Gilgal

VIEW:39 DATA:01-04-2020

wheel; rolling; heap
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


GILGAL.—A name meaning ‘stone circle’ applied to several places mentioned in the OT. 1. A place on the east border of Jericho (Jos_4:19), where the Israelites first encamped after crossing Jordan, and which remained the headquarters of the congregation till after the rout of the northern kings at Merom (Jos_14:6). The stone circle from which it certainly took its name (in spite of the impossible etymology given in Jos_5:9), was no doubt that to which the tradition embodied in Jos_4:20 refers, and the same as the ‘images’ by Gilgal in the story of Ehud (Jdg_3:19 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). The name is still preserved in the modern Jiljûlieh. This is probably the same Gilgal as that included in the annual circuit of Samuel (1Sa_7:16). This shrine is mentioned by Hosea (Hos_4:16; Hos_9:16; Hos_12:11) and by Amos (Amo_4:4; Amo_5:6). 2. A place of the same name near Dor mentioned in a list of conquered kings (Jos_12:23). It may be Jiljûlieh, about 4 miles N. of Antipatris (Ras el-’Ain). 3. A place in the Samaritan mountains (2Ki_4:38), somewhere near Bethel (2:1). It may possibly be Jiljîlia, 8 miles N. W. of Bethel. 4. The Gilgal of Deu_11:30 is unknown. It may be identical with No. 1; but it seems closely connected with Ebal and Gerizim. There is a Juleijil 21/2 miles S. E. of Nâhlus that may represent this place. 5. A place of uncertain locality, also possibly the same as No. 1, in the border of the tribe of Judah (Jos_15:7).
At none of these places have any remains of early antiquity been as yet observed. There was in a.d. 700 a large church that covered what were said to be the twelve commemoration stones of Joshua: this is reported by Arculf. The church and stones have both disappeared. The only relic of antiquity now to be seen is a large pool, probably of mediæval workmanship, 100 ft. by 84 ft. A tradition evidently suggested by the Biblical story of the fall of Jericho is recorded by Conder as having been related to him here.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

1. Hebrew: "the Gilgal," i.e. rolling. Israel's first encampment W. of Jordan (five miles) where they passed their first night after crossing, and set up the twelve stones taken from the river bed (Jos_4:3; Jos_4:19-20). Here they kept the first Passoverin Canaan (Jos_5:10). On arising ground ("hill," Jos_5:3; Jos_5:9) in the hot sunken Ghor between Jericho and the Jordan, one mile and a half E. of Jericho; five miles and a half W. of Jordan (Josephus, Ant. 5:1, 4, 11). On the N. side of wady Kelt, one mile and a third from the tower of modern Jericho (Eriha); toward the E. is a tamarisk, "Shejaret el Ithleh," which tradition makes the site of "the city of brass," whose walls fell on their besiegers marching round them. A pool is 150 yards S.E. of the tree, such as Israel would need in their long encampment at Gilgal; it is built with well packed pebbles without cement.
S.E. of this are twelve or more small mounds, Tell ayla't Jiljulieh, eight or ten ft. diameter, and three or four high, possibly remains of Israel's camp (Conder, Palestine Exploration). The distances stated by Josephus accord with this site. The Israelites born in the wilderness were here circumcised with stone knives (Jos_5:2 margin; Exo_4:25), which "rolling" away of the reproach of uncircumcision gave the name. The sons under 20 years, when at Kadesh in the second year of the wilderness journey the murmuring nation was rejected (Numbers 14), had been already circumcised; those born subsequently needed circumcision. As God abrogated at Kadesh the covenant, the sons of the rejected generation were not to receive the covenant rite. The manna and pillar of cloud were not withdrawn, because God would sustain the rising generation with the prospect of the ban being removed, and of the covenant temporarily suspended being renewed.
The sentence was exhausted when they crossed the Zered and entered the Amorites' land (Deu_2:14; Num_21:12-13), when all the sentenced generation was dead (Num_26:63-65). Moses, himself under sentence to die, did not venture on the steppes of Moab to direct the circumcision of the younger generation without Jehovah's command. And the rule of divine grace is first to give, then to require; so first He showed His grace to Abraham by leading him to Canaan and giving the promises, then enjoined circumcision; also He did not give the law to Israel at Sinai until first He had redeemed them from Egypt, and thereby made them willing to promise obedience. So now He did not require the renewal of circumcision, the covenant sign of subjection to the law (Gal_5:3), until He had first showed His grace in giving them victory over Og and Sihon, and in making a way through Jordan, a pledge that He would fulfill all His promises and finally give them the whole land.
The circumcision was performed the day after crossing Jordan, i.e. the 11th day of the first month (Gal_4:19). The Passover was kept on the 14th (verse 10). The objection that all could not have been circumcised in one day is futile. For the males in Israel at the census in Moab shortly before were 601,730 upward of 20 years old, besides 23,000 Levites of a month old and upward; at the outside all the males would be less than one million. Of these about 300,000 were 38 years old, therefore born before the census at Kadesh and circumcised already; so that only 600,000 would remain to be circumcised. The uncircumcised could easily be circumcised in one day with the help of the circumcised; the latter would prepare and kill the Passover lamb for their brethren whose soreness (Gen_34:25) would be no bar to their joining in the feast.
The "reproach of Egypt rolled off" is (like "the reproach of Moab" Zep_2:8, and "Syria" Eze_16:57) that heaped on Israel by Egypt, namely, that Jehovah had brought them into the wilderness to slay them (Exo_32:12; Num_14:13-16; Deu_9:28). This "reproach of Egypt" rested on them so long as they were under the sentence of wandering and dying in the desert. The circumcision at Gilgal was a practical restoration of the covenant, and a pledge of their now receiving Canaan. No village was, or is, at Gilgal. In Mic_6:5, "O My people, remember ... what Balak ... consulted, and what Balaam ... answered ... from Shittim unto Gilgal," the sense is, Remember My kindness from Shittim. the scene of Balaam's wicked counsel taking effect in Israel's sin, from the fatal effects of which I saved thee, all along to Gilgal where I renewed the covenant with Israel by circumcision (2Sa_19:15).
2. Gilgal from which Elijah and Elisha went down to Bethel (2Ki_2:1-2). Clearly distinct from:
3. Gilgal, which is below in the Ghor along Jordan, not above Bethel, which is 1,000 ft. above Jordan. Now perhaps the ruins Jiljilieh, a few miles N. of Bethel. Another Gilgal has been found four miles from Shiloh, and five from Bethel, which is 500 ft. lower; this may be the Gilgal of 2Ki_2:3. Gilgal not far from Shechem, beside the plains of Moreh (Deu_11:30). Jos_12:23, "king of the nations (goim) of Gilgal," i.e. of the nomadic tribes, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country whose center was Gilgal.
4. To the N. of Judah (Jos_15:7). (See GELILOTH.)
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Gil'gal. (a wheel; rolling).
1. The site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan, the place at which they passed the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which had been taken from the bed of the stream, Jos_4:19-20, compare Jos_4:3, where also they kept the first Passover in the land of Canaan, Jos_5:10. It was "in the east border of Jericho," apparently on a hillock or rising ground, Jos_5:3, compare Jos_5:9, in the Arboth-Jericho (Authorized Version "the plains"), that is, the hot depressed district of the Ghor which lay between the town and the Jordan. Jos_5:10.
Here Samuel was judge, and Saul was made king. We again have a glimpse of it, some sixty years later, in the history of David's return to Jerusalem. 2Sa_19:40. A Gilgal is spoken of in Jos_15:7 in describing the north border of Judah. In Jos_18:17, it is given as Geliloth. Gilgal near Jericho is doubtless intended.
2. In 2Ki_2:1-2; 2Ki_4:38 is named a Gilgal visited by Elijah and Elisha. This could not be the Gilgal of the low plain of the Jordan, for the prophets are said to have gone down to Bethel, which is 3000 feet above the plain. It haa been identified with Jiljilia, about four miles from Bethel and Shiloh respectively.
3. The "king of the nations of Gilgal" or rather perhaps the "king of Goim at Gilgal," is mentioned in the catalogue of the chiefs overthrown bv Joshua. Jos_12:23. Possibly, the site of this place is marked by the modern village Jiljulieh, about four miles south of Antipatris, which lies 16 miles northeast of Joppa. But another Gilgal, under the slightly-different form of Kilkilieh, lies about two miles east of Antipatris.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

a celebrated place situated on the west of Jordan, where the Israelites encamped some time after their passage over that river, and where Joshua pitched twelve stones taken out of Jordan as a memorial. A considerable city was afterward built there, which became renowned for many events recorded in the history of the Jews. Gilgal was about a league from Jordan, and at an equal distance from Jericho. It received its name from the circumstance of the Hebrews being there circumcised; for when by divine command that rite had been performed upon them, the Lord said, “This day have I rolled away from off you the reproach of Egypt,”
Jos_5:2-4, &c.—The word Gilgal signifies rolling. Here the ark was long stationed, and consequently the place was much resorted to by the Israelites. It seems to have been the place in which Jeroboam or some of the kings of Israel instituted idolatrous worship; and hence the allusions to it by the prophets, Hos_4:15; Amo_4:4. It is probable that there were idols at Gilgal as early as the days of Ehud, who was one of the judges; for it is said that, having delivered his presents to the king, “Ehud went away, but returned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal,”
Jdg_3:19. The margin of our Bibles reads, “the graven images,” or idols set up by the Moabites, the viewing of which, it is thought, stirred up Ehud to revenge the affront thereby offered to the God of Israel. At this same place, the people met to confirm the kingdom to Saul, 1Sa_11:14-15. It was at Gilgal, too, that Saul incurred the divine displeasure, in offering sacrifice before Samuel arrived, 1 Samuel xiii; and there also it was that he received the sentence of his rejection for disobeying the divine command, and sparing the king of Amalek with the spoils which he had reserved, 1 Samuel 15.
It has been supposed that the setting up of stones, as at Gilgal and other places, gave rise to the rude stone circular temples of the Druids, and other Heathens. The idea, however, appears fanciful, and there is an essential difference between stones erected for memorials, and those used to mark sacred, or supposed sacred, places for worship.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

When Israel under Joshua crossed the Jordan to conquer Canaan, the first place they came to was Gilgal. There they set up a camp, which became the headquarters for the battles to follow (Jos_4:19; Jos_6:11; Jos_10:6).
Israel’s entrance into Canaan was the beginning of a new way of life, and Joshua set up a memorial at Gilgal to mark the occasion (Jos_4:20). He also arranged for the circumcision of all those who had been born during the years in the wilderness but had not yet been circumcised. The significance of this mass ceremony was that circumcision was the sign of the covenant under which Israel inherited the land (Jos_5:2-9).

At Gilgal the Israelites kept their first Passover in Canaan. The forty years journey from Egypt was now formally over, and the daily supply of manna ceased (Jos_5:10-12). Gilgal was the administrative centre of Israel throughout the war and in the early days of the settlement program (Jos_10:6; Jos_10:9; Jos_10:15; Jos_10:43; Jos_14:6). The headquarters was then transferred to Shiloh (Jos_18:1; Jos_18:8-10).
Later, Gilgal became an important religious town in Israel. It was one of the four towns in central Palestine that Samuel visited on his annual circuit. The school for prophets that he established there was still operating in the days of Elijah and Elisha (1Sa_7:16-17; 2Ki_2:1; 2Ki_4:38).
Samuel also established in Gilgal a place of sacrifice for important national occasions (1Sa_10:8; 1Sa_13:8; 1Sa_15:12). After Saul led Israel to victory in his first battle, the people arranged a public ceremony at Gilgal to confirm him king over a now united people (1Sa_11:12-15). But Gilgal was also the place where Saul lost the kingdom through his wilfulness and disobedience (1Sa_13:7-15; 1Sa_15:12-33).
Gilgal remained popular with the people as a place of worship. Nevertheless, because of the self-righteousness and unspirituality of the worshippers, God’s prophets repeatedly denounced Gilgal and the people who worshipped there (Hos_4:15; Hos_9:15; Hos_12:11; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:4-5).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

gil?gal (גּלגּל, gilgāl, ?circle?; Γάλγαλα, Gálgala): The article is always with the name except in Jos_5:9. There are three places to which the name is attached:
(1) The first camp of Israel after crossing the Jordan (Jos_4:19; Jos_5:9, Jos_5:10; Jos_9:6; Jos_10:7; Jos_14:6; Jos_15:7; Deu_11:30). According to Jos_15:7 it lay to the North of the valley of Achor, which formed the border between Judah and Benjamin. Here 12 memorial stones taken from the bed of the river were set up by Joshua, after the miraculous crossing of the Jordan; and here (Jos_5:5) the people were circumcised preparatory to their possession of the land, when it is said in Josh, with a play upon the word, ?This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you.? Whereupon the Passover was celebrated (Jos_5:10) and the manna ceased (Jos_5:12). To Gilgal the ark returned every day after having compassed the city of Jericho during its siege (Jos_6:11). Hither the Gibeonites came to make their treaty (Jos_9:3), and again (Jos_10:6) to ask aid against the Amorites. Gilgal was still the headquarters of the Israelites after the battle with the Amorites (Jos_10:15); again after Joshua's extensive victorious campaign in the hill country of Judea extending to Kadesh-barnea and Gaza (Jos_10:15); and still later upon his return from the great battle at the Waters of Merom (Jos_14:6). At the conclusion of the conquest (Jos_18:1), the headquarters were transferred to Shiloh on the summit of the mountain ridge to the West.
Gilgal reappears frequently in subsequent history. Samuel (1Sa_7:16) made it one of the three places where he annually held circuit court, the other places being Bethel and Mizpah. The Septuagint text adds that these were holy places. The place continued as one of special resort for sacrifices (1Sa_10:8; 1Sa_13:8, 1Sa_13:9, 1Sa_13:10; 1Sa_15:21), while it was here that Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord (1Sa_15:33), and that Saul was both crowned (1Sa_11:14, 1Sa_11:15) and rejected as king. It was at Gilgal, also (2Sa_19:15), that the people assembled to welcome David as he returned from his exile beyond Jordan during Absalom's rebellion. The early prophets refer to Gilgal as a center of idolatry in their day (Hos_4:15; Hos_9:15; Hos_12:11; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5). Micah (Mic_6:5) represents Gilgal as at the other end of the Dead Sea from Shittim.
In 1874 Conder recognized the name Gilgal as surviving in Birket Jiljúlieh, a pool beside a tamarisk tree 3 miles East of old Jericho. The pool measures 100 ft. by 84, and is surrounded with a wall of roughly hewn stones. North of the pool Bliss discovered lines of masonry 300 yds. long, representing probably the foundations of an ancient monastery. South of the pool there are numerous mounds scattered over an area of one-third of a square mile, the largest being 50 feet in diameter, and 10 feet in height. On excavation some pottery and glass were found. These ruins are probably those of early Christian occupation, and according to Conder there is nothing against their marking the original site. Up to the Middle Ages the 12 stones of Joshua were referred to by tradition.
(2) According to 2Ki_2:1; 2Ki_4:38, Elisha for a time made his headquarters at Gilgal, a place in the mountains not far from Bethel identified by Conder as Jiljilia, standing on a high hill on the North side of the Wādy el-Jib. It is lower than Bethel, but the phrase in 2Ki_2:2, ?they went down to Beth-el,? may refer to their initial descent into the wādy. It could not have been said that they went down from Gilgal to Bethel in the Jordan valley. The place seems to be referred to in Neh_12:29 as Beth-gilgal.
(3) Gilgal of the nations: In Jos_12:23 Gilgal is mentioned as a royal city associated with Dor, evidently upon the maritime plain. Dor is identified with Tantura, while Conder identifies this Gilgal with Jiljúlieh, 30 miles South of Dor and 4 miles North of Anti-patris.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Gilgal, 1
Gil?gal, the place where the Israelites formed their first encampment in Palestine, and which continued for some time to be their headquarters while engaged in the conquest of the land (Jos_4:19-20; Jos_9:6; Jos_10:6-7, etc.). It was here that they set up the twelve stones which they took out of the bed of the Jordan (Jos_4:19). Samuel used to visit Gilgal in his annual circuit as a judge; and here there was a school of the prophets (1Sa_7:16; 2Ki_4:38). There is no notice of the place after the Captivity. Indeed, it does not seem that the name belonged at first to a town, although Gilgal eventually became an inhabited place. It appears to have been early abandoned, and Josephus does not seem to mention it as existing in his time. This writer places it on the east border of Jericho, ten stadia from that city, and fifty from the Jordan. From this it would seem to have been in the vicinity of the present village of the pseudo-Jericho, Riha, which is about the assigned distance from the river. No trace of the name or site can now be discovered.
Gilgal, 2
Gilgal, a place in the region of Dor, whose king was subdued by Joshua (Jos_12:23). The Gilgal of Neh_12:29, and 1Ma_9:2, is probably the same as this; as well as the ancient Galgala, which Eusebius and Jerome place six Roman miles north of Antipatris. In this neighborhood there is still a village called Jiljuleh, which probably represents the ancient site.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Gilgal
(Heb. Gilgal, גַּלְגִּל, a wheel, as in Isa_28:28; according to Jos_5:9, a rolling awvay; with the article a prop. name, Sept. τὰ Γάλγαλα, but Γολγόλ v.r. Γαλγάλ in Deu_11:20 and Jos_14:6), the name of at least two places in Palestine.
1. The site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan, the place at which they passed the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which bad been taken from the bed of the stream (Jos_4:19-20; comp. 3) SEE STONE; where also they kept their first passover in the land of Canaan (5:10). It was in thee "end of the east of Jericho" ( בַּקְצֵה מַזְרִח יA.V. "in the east border of Jericho"), apparently on a hillock or. rising ground (Jos_4:3; compare 9) in the Arboth-Jericho (A.V. "the plains"), that is, the hot, depressed district of the Ghor which lay between the towns and the Jordan (Jos_4:10). Here the Israelites who had been born on the march through the wilderness were circumcised, an occurrence from which the sacred historian derives the name: "'This day I have rolled away (gallo'thi) the reproach of Egypt from off you.' Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day." The meaning does not seem to be that a new name was given, but rather that a new meaning and significance were attached to the old name. The word Gilgal means a "circle," and also a "rolling away." A similar play upon a word was noticed in the case of GILEAD SEE GILEAD ; and Bethel is an example of an old name having attached to it a new significance (Gen_28:19; Gen_35:15). By Josephus (Ant. 5:1, 11) it is said to signify "freedom" (ἐλευθέριον). It would appear that Gilgal was the name of the place before the Exodus, for Moses describes the Canaanites as dwelling "over against Gilgal" (Deu_11:30). The difficulties connected with this passage have already been explained under EBAL SEE EBAL .
Keil supposes that this Gilgal was near Shechem (Comm. on Joshua, pages 219, 232). The camp thus established at Gilgal remained there during the early part of the conquest (Jos_9:6; Jos_10:6-7; Jos_10:9; Jos_10:15; Jos_10:43); and we may probably infer from one narrative that Joshua retired thither at the conclusion of his labors (Jos_14:6; comp. 15). Saul, when driven from the highlands by the Pheilistines, collected his feeble force at the site of the old camp (1Sa_13:4; 1Sa_13:7). The tabernacle appears to have remained there at least until its removal to Shiloh (Jdg_18:1). It was one of the places to which Samuel regularly resorted, where he administered justice (1Sa_7:16), and where burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were accustomed to be offered " before Jehovah" (1Sa_10:8; 1Sa_11:15; 1Sa_13:8-12; 1Sa_15:21); and on one occasion a sacrifice of a more terrible description than either (1Sa_15:33). The air of the narrative all through leads to the conclusion that at the time of these occurrences it was the chief sanctuary of the central portion of the nation (see 1Sa_10:8; 1Sa_11:14; 1Sa_15:12; 1Sa_15:21). But there is no sign of its being a town; no mention of building, or of its being allotted to the priests or Levites, as was the case with other sacred towns, Bethel, Shechem, etc. In the history of David's return to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19), the men of Judah came down to Gilgal to meet the king to conduct him over Jordan, as if it was close to the river (2Sa_19:15), and David arrived there immediately on crossing the stream after his parting with Barzillai the Gileadite (2Sa_19:40). After the erection of the Temple, Gilgal appears to have been utterly neglected. Perhaps, when Jericho was rebuilt, the traditional sanctity of Gilgal was transferred to it, and there a school of the prophets was established and remained until a late period (2Ki_2:5). SEE JERICHO.
How Gilgal became appropriated to a false worship we are not told, but certainly, as far as the obscure allusions of Hosea and Amos can be understood (provided that they refer to this Gilgal), it was so appropriated by the kingdom of Israel in the middle period of its existence (Hos_4:15; Hos_9:15; Hos_12:11; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5). These idolatrous practices are specially mentioned by Epiphanius and others (Reland, Palaest. page 782 sq.). The utter desolation of its site, and the whole surrounding region, shows how fearfully the prophecies have been fulfilled. The place is not mentioned in the Apocrypha nor the N.T. Later authorities are more precise, but unfortunately discordant among themselves. By Josephus (Ant. 5:1, 4) the encampment is given as fifty stadia, rather under six miles, from the river, and ten from Jericho. In the time of Jerome the site of the camp and the twelve a memorial stones were still distinguishable, if we are to take literally the expression of the Epit. Paulae (§ 12). The distance from Jericho was then two miles. According to Eusebius, the spot (Γαλγὠλ) was left uncultivated, but regarded with great veneration by the residents (Onomast. s.v. Γάλγαλα). When Arculf was there at the end of the 7th century, the place was shown at five miles from Jericho. A large church covered the site, in which the twelve stones were ranged (Early Travels in Pal. page 7). It is probable, however, that the ecclesiastical architects had not been very particular about topography (Robinson, Research. 2:287). The church and stones were seen by Willibald thirty years later, lent be gives the distance as five miles from the Jordan, which again he states correctly as seven from Jericho. The stones are mentioned also by Thietmar, A.D. 1217 (according to whom it was to these that John the Baptist pointed when he said that God was "able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham," Peregr. 31); and, lastly, by Ludolf de Suchem a century later. These specifications, show that Gilgal must have been near the site of the modern village of Riha (Porter, Handbook for Sinai and Palestine, page 196). In Van de Velde's Map (1858)., a spot samed Moharfer, a little south-east of er-Riha, is marked as probable. Schwartz (Physical Description of Palestine, page 128) asserts that there is at present found near the Jordan in this vicinity a hill, which appears like a heap of stones, and is called by the Arabs Galgala; but this lacks confirmation. It is probably this Gilgal that is called GELILOTH in Jos_18:17, where, as well as in the parallel passage, 15:7, the position is given with more minuteness than elsewhere.
2. A royal city of the Canaanites, whose sovereign ("king of the nations of Gilgal," or, rather, perhaps the "king of Goim-at-Gilgal," לְגַלְגָּלמֶלֶךְאּגּוֹיַם) is mentioned in the catalogue of the chiefs overthrown by Joshua (Jos_12:23), appears to have been situated on the western plain, as it is connected with the "region of Dor" (Jos_12:22). Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s.v. Γελγέλ, Gelgel) say that it was in their time a village called Galgulis (Γαλγουλῆς), about six Roman miles north of Antipatris (Kefr Saba); and this is probably the present ruined village Ji'ulieh of the same neighborhood (Robinson, Researches, 3:47; Schwarz, Palest. page 92), although this is only two miles from Kefr Saba, and east- south-east (E. Smith, in the Bibliotheca Sacra, 1843, page 492), rather than the Kilkilieh, about two miles east of Kefr Saba (Robinson, Later Researches, pages 136, 138).
The Goim, or original inhabitants of this place, evidently were in some distinctive sense heathen (q.v.). "'By that word (Jdg_4:2) or 'nations' (Gen_14:1) the name is usually rendered in the A. Vers. as in the well-known phrase, 'Galilee of the nations' (Isa_9:1; comp. Mat_4:15). Possibly they were a tribe of the early inhabitants of the country, who, like the Gerizites, the Avim, the Zemarites, and others, have left only this faint, casual trace of their existence there" (Smith, s.v.). SEE GALILEE.
3. A town, evidently in the mountainous interior, whence Elijah and Elisha are said to have gone doon to Bethel (2Ki_2:2), which is itself 3000 feet above the Gilgal in the Jordan valley. It was perhaps here that Elisha rendered the pottage harmless (2Ki_4:38); he may even have resided here (2Ki_2:1; 2Ki_4:38). It lay in the vicinity of Baal-shalisha (2Ki_4:42). This is probably the BETH-GILGAL (A.V. "house of Gilgal") mentioned (Neh_12:29) as occupied by the Levitical singers after the exile; and it is evidently also the Galgala (Γάλγαλα) on the route of the victorious Bacchides (1Ma_9:3). SEE GALALA. Keil (Comment. on Joshua p. 219, 232) and Van de Velde (Memoir, page 316), after Winer (s.v.), unnecessarily identify this with the Gilgal of Joshua's camp, etc. It is doubtless the Galgala (Γάλγαλα) stated by Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s.v.) to be located near Bethel; and is the large village Jiljilia, one hour west of Sinjil, on the road from Jerusalem to Nablus, situated so high on the brow of the central mountain tract as to afford an extensive view of the great lower plain and the sea, and even a view of Mount Hermon (Robinson, Researches, 3:81).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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