Ebal

ancient heaps

Ebal

(stone, bare mountain).

1. One of the sons of Shobal the son of Seir. (Genesis 36:23; 1 Chronicles 1:40)
2. Obal the son of Joktan. (1 Chronicles 1:22) comp. Genesis 10:28

Ebal

De 27:1-28:68; a mountain in Ephraim, over against mount Gerizim, from which it is separated by a valley about five hundred yards wide and three miles long, in which stands the town of Shechem. Both mountains are much alike in length, height, and form, and their altitude is stated not to exceed seven hundred and fifty or eight hundred feet from the level of the valley. As you journey from Jerusalem, and turn to pass through the valley west-northwest to Shechem, mount Ebal is on the right hand and mount Gerizim on the left. Some have described the count of cursing as sterile and desolate, and Gerizim as smiling and fertile. But at present there is little difference between their opposing fronts, which are alike, steep and barren. Mount Gerizim, however, is said to have a more fertile background, and to be a little higher than mount Ebal. The base of the latter is full of sepulchral excavations. See GERIZIM, SHECHEM.

EBAL, MOUNT

e'-bal, (har `ebhal; Gaibal):

Rises North of the vale of Shechem, over against Mt. Gerizim on the South. The mountain (Arabic el-Iclamiyeh) reaches a height of 1,402 ft. above the floor of the valley, and 3,077 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean. The Samaritans feign that Gerizim is the higher; but it is more than 200 ft. lower than Ebal. These two mountains overhang the pass through which runs the main artery of intercourse between East and West, the city of Nablus lying in the throat of the valley to the West. The ancient Shechem probably stood farther to the East. The lower slopes of Ebal as one ascends from Nablus are covered with gardens and orchards, the copious streams from the fountains under Gerizim washing its foot, and spreading fertility and beauty. The vine, the fig and the olive grow luxuriantly. Higher up we scramble over rough rocky terraces, where grow only the ubiquitous thistles and prickly shrubs.

From the broad summit a view of surpassing interest and beauty rewards the climber's toil. Westward beyond the hills and the plain of Sharon with its coast line of yellow sand running from Jaffa to Carmel, stretch the blue waters of the Mediterranean. From Carmel to Gilboa, Little Hermon and Tabor, roll the fruitful breadths of Esdraelon: the uplands of Galilee, with Nazareth showing on the brow above the plain, rise away to the buttresses of Lebanon in the North. From the snowy peak of Hermon the eye ranges over the Jaulan and Mount Gilead to the Mountain of Bashan in the East, with the steep eastern wall of the Jordan valley in the foreground. The land of Moab is visible beyond the Dead Sea; and the heights around Jerusalem close the view on the South.

Round this splendid mountain, seen from afar on all sides, religious associations have gathered from old time. The Moslem Weley on the top-the usual white-domed sanctuary-where it is said the head of the Baptist is buried, is doubtless the modern representative of some ancient seat of worship. The ruins of a church show that Christians also came under the spell of the hill.

The slopes of Ebal toward Gerizim played their part in that memorable scene, when, having conquered the central region of Palestine, Joshua led the people hither, erected an altar of unhewn stones, wrote upon the stones-either engraving on the stone itself, or impressing on plaster placed there for the purpose-a copy of the law, and then, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, placed half the tribes on the slope of Gerizim, and half on those of Ebal, and the ark with the priests and Levites in the center. Then with dramatic responses from the two divisions of the people, the blessings and the cursings of the law were read (Joshua 8:30; compare Deuteronomy 27:11). In all the future, therefore, this mountain, towering aloft in the very heart of the land, would remind beholders far and near of their people's covenant with God. It has sometimes been questioned if the reading of the law could be heard by the people in the way described. The formation of the sides of the valley at the narrowest part, and the acoustics, which have been tested more than once, leave no reasonable doubt as to the possibility.

The importance of the mountain from a military point of view is illustrated by the ruins of a massive fortress found on the summit.

W. Ewing

EBAL; OBAL

e'-bal (`ebhal, "bare") or (`obhal):

(1) A people and region of Joktanite, Arabia. See Dillmann, Genesis, and Glaser, Skizze, II, 426. The latter form of the name is that given in Genesis 10:28, the former in 1 Chronicles 1:22 and in the Sam text of Genesis 10:28.

(2) A son of Shobal, son of Seir, the Horite (Genesis 36:23 1 Chronicles 1:40).

Stony.

(1.) A mountain 3,076 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,200 feet above the level of the valley, on the north side of which stood the city of Shechem (q.v.). On this mountain six of the tribes (Deuteronomy 27:12, 13) were appointed to take their stand and respond according to a prescribed form to the imprecations uttered in the valley, where the law was read by the Levites (11:29; 29:4, 13). This mountain was also the site of the first great altar erected to Jehovah (Deuteronomy 27:5-8; Joshua 8:30-35). After this the name of Ebal does not again occur in Jewish history. (see GERIZIM.)

(2.) A descendant of Eber (1 Chronicles 1:22), called also Obal (Genesis 10:28).

(3.) A descendant of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:23).

5858b. Ebal -- Ebal
... << 5858a, 5858b. Ebal. 5858c >>. Ebal. Transliteration: Ebal Short Definition: Ebal.
Word Origin the same as Obal, qv NASB Word Usage Ebal (1). << 5858a, 5858b. ...
/hebrew/5858b.htm - 5k

5858c. Ebal -- a mountain North of Shechem
... << 5858b, 5858c. Ebal. 5859 >>. a mountain North of Shechem. Transliteration:
Ebal Short Definition: Ebal. Word Origin from the same ...
/hebrew/5858c.htm - 5k

5858a. Ebal -- an Edomite name
... << 5858, 5858a. Ebal. 5858b >>. an Edomite name. Transliteration: Ebal Short
Definition: Ebal. Word Origin from the same as Obal Definition ...
/hebrew/5858a.htm - 5k

5858. Eybal -- an Edomite name
... << 5857, 5858. Eybal. 5858a >>. an Edomite name. Transliteration: Eybal Phonetic
Spelling: (ay-bawl') Short Definition: Ebal. Ebal Perhaps ...
/hebrew/5858.htm - 5k