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
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!
The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place. read more. And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but at least return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed [and healing granted you]. Then they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? They answered, Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the Philistine lords, for one plague was on you all, even on your lords. Therefore you must make images of your tumors and 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 your gods and your land. Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had done wonders and made a mock of them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? Now then, make and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which no yoke has ever come; and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of the Lord and place it upon the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering. Then send it away and let it be gone. And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own land to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance. And the men did so, and took two milch cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the box with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. And the cows went straight toward Beth-shemesh along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right or the left. And the Philistine lords followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. Now the men of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there; and the men split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box beside it in which were the figures of gold and put them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices that day to the Lord. When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron. And these are the tumors of gold which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the Lord: one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; Also the mice of gold was according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages. The great stone, on which they set the ark of the Lord, remains as a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness.
But you [Daniel, who was now over ninety years of age], go your way until the end; for you shall rest and shall stand [fast] in your allotted place at the end of the days.
And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall perish, says the Lord God.
For [hear the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; the people of Ashdod shall be driven out at noonday and Ekron shall be uprooted.
[The strong cities of Philistia] shall see it and fear; Ashkelon, Gaza also, and be sorely pained, and Ekron, for her confidence and expectation shall be put to shame, and a king [monarchial government] shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
And I will take out of [the Philistines'] mouths and from between their teeth the abominable idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood. And they too shall remain and be a remnant for our God, and they shall be like chieftains (the head over a thousand) in Judah, and Ekron shall be like one of the Jebusites [who at last were merged and had lost their identity in Israel].
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 [River] which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, all of it counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, and those of the Avvites;
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!
The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place. read more. And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but at least return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed [and healing granted you]. Then they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? They answered, Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the Philistine lords, for one plague was on you all, even on your lords. Therefore you must make images of your tumors and 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 your gods and your land. Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had done wonders and made a mock of them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? Now then, make and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which no yoke has ever come; and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of the Lord and place it upon the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering. Then send it away and let it be gone.
[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king in Samaria and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
They replied, A man came up to meet us who said, Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, Thus says the Lord: Is there no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not leave the bed on which you lie, but shall surely die.
Elijah said to [King] Ahaziah, Thus says the Lord: Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel of Whom to inquire His word? Therefore you shall not leave the bed on which you lie, but shall surely 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, with its towns and villages. From Ekron to the sea, all that lay beside Ashdod, with their villages;
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!
And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. So the wounded Philistines fell along the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness.
Elijah said to [King] Ahaziah, Thus says the Lord: Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel of Whom to inquire His word? Therefore you shall not leave the bed on which you lie, but shall surely die.
And all the mixed foreign population; all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of the Philistines and [their cities of] Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
For [hear the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; the people of Ashdod shall be driven out at noonday and Ekron shall be uprooted.
[The strong cities of Philistia] shall see it and fear; Ashkelon, Gaza also, and be sorely pained, and Ekron, for her confidence and expectation shall be put to shame, and a king [monarchial government] shall perish from Gaza, 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 [River] which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, all of it counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, and those of the Avvites;
And the boundary went out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then bent round to Shikkeron, and passed along to Mount Baalah, and went out to Jabneel. Then the boundary ended at the sea.
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!
When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.
The cities the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel rescued [the cities'] territory from the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. So the wounded Philistines fell along the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness.
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 boundary went out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then bent round to Shikkeron, and passed along to Mount Baalah, and went out to Jabneel. Then the boundary ended at the sea.
Ekron, with its towns and villages. From Ekron to the sea, all that lay beside Ashdod, with their villages;
[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king in Samaria and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
Elijah said to [King] Ahaziah, Thus says the Lord: Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel of Whom to inquire His word? Therefore you shall not leave the bed on which you lie, but shall surely die.
And all the mixed foreign population; all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of the Philistines and [their cities of] Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall perish, says the Lord God.
For [hear the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; the people of Ashdod shall be driven out at noonday and Ekron shall be uprooted.
[The strong cities of Philistia] shall see it and fear; Ashkelon, Gaza also, and be sorely pained, and Ekron, for her confidence and expectation shall be put to shame, and a king [monarchial government] shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
And I will take out of [the Philistines'] mouths and from between their teeth the abominable idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood. And they too shall remain and be a remnant for our God, and they shall be like chieftains (the head over a thousand) in Judah, and Ekron shall be like one of the Jebusites [who at last were merged and had lost their identity in Israel].
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 [River] which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, all of it counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, and those of the Avvites;
Ekron, with its towns and villages. From Ekron to the sea, all that lay beside Ashdod, with their villages;
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as [it] came, the people of Ekron cried out, They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people!