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Bible Dictionaries
Gilead
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
or ("a hard rocky region".) The mountainous range and the region E. of Jordan are meant by "mount Gilead," not some one mountain. Bashan ("soft level soil"), a fertile plateau, bounds it on the N.; the Arabian table land on the E.; Moab and Ammon on the S. (Deuteronomy 3:12-17); Jordan on the W.; Hieromax river (now Sheriat'el Mandhur) divides it from Bashan. The Jabbok divided Og's northern half of Gilead (now Jebel Ajlun) from Sihon's southern half (now Belka.). The valley of Heshbon was probably Gilead's southern bound. Mishor, "a table land," is used to denote the plateau S. and E. of Gilead. Thus Bezer was in the country of the Mishor ("plain country," KJV Deuteronomy 4:43), the smooth downs of Moab contrasting with the higher districts of Bashan northwards and the rugged country W. of the Jordan.
One prominent peak is still called Jebel Jil'ad, "mount Gilead," the probable site of Ramath Mizpeh (Joshua 13:26), and the "Mizpeh of Gilead" from whence Jephthah passed over to Ammon (Judges 11:29), an admirable place for assembling forces for war. Es-Salt, a town close by, is on the site of "Ramoth Gilead," the city of refuge in Gad. The mountains of Gilead, 2,000 or 3,000 ft. high, appear still more elevated from the W. owing to the depression of the Jordan valley 1,000 ft., and resemble a massive wall along the horizon; but when ascended they present a" wide table land tossed about in wild confusion of undulating downs, clothed with rich grass and magnificent forests, and broken by three deep defiles, those of the Jarmuk, Jabbok, and Arnon" (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine)
The high Arabian plateau makes them look low from the E. Pasturage abounds in Gilead more than in western Palestine, from whence Reuben and Gad chose it for their numerous flocks and herds (Numbers 32). The physical nature of the country affected the character of its people, who ever retained nomadic pastoral habits. Gad, which lay S. and W. by Jordan, stretching N. as far as the sea of Galilee.) (See GAD.) Manasseh lay N. and E., and stretched S. to Mahanaim. Gilead's isolation kept its people in the background in Israel's history. Its aromatic spices and balm were exported to Egypt (Genesis 37:25; Jeremiah 8:22). Chedorlaomer attacked the giant Zuzim in Ham, i.e. probably Gilead; having first attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, now the Hauran, afterward the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, the country subsequently of Moab. In Gilead Saul's son at Mahanaim tried to gain his father's throne (2 Samuel 2:8-9).
Here David found shelter and hospitality while fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel 17:22; 2 Samuel 17:27-29). Elijah the Tishbite was of Gilead, and in garb, abruptness, and active energy reflected his country's characteristics. Being a border land, it was exposed to the marauding tribes of the desert (Joshua 17:1), and Ramoth Gilead was thought the eastern key of Palestine (1 Kings 22:3-6). (See RAMOTH GILEAD.) Twice our Lord withdrew to the trans-jordanic hills: after His baptism; again just before His last stay at Jerusalem (John 10:39-40). At Pella in the same region the disciples found the refuge from the siege of Jerusalem which their Lord had told them of beforehand; Cestius Gallus having providentially retired, and so given them the opportunity of fleeing (Matthew 24:15-16).
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Fausset, Andrew R. Entry for 'Gilead'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fbd/g/gilead.html. 1949.
