"And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they did work wilily, . . . and they went to Joshua unto the camp to Gilgal, and said unto him, . . . We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live." Joshua, ix. 3, &c. (Read whole chapter.)

"Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel . . . that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, . . . and all the men thereof were mighty. . . . . Therefore the five kings of the Amorites.. gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. And the men

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of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him. . . and the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them, unto Azekah, and they died. . . . Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon ; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed.". —Johsua x. 1, &c. (Read whole chapter.)

"There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon all other they took in battle.”—Joshua xi. 19.

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"And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab... and the servants of David went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon, and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. . . . Then there arose, and went over . . . twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side, so they fell down together. . . . And there was a very sore battle that day and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David. . . . And Asahel (the brother of Joab) pursued after Abner. wherefore Abner . . . smote him... and he fell down there, and died in the same place."... 2 Samuel ii. 12— 23, iii. 30.

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"When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. . . . And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard . . . to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hands: so he smote him therewith ... and he died.” . . . 2 Samuel xx. 8-12. (Read whole passage.)

"Then there was a famine in the days of David three years . . . and David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. . . . Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? ... And they answered the king, The man that consumed us .. let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul. . . . And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord." (See GIBEAH.)-2 Samuel xxi. 1-9.

“And they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer."-1 Chronicles xiv. 16; 2 Samuel v. 25.

"And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, to offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of the burnt-offering continually, morning and evening."...-1 Chronicles xvi. 39, 40. (See whole chapter.)

"For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt-offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon."1 Chronicles xxi. 29.

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"So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon . . . and Solomon... offered a thousand burnt-offerings.. that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee."-2 Chronicles i. 3 &c. (See also 1 Kings iii.)

"And next unto them repaired Melatiah, the Gibeonite . . . (and) the men of Gibeon.”—Nehemiah iii. 7.

"The Lord shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon." -Isaiah xxviii. 21.

"Then they... went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon."-Jeremiah xli. 12.

[See also Joshua xviii. 25, xxi. 17; 1 Kings ix. 2; 1 Chron. viii. 29, ix. 35, xii. 4; Neh. vii. 25.]

"Gibeon is celebrated in the Old Testament; but is not mentioned in the New. It was a great city, as one of the royal cities; and to its jurisdiction belonged originally the towns of Beeroth, Chephirah, and KirjathJearim.1 The city is first mentioned in connexion with the deceit practised by its inhabitants upon Joshua; by which, although Canaanites (Hivites), they induced the Jewish leader not only to make a league with them and spare their lives and cities; but also in their defence to make war upon the five kings by whom they were besieged. It was in this great battle that 'the sun stood still on Gibeon.' The place afterwards fell to the lot of Benjamin, and became a Levitical city, where the tabernacle was set up for many years under David and Solomon. The ark at this time was at Jerusalem. Here the latter youthful monarch offered a thousand burntofferings; and in a dream by night communed with God, and asked for himself a wise and understanding heart instead of riches and honour. Here too it was, that Abner's challenge to Joab terminated in the defeat and flight of the former, and the death of Asahel; and here also at a later period Amasa was treacherously slain by Joab.

[The village of El-Jîb is situated upon an isolated oblong hill or ridge, which rises in a beautiful plain, bounded on the west and south by mountains.]

1 Josh. ix. 17.

2 Josh. xviii. 25, xxi. 17.

3 2 Chron. i. 4.

"This hill is in some parts steep and difficult of access, and capable of being everywhere very strongly fortified ... It may be said to stand in the midst of a basin, composed of broad valleys or plains, cultivated, and full of grain, vineyards, and orchards of olive and fig-trees. It was decidedly the finest part of Palestine that I had yet seen . . .

“We reached the village of El-Jib, situated on the summit of this hill. . . . It is of moderate size; . . . the houses stand very irregularly and unevenly, sometimes almost one above another. They seem to be chiefly rooms in old massive ruins, which have fallen down in every direction. One large massive building still remains, perhaps a former castle or tower of strength ... the whole appearance is that of antiquity. Towards the east the ridge sinks a little; and here, a few rods from the village, just below the top of the ridge... is a fine fountain of water. It is in a cave excavated in and under the high rock, so as to form a large subterranean reservoir. Not far below it, among the olivetrees, are the remains of another open reservoir. . . . It was doubtless anciently intended to receive the superfluous waters of the cavern. At this time no stream was flowing from the latter. It is not difficult to recognise in El-Jîb and its rocky eminence the ancient Gibeon of the Scriptures, . . . (and) the 'Pool of Gibeon,' mentioned in the story of Abner, may well be the waters of the fountain described (above); and these are also probably the great' (or many) waters in Gibeon,' spoken of in Jeremiah xli. 12."-See ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. pp. 135-138.

The ancient Gibeon "is situated on the top of a remarkably round hill, the sides of which are so completely terraced, not by art, but by nature, that they present the appearance of a flight of steps all round, from the top to the bottom. The buildings are mostly on the western brow of the hill, the rest of the summit being covered with fine olive-trees. Many of the ter