Gilboa Gelbue

(foaming, or surging spring) — the name of a mountain, or mountain heights, between the cities of Jezreel and Beth-shan, in the territory of the tribe of Issachar. Here, in a battle with the Philistines, three sons of Saul were slain, among them Jonathan, and Saul himself, covered with wounds and fearing to fall into the hands of the enemy, fell upon his own sword and died (1 Sam. 31:1–6; 1 Chron. 10:1–6). Upon receiving the sorrowful news of the death of Saul and Jonathan and the fatal outcome of the battle, David, in a lament, poured out his deep grief: “Ye mountains of Gilboa,” he cried out in sorrow, “let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away” (2 Sam. 1:21).

It cannot be thought, however, that this imprecation was fulfilled literally, or that it was uttered with the intent of calling down God’s wrath upon the mountains of Gilboa; no, it was merely an expression of deep sorrow, like that mournful outcry of Job when he cursed the day of his birth. On the southern slope of these mountains there still stands to this day a village called Jelbon, whose location corresponds to the description given by Eusebius of a village called Gelbus, on Mount Gilboa, 6 Roman miles from Scythopolis.

The range of the Gilboa mountains stretches from west to east for nearly 15 versts; the mountain slopes are for the most part bare. It is now called Jebel Fuqua.