A city of the Hivites, located about six miles northwest of Jerusalem, whose name means 'hill city' or 'pertaining to a hill.' Its people famously deceived Joshua and secured a covenant of peace — and God honored that covenant even when Saul later violated it.
Gibeon is a city of divine surprises. Its inhabitants deceived Israel but secured a lasting covenant (Joshua 9). When Joshua fought to defend it, God sent hailstones and made the sun stand still (Joshua 10) — one of Scripture's most astonishing miracles of divine intervention. Solomon offered burnt offerings there at the great altar before the Temple was built, and there God appeared to him in the famous dream: 'Ask what I shall give you' (1 Kings 3:5). Gibeon teaches that God can work through unlikely alliances, honor unexpected covenants, and meet seekers wherever they genuinely seek — even at a tent on a hilltop.