Gath in the Bible

Meaning: a wine-press

Exact Match

There were no Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod [of Philistia] some remained.

Verse ConceptsSurvivors Of The Nations

from the Shihor east of Egypt to the border of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvites

Verse ConceptsRulersFive People

From there it crossed eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin and extended to Rimmon, turning toward Neah.

Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon, along with the grazing areas of each -- a total of four cities.

Verse ConceptsFour Cities

From the half-tribe of Manasseh they assigned Taanach and Gath Rimmon, along with the grazing areas of each -- a total of two cities.

Verse ConceptsTwo Cities

So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, "What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They replied, "The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

Verse ConceptsRulers

But it happened that after they had taken it to Gath, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing an extremely great panic [because of the deaths from the plague], for He struck the people of the city, both young and old, and tumors broke out on them.

These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord -- one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

Verse ConceptsRestitution

The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

Verse ConceptsAmoritesCities In IsraelRestoring ThingsTime Of Peace

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

Verse ConceptsWeights And Measures, LinearGiantsChampions

And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

Verse ConceptsChampions

And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

Verse ConceptsGatesRoadsTribes Of Israel

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there.

Verse ConceptsEscaping, Physical ThingsExamples Of EscapingCavesPeople In Caves

And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

Verse ConceptsAliancesSix To Seven HundredRelations With ForeignersSix Hundred And Above

And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.

Verse ConceptsActual WidowsDavid's Wives

And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.

Verse ConceptsCustomExterminationDo Not Tell

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

Verse ConceptsLove, And The WorldUncircumcisionStreetsDo Not TellRejoicing In Evil

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

Verse ConceptsPassing BySix To Seven HundredSix Hundred And Above

Dividing his forces into three groups, he set Joab as commander of one third of his army, Zeruiah's son Abishai, Joab's brother, as commander of another third, and Ittai from Gath as commander of another third. The king informed the army, "I'm going out to battle with you, too."

Verse ConceptsFractions, One ThirdFighting TogetherDividing Into Three Groups

And there was again a battle, at Gath; and there was a man there of great stature, that had on each hand six fingers, and on each foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to Raphah.

Verse ConceptsFingersGiantsDefectivenessToesSix ThingsFingers Of PeopleTwenty Some

These four were born to Raphah, in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

Verse ConceptsFour People

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two servants of Shimei's ran away to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.

Verse ConceptsFugitivesServants, BadThree YearsOthers Who FledTwo Other MenExamples Of Bad Servants

Then Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

Verse ConceptsPreparing To TravelSaddling DonkeysThose Looking For People

And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.

Then, came up Hazael, king of Syria, and fought against Gath, and captured it, - so Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsFacesAttackingWhole HeartednessCapturing Cities

He, restored the boundary of Israel, from the entering in of Hamath, unto the sea of the waste plain, - according to the word of Yahweh, God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.

Verse ConceptsSeaWord Of GodNamed Prophets Of The LordWords To Individuals Fulfilled

and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elad. And the men of Gath born in the land slew them, because they came down to take their cattle.

and Beriah, and Shema, who were chief fathers of the inhabitants of Ajalon; they drove away the inhabitants of Gath.

Verse ConceptsPeoples Who Fled

And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

And there was again a battle, at Gath; and there was a man there of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was born to Rapha.

Verse ConceptsFingersToesSix ThingsGiantsFingers Of People

These were born to Rapha in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

Verse ConceptsGiants

And he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

Verse ConceptsWalls

I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High. For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.

Verse ConceptsPraiseGod, Titles And Names OfPrayer, And WorshipSingingThank OfferingThe Most HighWe Thank God

But you, God, bring them down to the Pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful people will not live out half their days. But I put my full confidence in you. To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of "A Silent Dove Far Away," when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Verse ConceptsDeceit, Practice OfDeceit Leading to JudgmentHell, As An ExperienceLiesPitsLiarsThe Fate Of The WickedAbasing PeopleHalf Of ThingsPits As A Term For Graves

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; a prayer of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! All day long hostile enemies are tormenting me.

Verse ConceptsMusicThose OppressedAll Day

Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph.

Verse ConceptsGod, Joy OfFace Of GodRestoring NationsGod Giving LightSmiling

that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth. For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

Verse ConceptsGod, The LordGod, Uniqueness OfMonotheismOne GodThe Most HighNo Other Is GodThe Lord Is GodThe EarthNot Being AloneGod Being With Youislam


“And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod,
And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;
And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron,
And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die,”
Says the Lord God.

Verse ConceptsSurvivors DestroyedGod's HandGod KillingGod's Hands In OppositionGod Will Kill The PeoplesGod Killing Individuals

Pass ye over to Calneh and see, And go thence to Hamath the great, And go down to Gath of the Philistines, Are they better than these kingdoms? Greater is their border than your border?

Verse ConceptsAdvantages

Therefore shalt thou give parting-gifts to Moresheth-Gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

Verse ConceptsThose Who Deceived

Thematic Bible



Give no word of it in Gath, let there be no weeping at all: at Beth-le-aphrah be rolling in the dust.

From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, to the edge of Ekron to the north, which is taken to be Canaanite property: the five chiefs of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, as well as the Avvim;

Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;

Go on to Calneh and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are you better than these kingdoms? or is your land wider than theirs?


Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? did they not make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? And David took these words to heart, fearing Achish, the king of Gath. read more.
So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin. Then Achish said to his servants, Look! the man is clearly off his head; why have you let him come before me? Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?

So David and the six hundred men who were with him went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal. And Saul, hearing that David had gone to Gath, went after him no longer. read more.
Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king's town. So Achish straight away gave him Ziklag: and for that reason Ziklag has been the property of the kings of Judah to this day. And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months.


And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.

And again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan, the son of Jair, put to death Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the stem of whose spear was like a cloth-worker's rod. And again there was war at Gath, where there was a very tall man, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet; he was one of the offspring of the Rephaim. And when he put shame on Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimea, David's brother, put him to death. read more.
These were of the offspring of the Rephaim in Gath; they came to their death by the hands of David and his servants.


And all the people went on by his side; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the men of Ittai of Gath, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, went on before the king. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth. It was only yesterday you came to us; why then am I to make you go up and down with us? for I have to go where I may; go back then, and take your countrymen with you, and may the Lord's mercy and good faith be with you. read more.
And Ittai the Gittite in answer said, By the living Lord, and by the life of my lord the king, in whatever place my lord the king may be, for life or death, there will your servant be. And David said to Ittai, Go forward, then. And Ittai the Gittite went on, with all his men and all the little ones he had with him.


But after three years, two of the servants of Shimei went in flight to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And word was given to Shimei that his servants had gone to Gath. Then Shimei got up, and making ready his ass, he went to Gath, to Achish, in search of his servants; and he sent and got them from Gath. And news was given to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back again.


Not one of the Anakim was to be seen in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, some were still living.


And Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again from Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, the towns which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Jehoash overcame him and got back the towns of Israel.


Then Hazael, king of Aram, went up against Gath and took it; and his purpose was to go up to Jerusalem.


From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, to the edge of Ekron to the north, which is taken to be Canaanite property: the five chiefs of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, as well as the Avvim;


So David did not let the ark of the Lord come back to him to the town of David: but had it turned away and put into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.


He went out and made war against the Philistines, pulling down the walls of Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod, and building towns in the country round Ashdod and among the Philistines.


And Gath and Mareshah and Ziph


And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them, and took Gath with its daughter-towns out of the hands of the Philistines.


So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.


And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain