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Bible Dictionaries
Gilgal
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Gilgal (gĭl'găl), rolling. I. The name of the first station of the Israelites after crossing the Jordan, Joshua 4:19-20, where the twelve stones were set up, and the tabernacle remained until removed to Shiloh. Joshua 18:1. Samuel judged, and Saul was made king there; 1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 11:14-15; at Gilgal the people gathered for war; there Agag was hewn in pieces. 1 Samuel 13:4-7; 1 Samuel 15:33. Gilgal is not named in the New Testament. Josephus places this Gilgal 10 furlongs from Jericho and 50 from the Jordan: Jerome had it pointed out 2 miles from Jericho. 2. The Gitgal in Elijah's time was above Bethel, since the prophet "went down" from that Gilgal to Bethel. 2 Kings 2:2. As Bethel is 3300 feet above the Jordan plain, it must have been a Gilgal not in that plain, It has been identified with Jiljilia, 8 miles north of Bethel, where the school of the prophets was probably established. 3. Gilgal of Joshua 12:23 is supposed to be at a Jiljûlieh, near Antipatris, in the plain of Sharon.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Gilgal'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/g/gilgal.html. 1893.
