Geba was a town in the land given to the tribe of Benjamin. It was one of the towns given to the Levites (Joshua 18:24; 21:17). It was about 11.3 kilometers (7 miles) northeast of Jerusalem and south of Michmash (1 Samuel 14:5; Isaiah 10:29).
Geba is easy to confuse with Gibeah. Both were in the land of Benjamin, and both names mean “hill.” Gibeah was to the southwest of Geba and was the hometown of Saul, Israel’s first king. The phrase, "from Geba to Beersheba” was used to show the full length of Judah’s land. It referred to the northern and southern extremities of the tribe of Judah (2 Kings 23:8).
In the time of King Saul, the Philistines had a military post at Geba (1 Samuel 10:5; 13:3). Saul’s son Jonathan attacked the post and defeated it. This made the Philistines angry. They brought a huge army into Israel, much larger than Saul’s army.
Saul and his men stayed at Geba (13:16). Later they moved toward Gibeah (14:2). Meanwhile, the Philistines had built another military post at Michmash, which was close to Geba.
Jonathan told the young man who carried his weapons that they should go over to the Philistine post. He said that if the Philistines called them to come, that would be a sign that God would help them win. The Philistines did call to them, so Jonathan and the young man went forward and killed about 20 Philistines. This caused panic in the camp, and the whole Philistine army ran away.
Later, during the time of King David, he defeated another group of Philistines between Geba and Gezer (2 Samuel 5:25).
Some men from Geba were among the Jews who returned from exile in Babylon (Ezra 2:26; Nehemiah 11:31). At the time when the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt and dedicated, singers from the area around Geba took part in the celebrationd (Nehemiah 12:29).