Josh 4:19 encamped at G, on the east side of
1Sa 11:15 they appointed Saul king there..in G
(Heb., Gilgal, circle of stones). Israel’s first camp after crossing the Jordan (Jos 4:19-20). It was there that Joshua restored the Hebrew rite of circumcision (Jos 5:2-9). The memorial stone altar erected there in later times became a pagan holy place of which Hosea (Hos 4:15) and Amos (Amo 4:4) warned the people.
Samuel sent Saul to Gilgal to be confirmed as king over Israel (1Sa 11:15). There Saul became uneasy at Samuel’s delay and offended the Lord by daring to serve as priest and offer his own sacrifice (1Sa 13:1-10). Judah gathered at Gilgal to meet David when he returned from defeating the rebels under Absalom (2 Samuel 19).
Gilgal is not mentioned in the NT and its location is not known. The town from which Elijah ascended to heaven was not this Gilgal (2Ki 2:1). Gilgal provided the singers who participated in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27-43).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(Circle of stones). OT place names.
1. Canaanite city where the Israelites under Joshua defeated the king of Goim (Jos 12:23).
. Place “on the east side of Jericho” where the Israelites first camped inside Canaan after crossing the Jordan (Jos 4:19). “Joshua set up in G. the twelve stones that they had brought from the Jordan” (Jos 4:20). There the males who had been born in the desert were circumcised, “the reproach of Egypt was removed” from the Israelites, they celebrated the Passover and “ate of the fruit of the land”, and the manna ceased (Jos 5:9-12) . From that moment it became a place of great significance in the history of the people of Israel. Joshua used G. as his base of operations for various conquests, beginning with Jericho. The distribution of the land began to be done in G. The Gibeonites deceived the Israelites while they were in G. (Jos 9:6). There is a mention that “the angel of the Lord went up from G. to Boquim” to announce to Israel that for their disobedience the peoples that they had not exterminated would be scourges for their sides (Judges 2:1-5).
G. became a pagan sanctuary, because in the story of judge †¢Ehud it is said that he returned in search of †¢Eglon, king of Moab, †œfrom the idols that are in G.† (Jdg 3:19 ). Saul was later proclaimed king in G., where he also declared years later that God had rejected him (1Sa 11:15; 1Sa 13:4-12; 1Sa 15:12-33). After Absalom’s death “Judah came to G. to meet the king and bring him across the Jordan” (2Sa 19:15). In Nehemiah’s time temple singers were found living in G. (Neh 12:29). For a long time, G. remained a religious center with idolatrous sanctuaries, which was attacked by the prophets. Hosea says: “All their wickedness was in G.” (Hosea 9:15); “At G. they sacrificed oxen” (Hos 12:11). Amos also: “Increase rebellion in G.” (Amos 4:4); †œG. will be taken into captivity† (Amos 5:5). G. is 2 km NE of Jericho.
3. High hill N of Bethel, mentioned in connection with the journey of †¢Elijah and †¢Elisha before the former was taken to heaven (2Ki 2:1) and in accounts of various miracles performed by Elisha in favor of the sons of the prophets (2 Kings 4:38).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
guy, LUGA
sit, a2, 427, 411
vet, = “stone circle”, “roll” and “reproach” in Josh. 4:20. (a) Israel’s first camp after crossing the Jordan (Josh. 4:19; 5:2-9). It appears that Joshua had his headquarters there until breaking the Canaanite strength at the battle of Lake Merom (Josh. 14:6; Judges 2:1). It was considered a sacred place (1 Sam. 10:8; 11:14; 13:7-14; 15:12, 21-23). Those who remained loyal to David found him there after Absalom’s death (2 Sam. 19:12, 40). In the eighth century BC it was an idolatrous sanctuary (Hos. 4:15; Am. 5:5). (b) A place between Bethel and Shechem included in Samuel’s annual visit, and a meeting place between Elijah and Elisha (1 Sam. 7:16; 2 Kings 2:1). Today Dyldylia. (c) A place east of Mount Gerizim, today Dyuledyl (Dt. 11:30; Josh. 12:23). (d) A border town of Judah also called Gelilothy Beth-Gilgal (Josh. 15:7; 18:17; Neh. 12:29).
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
(-> easter). It means “circle”, generally of raised stones (= cromlech), which usually have a sacred meaning. There are several places in the land of Israel called Gilgal (cf. Dt 11,30; 2 Kings 2,1; 4,38), but the most famous is the one near Jericho, where, according to tradition, Joshua and his companions placed twelve stones of the Jordan, in a circle, to remember the passage of the Israelites through the river and their entry into the promised land (cf. Jos 4:19-20).
(1) The stone circle shrine. That stone circle sanctuary undoubtedly had an autonomous and prior value, independent of the passage of the Israelites through the river, although it was linked from ancient times to Israelite history. It was probably a sanctuary that had been pagan, since Je 3,19 speaks of the idols of Gilgal. It is very possible that the place soon became one of the pilgrimage and meeting centers of the Israelites, as 1 Sam 7:16 supposes. It is possible that the federation* of tribes of Israel met periodically in Gilgal, to celebrate Yahweh’s feast and ratify his covenant, before the twelve symbolic stones (the twelve tribes), next to Jericho, on the side of the Jordan (cf. Jos 4,19-24). There, according to this hypothesis, the Israelite identity was woven, marked by the encounter and pact between shepherds and farmers, which constitutes an essential element of the history of the people of God. Shepherds and farmers met there, venerating the same God, to tell each other legends. There, pacts were sealed, meetings of families and clans were set, around the gifts of the field (bread) and flocks (lambs). This has been perhaps the oldest Israelite sanctuary in Palestine.
(2) Israelite souvenir. Be that as it may, the sanctuary of Gilgal has been linked to the beginning of Israelite history in Palestine, as Je 2,1 supposes. Here is the first circumcision and Passover of the invaders: “Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins… And Yahweh said to Joshua: Today I have lifted from you the reproach of Egypt. That is why that place was called Gilgal, to this day. The Israelites camped at Gilgal and celebrated the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. The day after Passover they already ate the products of the country: unleavened bread and grains roasted that same day. And the manna ceased from the next day, when they began to eat the products of the country. The Israelites had no manna from then on, and already that year fed on the products of the land of Canaan” (Jos 5,3.8-12). This liturgical passage brings together various traditions. The festival of the Azimos (which was originally of an agricultural type) is associated with Easter (which is a reminder of the historical liberation of Egypt). In this way, the New Year’s bread is understood as an expression of freedom. The text relates the Azimos-Easter with circumcision, linked to the covenant: only those who belong to God’s people can celebrate Easter and eat the Azimos of God’s blessing, year after year, thus participating in its purity. According to this, the Israelite town is constituted in Gilgal (which means “circle”, a sign related to circumcision), the first sanctuary of the land of Palestine, linked to Passover and the holy Azimos. This is, therefore, a festival of new and true birth. The Israelites are reborn as a people (they are circumcised, next to the sacred circle of stones of Gilgal); they leave the manna, childhood and miracle bread, which tradition has presented as a gift from God in the desert; they begin to eat bread from the land, which is a gift from God, but also a fruit of human labor. Obviously, this bread must be unleavened: natural and new, not fermented. This will be the first harvest and the first feast bread of the Israelites on earth, thus beginning a process that they consider to be eternal, forever.
Cf. E. Otto and T. Schramm, Fiesta y joy, Follow me, Salamanca 1983.
PIKAZA, Javier, Dictionary of the Bible. History and Word, Divine Word, Navarra 2007
Source: Dictionary of Bible History and Word
Gilgal was north of the Valley of Achor (Joshua 15:7) which was the boundary between Judah and Benjamin and is probably the village now called Riba, although most modern scholars believe it was situated where Khirbet is in Nitleb. , about a few miles east of modern Jericho. Here Joshua raised 12 stones taken from the bed of the Jordan as a monument after Israel miraculously crossed it. Tradition refers to these twelve stones until the Middle Ages. A pond, 4 km east of Jericho, still bears this name. This pond is 30 ms. long by 25ms. wide and is
surrounded by a wall of rough-hewn stones. To the north of this pond some masonry works of about 91 ms have been found. long and probably belong to the foundation of an ancient monastery. To the south of the pond are many mounds in some of which pottery and glass have been found. These ruins are believed to belong to Gilgal, but almost all we know is what the Bible says.
Where Joshua raised the twelve stones taken from the Jordan, Joshua 4:1-14, 20-24.
Israel’s first camp after crossing the Jordan and where they were circumcised (probably their headquarters), Joshua 4:19-24; 5:2-9; 3:6;
10:7, 15 and following; 14:6; 15:7; Deuteronomy 11:30.
Here they ate the Passover, and God’s messenger spoke to Joshua, Joshua 5:10-15. It was the camp as they prepared to take Jericho, Joshua 6.
Where the Gibeonites deceived Joshua, Joshua 9 and 10.
A place where Samuel had his court of law, 1 Samuel 7:15-16. Saul was crowned and rejected as king here, 1 Samuel 11:14, 15; 15. Saul’s sin was exposed, 1 Samuel 13:8-15.
Samuel resigned here, 1 Samuel 12.
It was a place of sacrifice, 1 Samuel 10:8; 13:8-10; 3:21 p.m. Agag was killed, 1 Samuel 15.
The people gathered to welcome David back from his exile across the Jordan, 2 Samuel 19:15.
It appears that Elisha and Elijah lived here, 2 Kings 2:1. Elisha purified the pottage, 2 Kings 4:38-41.
The prophets referred to this place (as a center of idolatry), Hosea 4:15;
19:15; 12:11; Amos 4:4; 5:5; Micah 6:5.
Source: Geographic Dictionary of the Bible
This name can mean “circle (of stones)” or “rolling”, from Heb. galal, ‘roll’. God used the name Gilgal in the latter sense through Joshua, so that the people of Israel would remember his deliverance from Egypt when his sons were circumcised there: “Today I have removed (gallôṯı̂) yours (°vm…