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גִּבְעָא

𐤂𐤁𐤏𐤀

Givea

H1388 noun

SILEX Entry

Root גבע to be raised, to be high, hill, mound

Definition

A place-name meaning 'hill' or 'height,' referring to a settlement located on or near a hill. The term is typically used as a toponym for several settlements in ancient Israelite territory, most notably 'Gibeah of Benjamin,' a town that played a significant role in several narratives during the monarchic period.

Semantic Range

hill, mound, high place; place-name for settlements on or near a hill; Gibeah (Benjaminite town); other minor localities with the same topographic feature

Root / Etymology

From the root גבע (g-b-ʿ), meaning 'hill' or 'elevated area.' The form גִּבְעָא uses the Aramaic ending -א (aleph) instead of the more common Hebrew feminine ending -ה (he) found in גִּבְעָה. This suggests dialectical or chronological influence, with the ending reflecting either a later historical stage or regional linguistic variation.

Historical & Contextual Notes

The name גִּבְעָא (Gib'a) is most often encountered in place-name lists, particularly in the contexts of settlement descriptions or tribal boundary accounts. The most prominent location bearing this name is Gibeah of Benjamin, situated north of Jerusalem, which was the site of the violent events in Judges 19–21 and later became the early royal residence of King Saul (1 Samuel 10–15). Archaeological and geographical analyses correlate the name with sites located on noticeable hills, in line with the root meaning. The alternative spelling with -א was likely influenced by Aramaic or later dialects, indicating the persistence or revival of the name through subsequent periods, particularly as Aramaic became more prominent in post-exilic times. In modern translations, 'Gibeah' is typically transliterated rather than translated as 'hill,' but the latter meaning underlies the name. The use of גִּבְעָא as a toponym does not carry additional religious or ethnic connotations beyond its geographic sense, though by the Hellenistic-Roman periods such sites passed into the territories referred to as Judea (not to be confused with the original geographic or ethnic terms in the monarchic or patriarchal periods).

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

by permutation for גִּבְעָה; a hill; Giba, a place in Palestine; Gibeah.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

גבע (g-b-ʿ) — to be raised, to be high, hill, mound

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1360 גֶּבֶא from a collecting-pool
H1375 גְּבִיעַ goblet of
H1387 גֶּבַע in Gebaʿ
H1389 גִּבְעָה in the hill-height
H1390 גִּבְעָה in the Hill

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1388-01 גִבְעָ֑א givea HNp Gibea Hill-Town 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1388-01 1 Chronicles 2:49 גִבְעָ֑א givea HNp Gibea Hill-Town
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