GILBOA

GILBOA - A range of hills, now called Jebel Fuqqu'ah, on the E. boundary of the Plain of Esdraelon, where Saul and Jonathan died, 1 S.28.4, 31.1-8, 1 Ch.10.l, 8; cf 2 S.1.6, 21. They run from Zer'in (Jezreel) due SE., and from the eastern extremity a prolongation runs S. towards the hills of Samaria. They are most imposing from the Vale of Jezreel and Jordan Valley, but nowhere reach a height of more than 1700 feet above sea-level. The little village of Jelbun on the slopes of Jebel Fuqqu'ah is thought to retain an echo of the name Gilboa. The slopes of these hills are steep, rugged, and bare. At the N. foot lies 'Ain Jalud, almost certainly the spring of Harod (q.v.). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - E.W.G.M.]