1 Samuel 14:16

Gibeah of Benjamin. Gibeah and Geba (Gaba), feminine and masculine forms of a word meaning “hill,” or “height,” were both towns of Benjamin (Joshua 18:24, 28; 1 Sam. 13:16). It seems that the masculine and feminine forms of the name were sometimes used interchangeably. The distinction between the two places is clear from Isa. 10:29, where they are mentioned in the order in which an invader from the north would reach them. A village by the name of Jeba exists today on the old site, 1 3/8 mi. (2.2 km.) southwest of Michmash, and about 6 mi. (9.6 km.) northeast of Jerusalem. The modern village Tell el-Ful is commonly identified as Saul’s Gibeah, 3 1/2 mi. (5.6 km.) north of Jerusalem. Recent excavations carried on there have unearthed what is thought to be the palace of Saul (see Vol. I, p. 124; Vol. II, p. 72). The “Gibeah” of 1 Sam. 14:16 is Geba, across the wadi from Michmash (see v. 5; PP 622), not Gibeah the home of Saul, if the latter is correctly identified as Tell el-Ful (see on ch. 13:2, 3). From Saul’s Gibeah, 4 3/8 mi. (7 km.) southwest of Michmash and with two ranges of hills in between, it would hardly seem possible to observe what was going on in Michmash, but from Geba, directly across the wadi, this would have been relatively easy.