Geliloth

Geliloth (meaning: rolling, wheel, heap) was a place on the boundary of Benjamin, mentioned in the description of that tribe's southern border in Joshua 18:17 as a landmark corresponding to Gilgal on the boundary of Judah. The name derives from the same root as Galilee (gālîl), suggesting a circular or rolling terrain feature — perhaps a ridge or rounded hill. Its location in the Benjamin-Judah border region places it somewhere in the Judean wilderness northeast of Jerusalem near the Jordan.

Geliloth appears only in this one boundary description in Joshua, making it one of many geographic markers in the tribal allotment lists that cannot be independently confirmed or precisely located. These border descriptions in Joshua 13–21 reflect careful administrative geographic knowledge of the tribal territories, even when individual landmarks like Geliloth have left no trace in later tradition or archaeology. The name may be related to Gilgal, the famous Israelite encampment near Jericho, with the parallel naming patterns suggesting geographic association.