Gilgal

Gilgal – Circle of standing stones

The Israelites cross the Jordan River through a miraculous intervention of God with the Arc of the Covenant and are circumcised at Gibeath-Haaraloth (translated as hill of foreskins), renamed Gilgal in memory.

Gilgal sounds like Gallothi, "I have removed", but is more likely to translate as "circle of standing stones".

In the Books of Kings, "Gilgal" is mentioned as the home of a company of prophets.

The text states that Elijah and Elisha came from Gilgal to Bethel, and then onward to Jericho and to the Jordan, suggesting that the place was in the vicinity of Bethel, and far from Joshua's Gilgal near Jericho.

Since "Gilgal" means a "circle of standing stones", it is quite plausible for there to have been more than one place named Gilgal, and although there are dissenting opinions, it is commonly held to be a different place from the one involved with Joshua; it has been identified with the village Jaljulia, about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Bethel.

The term gilgal is thought by modern archaeologists to refer to a type of structure, which may then receive additional names, for example "the gilgal by the terebinths of Moreh" (Deuteronomy 11:30) or "the gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho" (Joshua 4:19).

Gilgal structures have been found only in the Jordan River valley, and in the Samarian mountains on the edge of the desert.

As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.