Gilead - Wikipedia

Northern part of the region of Transjordan, also the name of several biblical figures For other uses, see Gilead (disambiguation). For the personal name "Gilad" ("Gil'ad"), see Gilad.

Gilead גִּלְעָד, جلعاد
Region
Gilead around river Zarqa, biblical River Yabok
Gilead
Coordinates: 32°33′N 35°51′E / 32.550°N 35.850°E / 32.550; 35.850
Location	Irbid Governorate, Jordan
Highest elevation	1,200 m (3,900 ft) (Mount Maqta' al Qurmeya)

Gilead or Gilad (UK: /ˈɡɪliæd/, US: /ˈɡɪliəd/;[1][2] Hebrew: גִּלְעָד Gilʿāḏ, Arabic: جلعاد, Jalʻād) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan, present-day Jordan.[3] The region is bounded in the west by the Jordan River, in the north by the deep ravine of the river Yarmouk and the region of Bashan, and in the southwest by what were known during antiquity as the "plains of Moab", with no definite boundary to the east. In some cases, "Gilead" is used in the Bible to refer to all the region east of the Jordan River.[4] Gilead is situated in modern-day Jordan, corresponding roughly to the Irbid, Ajloun, Jerash and Balqa Governorates.

Etymology

[edit]

Gilead is explained in the Hebrew Bible as derived from the Hebrew words גלעד‎ gal‛êd, which in turn comes from gal ('heap, mound, hill') and ‛êd ('witness, testimony').[5] If that is the case, Gilead means 'heap [of stones] of testimony'. There is also an alternative theory that it means 'rocky region'.[6]

From its mountainous character, it is called the Mount of Gilead (Genesis 31:25; Song 4:1). It is called also the Land of Gilead (Numbers 32:1, Judges 10:4) in many translations, and sometimes simply Gilead (Genesis 37:25; Judges 10:8; Psalm 60:7), also mentioned in Micah 7:14–15.

History

[edit]

Hebrew Bible

[edit]

The name Gilead first appears in the biblical account of the last meeting of Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:21–22). In Book of Genesis, Gilead was also referred to by the Aramaic name Yegar-Sahadutha, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew Gilead, namely "heap [of stones] of testimony" (Genesis 31:47–48).[7][3]

According to the biblical narrative, during the Exodus, "half Gilead" was possessed by Sihon, and the other half, separated from it by the river Jabbok, by Og, king of Bashan. After the two kings were defeated, the region of Gilead was allotted by Moses to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the eastern half of Manasseh (Deuteronomy 3:13; Numbers 32:40).

In the Book of Judges, the thirty sons of the biblical judge Jair controlled the thirty towns of Gilead (Judges 10:4), and in the First Book of Chronicles, Segub controlled twenty-three towns in Gilead (1 Chronicles 2:21–22). It was bounded on the north by Bashan, and on the south by Moab and Ammon (Genesis 31:21; Deuteronomy 3:12–17).

"Gilead" mentioned in the Book of Hosea may refer to the cities of Ramoth-Gilead, Jabesh-Gilead, or the whole Gilead region; "Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood" (Hosea 6:8).

The kingdoms Ammon and Moab sometimes expanded to include southern Gilead. King David fled to Mahanaim in Gilead during the rebellion of Absalom. Gilead is later mentioned as the homeplace of the prophet Elijah.

Neo-Assyrian province

[edit]

King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria established the province of Gal'azu (Gilead) c. 733 BCE.[8]

Arabic

[edit]

Gilead (Arabic: جلعاد, Ǧalʻād or Jalaad) is an Arabic term used to refer to the mountainous land extending north and south of Jabbok. It was used more generally for the entire region east of the Jordan River. It corresponds today to the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Jordan. The region appears in the ancient Safaitic inscriptions.[9]

See also

[edit]

• Balm of Gilead
• Machir
• Machir (tribal group)
• Shibboleth
• Tribe of Manasseh
• Perea
• Balqa
• Republic of Gilead

References

[edit]

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
2. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
3. ^ a b Easton's Bible Dictionary, Galeed
4. ^ "Gilead | ancient region, Palestine | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
5. ^ Hebrew Dictionary, Strong's Concordance of the Bible, reference #5707
6. ^ Smith's Bible Dictionary, "Gil'e-ad"
7. ^ Bible Atlas, Jegar-sahadutha (Ramoth-gilead).
8. ^ "Gilead | ancient region, Palestine | Britannica".
9. ^ "OCIANA - Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gilead. Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Gilead".

v t e Earth's primary regions and subregions
Worlds	Down Under New World Old World Three/Four Worlds First World Second World Third World Fourth World
Hemispheres	Eastern Land Hemisphere Northern Southern Water Hemisphere Western
Landmasses	Africa-Eurasia Eurasia Americas Antarctica Australia Zealandia submerged Tectonic plates
Continents	Africa North Maghreb Sub-Saharan Central East Horn Great Lakes Southern West Antarctica East Antarctica Antarctic Plateau Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctica Antarctic Peninsula Asia East Northeast Southeast Mainland Maritime Central Aral Sea Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea North Siberia Ural Russian Far East Northeast South Indian subcontinent Subregions West Arabian Peninsula Caucasus South Caucasus Levant Dead Sea Levantine corridor Levantine Sea Near East Otherregions Himalayan Himalayan states Indian region Inner Asia Greater Central Asia Europe Eastern Balkans Caucasus North Caucasus South Caucasus Southern Russia European Russia Southeastern Northern Baltic British Isles Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Southern Mediterranean Middle East Italy Italian Peninsula South-eastern Balkan Peninsula South-western Iberian Peninsula Western Atlantic Low Countries Northwestern Otherregions Central Europe By language Celtic Germanic Romance Slavic Macaronesia NorthAmerica NorthernAmerica Californias Greenland Great Lakes Pacific Northwest Western North America United States Appalachia Bible Belt Eastern East Coast Northern Southeast Southwest U.S. Censusregions Northeastern New England Mid-Atlantic Midwest South Western Mountain Pacific Canada Atlantic Canadian Prairies Central Eastern Northern Western MiddleAmerica Aridoamerica Northern Mexico Mesoamerica Bajío Huasteca Tierra Caliente Valley of Mexico Caribbean Greater Dutch Western West Indies CentralAmerica Northern Triangle Mosquito Coast Oceania Australasia Australia Mainland Australia New Guinea Tasmania Zealandia Melanesia Island Melanesia Micronesia Near Oceania Polynesia Remote Oceania SouthAmerica Amazon Plain Amazon Basin Amazon Rainforest Andean States Brazilian Highlands Caribbean South America Colombian Venezuelan The Guianas Southern Cone Patagonia Tierra del Fuego
Geopolitical regions	Global East Heartland North Northeast Northwest South Southeast Southwest West Asia–Pacific Far East Pacific Asia Sinosphere Greater China Indosphere Greater India Europe,the Middle Eastand Africa Mediterranean GreaterMiddle East Middle East and North Africa Middle East Arab world Mashriq Maghreb Greater Iran Iranian plateau Americas Anglo Dutch French Latin Americaand the Caribbean Latin Ibero Hispanic Portuguese
Islands	By continent Africa Americas North America Caribbean Central America South America Antarctica Asia Europe by area by population Oceania Australia New Zealand By ocean Arctic Atlantic Baltic Sea Black Sea Caribbean Sea Irish Sea Mediterranean Sea Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Ionian Sea Indian Persian Gulf Pacific East China Sea South China Sea Southern
Oceans	Antarctic/Southern Antarctic Convergence Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Great Barrier Reef Mariana Trench Challenger Deep Ring of Fire World Ocean
Otherwaterbodies	Lakes lists Rivers Seas
Rim	Arctic Atlantic Indo-Mediterranean Indian Ocean Mediterranean Pacific
Polar	Antarctic Arctic
Continents of Earth / List of seas / Physical Earth