Meaning of RIBLAH

"fertility". City in the region of Hamath (2 Kings 23:33; 25:21). The Egyptians were occupying Riblah when Jehoahaz, king of Judah, was taken prisoner to this city (2 Kings 23:33).

Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, fell into the hands of the Chaldeans while attempting to flee from Jerusalem, and was handed over to Nebuchadnezzar, who was at Riblah.

The king of Babylon had the sons of Zedekiah put to death in the presence of his own father, the princes of Judah, and then he had Zedekiah's own eyes gouged out and ordered him to be carried in chains to Babylon (2 Kings 25: 6, 7, 21; Jer. 39:5-7; 52:9-11, 27).

In 1816, Buckingham discovered ruins at a place he called Rubla, but which is now generally known as Ribleh. This place is located on the Orontes River, 58 km north-northwest of Baalbeck, in the middle of the great plain of Celesyria, which lends itself very well to the installation of a large military camp, with easy evacuation to the north or to the south in case of attack.

The ruins are made up of low hills that cover vestiges of ancient buildings. It is not very likely that this place can be identified with another Ribla, which was on the northern border of Palestine, east of Aîn (Num. 34:11), and whose identification remains uncertain.