riblah Summary and Overview

fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Israel, 35 miles NE of Baalbec, and 10 or 12 south of Lake Homs, on the eastern bank of the Orontes, in a wide and fertile plain. Here Nebuchadnezzar had his head-quarters in his campaign against Jerusalem, and here also Necho fixed his camp after he had routed Josiah's army at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-35; 25:6, 20, 21; Jer. 39:5; 52:10). It was on the great caravan road from Israel to Carchemish, on the Euphrates. It is described (Num. 34:11) as "on the eastern side of Ain." A place still called el Ain, i.e., "the fountain", is found in such a position about 10 miles distant. (See JERUSALEM T0002043.)

RIB'LAH (fertility), an ancient city in the north-eastern frontier of Canaan. Num 34:10-11. Some regard it as being the same as Diblath, Eze 6:14, but Condor places Diblath at the modern village of Dibl, while Riblah is identified with the modern town on the east bank of the Orontes 35 miles northeast of Baalbek. The ancient town was upon the great road from Palestine to Babylon, and was a convenient military headquarters for the Babylonian kings and others invading the country. Here the Egyptian king Pharaoh-nechoh put Jehoahaz in chains and made Eliakim king, and here Nebuchadnezzar brought Zedekiah, murdered his sons before his eyes, then put out his eyes and bound him in chains to be carried to Babylon. 2 Kgs 23:29-35; 2 Kgs 25:1-7; Jer 39:5-7. Riblah is now a mean and poor village in the midst of a plain of great fertility, and its position shows that it commanded the roads to Nineveh, Babylon, Phoenicia, and Palestine, making it of great strategic importance. About 10 miles west of Riblah is the great fountain of the Orontes. still called el-Ain, or "the fountain," which is supposed to be indicated by "on the east side of Ain." Num 34:11. Grove thinks the Riblah which marked the boundary of the Promised Land could not have been as far north as Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he would look for the former near the Sea of Galilee, in the vicinity of Banias. No such place has been found in that region, and most authorities agree that there was but one Riblah, and hence that it was on the Orontes, as stated above.

1. A landmark on the eastern border of Israel (Numbers 34:11), between Shepham and the sea of Cinneroth, on the "E. side of the spring." Probably, without the vowel points and the final -ah of motion towards, the true name is Harbel "the Mount of Bel" or "Baal". Judges 3:3, "Har-Baal-Hermon", Septuagint reads Ar-bela, which confirms Harbel; the summit of Hermon, the southernmost and highest peak of Antilibanus, 10,000 ft. high, overtopping every mountain in Israel. The ruins of a Baal sanctuary still remain on it. However, "go down from Shepham to Riblah" seemingly implies Riblah was lower; therefore Riblah was probably one of the many sanctuaries with which the sides, as well as the summit, of Hermon were covered. The landmark of Judges 3:3 would be unlikely to he omitted in Numbers 34:11. The "spring" or "fountain" (Ain), E. of which was Riblah, was probably, as Jerome and the later targums understood it, the fountain of the Jordan. The two most celebrated sources of Jordan, Daphne and Paneas, are in the plain at the S.W. foot of Hermon; streams from the western slopes of the mountain feed the longest branch of the river. 2. Riblah or Riblathah in the land of Hamath, on the high road between Israel and Babylon, where the Babylonian kings remained in directing the operations of their armies in Israel and Phoenicia; where Jehoahaz was put in chains by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:33), and Zedekiah, after seeing his sons slain, had his own eyes put out (Jeremiah 39:5-7; literally, Jeremiah 39:9-10), and other leading captives were slain, probably by the Assyrian death of impaling (Jeremiah 39:24; Jeremiah 39:27), as depicted on the monuments. Still called Ribleh, on the right bank of the Orontes (Asy), 30 miles N.E. of Baalbek; consisting of 40 or 50 houses and the remains of a quadrangular building. In the midst of a vast and fertile plain, stretching in all directions save S.W., and on a mountain stream; an admirable encampment for the Egyptian and Babylonian hosts. The curious Kamoa el Hermel is visible from Riblah, a pyramidal top resting on a quadrilateral building in two stories. It is on a high mound several miles higher up the Orontes than Riblah. The lower story has figures of dogs, stags, and hunting instruments. From Riblah the roads were open by the Euphrates to Nineveh, or by Palmyra to Babylon, by the S. of Lebanon and the coast to Israel and Egypt, or through the Bekaa and Jordan valley to the center of Israel.