria and Palestine, and perfectly capable of applying his knowledge to the advancement of his ambitious designs (Handbook, pp. 577, 578 ; Robinson, B. R., 542, seq. ; Porter's Damascus, ii. 335, seq.)—J. L. P.