GAL (Hebr. ga'al "annoyance"). — A popular leader who rebelled against Abimelech (q.v.). He was the son of Obed, while from his words one may infer his Canaanite origin. He stirred up his fellow townsmen of Shechem, claiming the government of the city for the descendants of Emor the Hivite (Judg. 9:28; cf. Gen. 34:2).
It is permissible to see in his revolt a racial resentment against the new Israelite ethnic group, which he perceived as a threat to supplant the indigenous element. The uprising, however, prepared during a rural festival on the occasion of the grape harvest, was unsuccessful. Abimelech, warned in time by his lieutenant Zebul, lay in ambush around Shechem, where he easily defeated Gaal, who was then banished from the city (Judg. 9:28-41).
Angelo Penna
GABA (Hebr. Gibh'ah, construct Gibh'ath, Vulgate Gabaa, Gabath'ah "hill").
1. G. in the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:17), residence of the Calebites, identified in accordance with the data of Eusebius' Onomasticon (70, 24) with the village of el-Geba' 12 km southwest of Bethlehem and 20 km northwest of Beit-Gibrin (Eleutheropolis).
2. G. in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 18:24; 21:11; 1 Chron. 6:60), today Geba', 10 km northwest of Jerusalem near Ramah (er-Ram). Occupied by the Philistines, it was liberated by Jonathan, who, climbing the two steep crags of Bozez and Sene in the Wadi Suweijit east of Geba' southwest of Michmash, managed to penetrate the enemy camp and throw it into confusion, thus freeing the region from the Philistines (1 Sam. 13:4; 14). Fortified by King Asa, it became the northern outpost of the Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 15:22; 1 Kings 23:8; 1 Chron. 16:6). After the exile it was reoccupied by the Benjaminites (Neh. 12:19).
3. G. of Benjamin (1 Sam. 13:2; 23:20), destroyed to avenge the outrage of the Benjaminites against the Levite's concubine from Ephraim (Judg. 19:14; 20:44). After its rebuilding it was called "G. of Saul," in memory of the birth and residence of the king (1 Sam. 10:16; 22:6). Today Tell el-Ful, 6 km north of Jerusalem. Excavations in 1922 and 1933 brought to light a fine example of an Israelite citadel built on the ruins of a village destroyed in the 11th century B.C. and illustrated its history from the 18th century B.C. down to the time of Titus, who razed it to the ground (Flavius Josephus, *Bell. Jud.*, V, 2, 1).
4. G. of Phinehas, in the hill country of Ephraim (Josh. 24:33), where Eleazar son of Aaron was buried. It is sought, according to Byzantine tradition, in the village of Gibjah or Hibrei S'ath 6 km south of Hibrei et-Tibneh, where the tomb of Joshua was venerated at Nebi Saleh, 2 km closer to et-Tibneh.