Gebal

Gebal (meaning: bound; limit) appears in two distinct contexts in Scripture. The first is the ancient Phoenician city known to the Greeks as Byblos, located on the Mediterranean coast north of Beirut. The skilled stonemasons of Gebal (the Gebalites) were employed by Solomon in preparing timber and stone for the Jerusalem temple (1 Kings 5:18), reflecting the Phoenician city's long tradition of skilled craftwork. Byblos was one of the most ancient cities of the ancient Near East, a major center of Egyptian-Levantine trade and the source from which the word Bible (through the Greek Byblos, meaning papyrus or book) ultimately derives.

A second Gebal appears in Psalm 83:7 as part of a coalition of nations threatening Israel — here likely a reference to a region in Edom (modern southern Jordan) rather than the Phoenician city. Ezekiel 27:9 confirms the Phoenician Gebal's skilled workforce: the elders of Gebal and its skilled men were among the caulkers who repaired Tyre's ships, placing Gebal within the broader Phoenician maritime and commercial network of the pre-exilic era.