GELBOE. — Biblical name of the group of hills and the north-eastern extremity of the mountain of Ephraim and Samaria, which border the south-eastern side of the plain of Esdraelon and serve as a watershed between the valley of the Jordan and the slope of the Mediterranean.
On the mountains of G. took place the battle of the Israelites against the Philistines in which Saul and his three sons died (1 Sam. 28:4); the mountains became famous for the curse that David pronounced against them in the lament which he sang over Saul (1 Sam. 1:21).
Eusebius (Onom., 72, 73) recalls the village of Gelibus six miles from Scythopolis (Beisan), whose name survives today in the village of Gelbon. The mountain is now called Gebet Fuq'ah after the village of the same name situated on its summit (548 m.).