Reference: Ekron
American
The most northern city of the Philistines, allotted to Judah by Jos 15:45, but afterwards given to Da 12:13, though it does not appear that the Jews ever peaceably possessed it. It is memorable for its connection with the captivity of the ark and its restoration to the Jews, 1Sa 5:10; 6:1-18. The fly-god was worshipped here, 2Ki 1:2. Its ruin was foretold, Am 1:8; Zep 2:4; Zec 9:5,7. Robinson found its site at the Moslem village Akir, some ten miles northeast of Ashdod. There are no ruins.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? tell us wherewith we shall send it to its place. read more. And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; ye must at any rate return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague is upon them all, and upon your lords. And ye shall make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of your mice that destroy the land, and give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. And why will ye harden your heart, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? When he had wrought mightily among them, did they not let them go, and they departed? And now make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it may go. And see, if it go up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, it is he who has done us this great evil; if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that touched us; it was a chance that happened to us. And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they laid the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the golden mice and the images of their sores. And the kine went straight forward on the way to Beth-shemesh; they went by the one high way, lowing as they went; and they turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping the wheat-harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite, and stood there; and a great stone was there. And they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine as a burnt-offering to Jehovah. And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, in which were the golden jewels, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered up burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Jehovah. And the five lords of the Philistines saw it, and returned to Ekron the same day. And these are the golden sores which the Philistines returned as a trespass-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gazah one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and villages of the peasantry; and they brought them as far as the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, which is to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease.
But do thou go thy way until the end; and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Jehovah.
For Gazah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gazah also, and she shall be greatly pained; Ekron also, for her expectation shall be put to shame: and the king shall perish from Gazah, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
and I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; but he that remaineth, he also shall belong to our God, and shall be as a leader in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
Easton
firm-rooted, the most northerly of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, about 11 miles north of Gath. It was assigned to Judah (Jos 13:3), and afterwards to Dan (Jos 19:43), but came again into the full possession of the Philistines (1Sa 5:10). It was the last place to which the Philistines carried the ark before they sent it back to Israel (1Sa 5:10; 6:1-8). There was here a noted sanctuary of Baal-zebub (2Ki 1:2-3,6,16). Now the small village Akir. It is mentioned on monuments in B.C. 702, when Sennacherib set free its king, imprisoned by Hezekiah in Jerusalem, according to the Assyrian record.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
from the Shihor, which floweth before Egypt, as far as the borders of Ekron northward, and which is counted to the Canaanite; five lordships of the Philistines: of Gazah, and of Ashdod, of Eshkalon, of Gath, and of Ekron; also the Avvites;
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? tell us wherewith we shall send it to its place. read more. And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; ye must at any rate return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague is upon them all, and upon your lords. And ye shall make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of your mice that destroy the land, and give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. And why will ye harden your heart, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? When he had wrought mightily among them, did they not let them go, and they departed? And now make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it may go.
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease. And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
And they said unto him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
Fausets
("the firm rooted".) Most northerly of the five Philistine lordship cities, farthest from the sea, to the right of the great road from Egypt northwards to Syria, in the shephelah (low country). A landmark of Judah on the northern boundary which ran thence to the sea at Jabneel (Jos 15:45-46; Jg 1:18). Afterward in Dan (Jos 19:43); but the Philistines permanently appropriated it (1Sa 5:10; 17:52; Jer 25:20). There the ark of the covenant was taken last before its return to Israel.
A shrine and oracle of Baalzebub was there, to which king Ahaziah applied for consultation in his sickness (2Ki 1:2,16). Zec 9:5, "Ekron for her expectation shall be ashamed": she had expected Tyre would withstand Alexander in his progress southward toward Egypt; but her expectation shall bear the shame of disappointment. Zep 2:4 plays on her name, 'Ekron tee'akeer," the firm-rooted one shall be rooted up." Now Akir, 3 miles E. of Yebna, N. of the wady Surar; a village consisting of 50 mud houses, with two well-built wells, is all that remains of the once leading Philistine city, fulfilling the prophecy that she should be rooted up.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets. From Ekron and westward all that are by the side of Ashdod, and their hamlets.
Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash'kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the ravine and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down on the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease.
And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
For Gazah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gazah also, and she shall be greatly pained; Ekron also, for her expectation shall be put to shame: and the king shall perish from Gazah, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
Hastings
A city in the Philistine Pentapolis, not conquered by Joshua (Jos 13:3), but theoretically a border city of Judah (Jos 15:11) and Dan (Jos 19:43); said, in a passage which is probably an interpolation, to have been smitten by Judah (Jg 1:18). Hither the captured ark was brought from Ashdod (1Sa 5:10), and on its restoration the Philistine lords who had followed it to Beth-shemesh returned to Ekron (1Sa 6:16). Ekron was the border town of a territory that passed in the days of Samuel from the Philistines to Israel (1Sa 7:14), and it was the limit of the pursuit of the Philistines after the slaying of Goliath by David (1Sa 17:52). Its local numen was Baal-zebub, whose oracle Ahaziah consulted after his accident (2Ki 1:2). Like the other Philistine cities, it is made the subject of denunciation by Jeremiah, Amos, Zephaniah, and the anonymous prophet whose writing occupies Zec 9; 10; 11. This city is commonly identified with 'Akir, a village on the Philistine plain between Gezer and the sea, where there is now a Jewish colony. For the identification there is no basis, except the coincidence of name; there are no remains of antiquity whatever at 'Akir.
R. A. S. Macalister.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
from the Shihor, which floweth before Egypt, as far as the borders of Ekron northward, and which is counted to the Canaanite; five lordships of the Philistines: of Gazah, and of Ashdod, of Eshkalon, of Gath, and of Ekron; also the Avvites;
And the border went out to the side of Ekron northwards, and the border reached along toward Shicron, and passed mount Baalah, and went toward Jabneel; and the border ended at the sea.
Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash'kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
And the five lords of the Philistines saw it, and returned to Ekron the same day.
And the cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and their territory did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorite.
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the ravine and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down on the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease.
Morish
Ek'ron
The most northerly of the five cities of the Philistines. It fell to the lot of Judah, and then passed to Dan. It was taken by Judah, but the Philistines kept or gained possession. The ark of God was carried there from Ashdod, and from thence was returned to Israel. It was to Ekron that king Ahaziah sent to inquire of the god Baal-zebub if he should recover from his accident. 2Ki 1:2-3,16. The city is denounced in the prophets. Jos 15:11,45-46; 19:43; Jg 1:18; 1Sa 5:10; 6:16-17; 7:14; 17:52; Jer 25:20; Am 1:8; Zep 2:4; Zec 9:5,7. Identified with Akir, 31 52' N, 34 49' E.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the border went out to the side of Ekron northwards, and the border reached along toward Shicron, and passed mount Baalah, and went toward Jabneel; and the border ended at the sea.
Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets. From Ekron and westward all that are by the side of Ashdod, and their hamlets.
Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash'kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease. And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Jehovah.
For Gazah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gazah also, and she shall be greatly pained; Ekron also, for her expectation shall be put to shame: and the king shall perish from Gazah, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
and I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; but he that remaineth, he also shall belong to our God, and shall be as a leader in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
Smith
Ek'ron
(torn up by the roots; emigration), one of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, and the most northerly of the five.
Like the other Philistine cities its situation was in the lowlands. It fell to the lot of Judah.
Afterwards we find it mentioned among the cities of Dan.
Before the monarchy it was again in full possession of the Philistines.
Akir, the modern representative of Ekron, lies about five miles southwest of Ramleh. In the Apocrypha it appears as ACCARON. 1Macc 10:89 only.
See Accaron
See Verses Found in Dictionary
from the Shihor, which floweth before Egypt, as far as the borders of Ekron northward, and which is counted to the Canaanite; five lordships of the Philistines: of Gazah, and of Ashdod, of Eshkalon, of Gath, and of Ekron; also the Avvites;
Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets. From Ekron and westward all that are by the side of Ashdod, and their hamlets.
Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash'kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.