Gibeon and Israel: The Role of Gibeon

and the Gibeonites in the Political and

Religious History of Early Israel (Society
for Old Testament Study Monographs)
The site of the city of Gibeon is now identified with a fair degree of certainty with el-Jîb, a site about
eight miles north-west of Jerusalem. Gibeon is mentioned about forty times in the Old Testament,
and was clearly a city of some significance, particularly at the time of Saul, David and Solomon. Dr
Blenkinsopp examines the evidence, principally contained in the Bible, relating to Gibeon and the
Gibeonites, making use of confirmatory evidence provided by excavations at el-Jîb and ancient Near
Eastern non-biblical writings. He discusses the ethnic identity of the Gibeonites, the obscure history
of the ark before the transfer to Jerusalem, the role of local sanctuaries, the political and religious
significance of Saul and the events which are described in the books of Samuel, Kings and
Chronicles as taking