GILBOA ( 1 Samuel 28:4; 1Sa 31:1; 1 Samuel 31:8 , 2 Samuel 1:6; 2Sa 1:21; 2 Samuel 21:12 , 1 Chronicles 10:1; 1 Chronicles 10:8 ). A range of hills, now called Jebel Fakû‘a , on the E. boundary of the Plain of Esdraelon. They run from Zer‘in (Jezreel) due S. E., 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 Fakû’a 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 (wh. see).
E. W. G. Masterman.