Riblah

In Bible versions:

Riblah: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV

a town 80 km north of Damascus

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quarrel; greatness to him

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NET Glossary: a strategic city on the Orontes River in Syria located at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia; Pharaoh Necho set up the Egyptian military headquarters there (2 Kgs 23:31-35) as did King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Jer 39:5)

Google Maps: Riblah (1) (34° 25´, 36° 32´); Riblah (2) (34° 21´, 36° 23´)

Hebrew

Strongs #07247: hlbr Riblah

Riblah = "fertility"

1) a place on the eastern boundary of Israel
2) a town in the land of Hamath on the great road between Babylon and
Palestine

7247 Riblah rib-law'

from an unused root meaning to be fruitful; fertile; Riblah,
a place in Syria:-Riblah.

Strongs #01689: hlbd Diblah

Diblath = "place of the fig cake"

1) a place near the wilderness

1689 Diblah dib-law'

probably an orthographical error for 7247; Diblah, a place in
Syria:-Diblath.
see HEBREW for 07247

Riblah [EBD]

fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Palestine, 35 miles north-east 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 Palestine 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.)

Riblah [NAVE]

RIBLAH
A border town of the promised land, Num. 34:10-11.
King Jehoahaz overthrown in, by Pharaoh, 2 Kin. 23:33.
Headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar in siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kin. 25:6, 20, 21; Jer. 39:5, 6; 52:9, 26.

RIBLAH [SMITH]

(fertility), One of the landmarks on the eastern boundary of the land of Israel, as specified by Moses. (Numbers 34:11) It seems hardly possible, without entirely disarranging the specification or the boundary, that the Riblah in question can be the same with the following.

1. Riblah in the land of Hamath, a place on the great road between Palestine and Babylonia, at which the kings of Babylonia were accustomed to remain while directing the operations of their armies in Palestine and Phoenicia. Here Nebuchadnezzer waited while the sieges of Jerusalem and of Tyre were being conducted by his lieutenants. (Jeremiah 39:5,6; 62:9,10,26,27; 2 Kings 25:6,20,21) In like manner Pharaoh-necho after his victory over the Babylonians at Carchemish, returned to Riblah and summoned Jehoahaz from Jerusalem before him. (2 Kings 23:33) This Riblah still retains its ancient name, on the right (east) bank of the el-Asy (Orontes) upon the great road which connects Baalbek and Hums , about 36 miles northeast of the former end 20 miles southwest of the latter place.

RIBLAH [ISBE]

RIBLAH - rib'-la (ribhlah; Rheblatha, with variants):

(1) Riblah in the land of Hamath first appears in history in 608 BC. Here Pharaoh-necoh, after defeating Josiah at Megiddo and destroying Kadytis or Kadesh on the Orontes, fixed his headquarters, and while in camp he deposed Jehoahaz and cast him into chains, fixed the tribute of Judah, and appointed Jehoiakim king (2 Ki 23:31-35). In 588 BC Nebuchadnezzar, at war with Egypt and the Syrian states, also established his headquarters at Riblah, and from it he directed the subjugation of Jerusalem. When it fell, Zedekiah was carried prisoner to Riblah, and there, after his sons and his nobles had been slain in his presence, his eyes were put out, and he was taken as a prisoner to Babylon (2 Ki 25:6,20; Jer 39:5-7; 52:8-11). Riblah then disappears from history, but the site exists today in the village of Ribleh, 35 miles Northeast of Baalbek, and the situation is the finest that could have been chosen by the Egyptian or Babylonian kings for their headquarters in Syria. An army camped there had abundance of water in the control of the copious springs that go to form the Orontes. The Egyptians coming from the South had behind them the command of the rich corn and forage lands of Coele-Syria, while the Babylonian army from the North was equally fortunate in the rich plains extending to Hamath and the Euphrates. Lebanon, close by, with its forests, its hunting grounds and its snows, ministered to the needs and luxuries of the leaders. Riblah commanded the great trade and war route between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and, besides, it was at the dividing-point of many minor routes. It was in a position to attack with facility Phoenicia, Damascus or Palestine, or to defend itself against attack from those places, while a few miles to the South the mountains on each side close in forming a pass where a mighty host might easily be resisted by a few. In every way Riblah was the strategical point between North and South Syria. Riblah should probably be read for Diblah in Ezek 6:14, while in Nu 34:11 it does not really appear. See (2).

(2) A place named as on the ideal eastern boundary of Israel in Nu 34:11, but omitted in Ezek 47:15-18. The Massoretic Text reads "Hariblah"; but the Septuagint probably preserves the true vocalization, according to which we should translate "to Harbel." It is said to be to the east of `Ain, and that, as the designation of a district, can only mean Merj `Ayun, so that we should seek it in the neighborhood of Hermon, one of whose spurs Furrer found to be named Jebel `Arbel.

W. M. Christie