Gibeah was an important city located in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin in the Old Testament. It was the site of some significant events in Israel’s history.
Gibeah as Saul’s Home and Capital
Gibeah is first mentioned as the home of Saul, who became the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 10:26). After Saul was anointed as king, he returned to Gibeah and a band of men “whose hearts God had touched” went with him. This seems to indicate that Gibeah was Saul’s power base from which he launched his new kingship. Later, when Saul called the armies of Israel to war against the Ammonites, the men of Israel assembled in Gibeah (1 Samuel 11:4).
During Saul’s reign as king, Gibeah remained an important city and served as the capital over the territory of Benjamin. When the Philistines gathered to fight Israel at Michmash, Saul remained in Gibeah under a pomegranate tree (1 Samuel 14:2). Gibeah was also the place where Saul built his first altar to the Lord after becoming king (1 Samuel 14:35).
Even after Saul’s death, his son Ish-Bosheth set up his throne in Gibeah and ruled over Israel for two years from there (2 Samuel 2:8-9). So Gibeah maintained its status as the capital city of Saul and his descendants for a time.
The Crime at Gibeah
One of the most well-known accounts connected to Gibeah is the horrifying story of crime that took place there in Judges 19-20. A Levite was passing through Gibeah and stayed the night there with his concubine. Wicked men of the city surrounded the house and demanded that the Levite be brought out so they could have sex with him. The Levite threw his concubine out to them and they abused her all night until she died.
This shocking crime led to a war between Gibeah and the rest of the Israelite tribes. The other tribes were outraged at the wickedness of Gibeah and demanded that the men responsible be handed over for judgment. When Benjamin refused to give them up, a bloody civil war ensued that led to the near destruction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 20).
This incident revealed the depths of depravity and perversion that existed at Gibeah. It shocked Israel and led to a period of moral and spiritual decline recorded in the closing chapters of Judges. Gibeah became a byword for the moral decay of Israel at that time.
Gibeah in Prophecy
The prophet Hosea pronounced coming judgment on Gibeah and connected it to the sins of Israel. He said:
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins. (Hosea 9:9)
Jeremiah also grouped Gibeah with other cities marked by sinful rebellion against God that would taste His wrath:
For the destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken. Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away; for her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them. Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed. Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. How do you say, ‘We are heroes and mighty men of war’? The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.(Jeremiah 48:8-15)
Hosea and Jeremiah both saw Gibeah as a representation of the depths of depravity and rebellion against God that Israel had fallen into. Its judgment was symbolic of God’s coming judgment on the sins of the nation.
Gibeah Rebuilt After the Exile
Although Gibeah was denounced by the prophets and likely destroyed with the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, it was later rebuilt and reinhabited after the Babylonian exile. Nehemiah records:
And next to them the priests, the men of the surrounding area. And next to them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh (Nehemiah 3:22-25)
This passage describes the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Jews returned from exile. It mentions that men from the “surrounding area” and from Gibeah itself (“next to them Benjamin”) helped repair the walls. So Gibeah was re-established as a city of Benjamin after the exile.
Little else is known about Gibeah’s history after the rebuilding period. But it remained an important city in Benjamin and served as a landmark representing Israel’s checkered spiritual history throughout the Old Testament era.
Lessons from Gibeah
What lessons can we learn from the Biblical accounts concerning Gibeah?
- Leaders and nations are judged by God for their wickedness, even if previously they had God’s favor (as with Saul).
- God hates injustice, violence, and perversion and will punish societies where it goes unchecked.
- Even notorious cities known for evil can later rebuild and change their ways after facing judgment.
- All cities and nations go through cycles of decline and renewal according to how faithfully they follow the Lord.
While infamous for a time, Gibeah’s legacy ultimately teaches about the justice of God, the depravity of human hearts, and the possibility of redemption for even the most wicked of cities. Its place in Scripture stands as a warning and reminder that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34).