Gilead

(hill, witness) (Gen. 31:47; 2 Kings 10:33) — thus is called the mountainous country beyond the Jordan, from Mount Hermon to the river Arnon, as well as also a particular mountain on that side of the Jordan, at which Jacob and Laban, after their reconciliation, erected a heap of stones as a sign of their peaceful covenant. In the time of Moses, the northern part of Gilead belonged to Og, king of Bashan, and the southern part to Sihon, king of the Amorites (Judg. 11:22). Then, after the conquest of Gilead by the Israelites, it was given as an inheritance to the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num. 32:1, 33 and following), which abounded in cattle.

Of the judges, Jair and Jephthah belonged to the inhabitants of Gilead (Judg. 10:3; 11:1). The prophet Elijah the Tishbite was also of the inhabitants of Gilead (1 Kings 17:1). The lands of Gilead at first were frequently subjected to attacks by the Ammonites (Judg. 11:4–33). Thus, for example, the Ammonites in the days of Saul penetrated into Gilead, but Saul came to the aid of Jabesh, besieged by the Ammonites, and delivered the inhabitants of Gilead from the Ammonite yoke (1 Sam. 11:1).

After the division of the kingdom, Gilead formed part of the kingdom of Israel. In Psalm 60 [59] (v. 9) Gilead is spoken of as being under God’s special care: “Gilead is mine,” says the Lord, while in the Song of Songs (4:1) and in Jeremiah (8:22) reference is made to the wealth and fertility of the land; in the first place mention is made of the many flocks of goats coming down from Mount Gilead, and in the second — of the healing balm for which Gilead was so famous. And indeed, although Gilead was reckoned a rocky country, it possessed many springs of water, extensive pastures, and shady forests and groves.

“There is no place in Europe,” remarks one of our contemporary travelers, “where nature appears in such luxuriant beauty as in Gilead.” Sometimes to the name Gilead is added the word “land” — the land of Gilead (Deut. 34:1), and probably under this name is meant the whole country to the east of the Jordan as far as Arabia itself, including in this the present-day district of Belka. Mount Gilead, properly speaking, forms a ridge, or chain, rising 6 miles to the south of the Jabbok, and stretching 6 English miles from east to west.

It is now called Jebel Jelad. There is, however, another mountain of the same name to the west of the Jordan, near which part of Gideon’s army left him (Judg. 7:3).