Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GILGAL

(Heb. gilgāl)

1. A place “opposite” Mts. Gerizim and Ebal. Deut. 11:30 describes it as both “in the land of” the Canaanites dwelling in the Arabah (which could refer to Gilgal near Jericho) and “beside” the oaks of Moreh (which would indicate another Gilgal near Shechem).

2. A place E of Jericho where the Israelites encamped after crossing the Jordan River and where they erected 12 stones from the Jordan River as a memorial of the crossing by the 12 tribes (Josh. 4:19-20). The generation of Israelites born in the wilderness was circumcised here (Josh. 5:2-9). From this action of “rolling away the disgrace of Egypt” apparently the name Gilgal was derived as a play on Heb. gll (“to roll [away].” In Gilgal the Israelites kept the first Passover in the land (Josh. 5:10), ate the produce of the land, and the manna ceased. They attacked Jericho from Gilgal, were deceived by the Gibeonites here (Josh. 9:6), and launched their attack on the anti-Gibeonite coalition (10:6-7, 9, 15). They also returned here from a victorious campaign into southern Canaan (Josh. 10:43) and granted Hebron to Caleb, beginning the allotment of land to the tribes (14:6).

In Judg. 2:1 the angel of the Lord goes from Gilgal to Bochim, perhaps indicating a decline in Gilgal’s significance or perhaps its capture by the Moabites. From here Ehud returned to slay Eglon, their king (Judg. 3:19). In Samuel’s time Gilgal seems to have regained some prominence. It was part of his circuit (1 Sam. 7:16). Samuel and the people made sacrifices here (1 Sam. 10:8), and here Saul was affirmed as king (11:15); but Saul was rebuked for presumptuously offering sacrifices (13:9-14) and for failing to destroy Amalekite flocks which he kept to sacrifice here (15:21). This mentioning of sacrifice at Gilgal perhaps indicates its importance as a sanctuary at that time. At Gilgal David was also welcomed back as king after the defeat of Absalom (2 Sam. 19:15, 40).

The 8th-century prophets condemn the use of Gilgal as a center for sacrifices (Hos. 4:15; 9:15; 12:11[MT 12]; Amos 4:4; 5:5). Micah reminds his people positively of the Israelites’ journey from Shittim to Gilgal (Mic. 6:5).

Attempts by archaeologists to fix the location Gilgal near Jericho have been inconclusive. Perhaps it was just a campsite that later became a place of sacrifice which merely consisted of an altar and a few stone pillars.

Bibliography. B. M. Bennett, Jr., “The Search for Israelite Gilgal,” PEQ 104 (1972): 111-22; J. Muilenburg, “The Site of Ancient Gilgal,” BASOR 140 (1955): 11-27.

3. A place in Galilee, between Dor and Tirzah, whose king Joshua defeated (Josh. 12:23-24 MT). The LXX reads “Goiim in Galilee” (so NRSV).

4. A place towards which the northern border of Judah turned north, opposite the ascent of Adummim (Josh. 15:7). However, describing this same border as Benjamin’s southern border, Josh. 18:17 mentions Geliloth instead of Gilgal. Excavations tentatively identify the site as ʿAraq ed-Deir (180133), 1.5 km. (mi.) W of Khan el-Aḥmar, the traditional “Inn of the Good Samaritan.”

5. A site N of Bethel. From here Elijah and Elisha travelled to Jericho (2 Kgs. 2:1-4). Later, after raising the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead, Elisha returned to Gilgal, where he purified a pot of foul stew (2 Kgs. 4:38). Some scholars identify the site as modern Jiljulieh, in the hill country ca. 13 km. (8 mi.) N of Bethel.

6. A site which Demetrius passed en route to his siege of Jerusalem (1 Macc. 9:2).

Roger Good

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GILGAL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)