Gibeon, Gibeonite

Definition

Gibeon was a city that was located about 13 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem. The people living in Gibeon were the Gibeonites.

• When the Gibeonites heard about how the Israelites had destroyed the cities of Jericho and Ai, they were afraid.
• So the Gibeonites came to the leaders of Israel at Gilgal and pretended to be people from a far-away country.
• The Israelite leaders were deceived and made an agreement with the Gibeonites that they would protect them and not destroy them.

(See also: Gilgal, Jericho, Jerusalem)

Bible References

• 1 Chronicles 8:29
• 1 Kings 3:4-5
• 2 Samuel 2:12-13
• Joshua 9:3-5

Examples from the Bible stories

• __15:6 But one of the Canaanite people groups, called the Gibeonites__, lied to Joshua and said they were from a place far from Canaan.
• __15:7 Sometime later, the kings of another people group in Canaan, the Amorites, heard that the Gibeonites had made a peace treaty with the Israelites, so they combined their armies into one large army and attacked Gibeon__.
• __15:8 So Joshua gathered the Israelite army and they marched all night to reach the Gibeonites__.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H1391, H1393