Ebal

1. A bare mountain 2,900 feet high, north of Sichem, opposite Mt. Gerizim. At the base toward the north are several tombs. The higher part is on the west, and contains the ruins of some massive walls called "Al-Kal'ah"; east of this are other ruins now called "Kunaisah." In the Old Testament Ebal is mentioned only infrequently: Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there (Joshua viii. 31 et seq.; compare Deut. xxvii. 5-7); there must have been a sanctuary on this spot. Another account (Joshua viii. 32; compare Deut. xxvii. 1-4, 8) relates that large stone slabs whitened with lime were erected there with the Law inscribed upon them. In Deut. xi. 29, xxvii. 13; Joshua viii. 33, one-half of the people were ordered to place themselves on Mt. Ebal to pronounce curses against those who disobeyed the twelve precepts of prime religious and ethical importance, while the remainder of the tribes, standing upon Mt. Gerizim opposite, pronounced the corresponding blessings upon those who obeyed them. 2. Name of an Edomite tribe (Septuagint, Γαιβὴλ; Gen. xxxvi. 23; I Chron. i. 40). 3. Name of an Arab tribe (I Chron. i. 22; Gen. x. 28); the Samaritan text has "Ebal" also; the Septuagint Γαιβὴλ; while the Masoretic reading is  ("'Obal").

E. G. H. F. Bu.