גִּבְעָה

From the study of Ezekiel 20:28

Range of meaning

'Every high hill and every leafy tree' is a fixed way of describing the open-air country shrines that dotted the landscape of Israel and Judah.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'thick trees' can suggest a forest. 'Leafy' (BSB) is closer: a single tree with dense shade.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 12:2 ('on the high mountains and on the hills and under every leafy/green tree'); 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 16:4; 17:10; Jer 2:20; 3:6; Hos 4:13 ('they sacrifice on the tops of the mountains… under oak, poplar and terebinth, because their shade is good'). Ezekiel uses the same word for a leafy oak in 6:13. Archaeology turns up open-air sanctuaries with standing stones and altars on rises.

From the study of Ezekiel 34:26

Range of meaning

Hill or elevated ground, smaller than har (mountain). Also used of hilltop sites, including the 'high places' on 'every high hill' condemned in Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Ezek 6:13; 20:28).

Against the English

All the main English versions say 'my hill'. NLT adds 'holy' to make the reference to Zion clear.

Used elsewhere in the period

'My hill' with God as speaker occurs nowhere else. The nearest parallels are Ezek 20:40, 'my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel', and 'my holy hill' (har qodshi) in Ps 2:6. Ezekiel's book repeatedly condemns worship 'on every high hill' (6:13; 20:28).

From the study of Hosea 10:8

Range of meaning

Hill, rounded height; also the town name Gibeah ('Hill').

Against the English

'Hills' is accurate, but English cannot show the wordplay with 'Gibeah' in the next verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 4:13: 'on the tops of the mountains (harim) they sacrifice, and on the hills (geva'ot) they burn offerings', the same pair of words. Hosea 9:9 and 10:9 refer to Gibeah, the scene of the outrage and civil war in Judges 19–21.