Ekron

Easton, 1897

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 (Joshua 13:3), and afterwards to Dan (Joshua 19:43), but came again into the full possession of the Philistines (1 Samuel 5:10). It was the last place to which the Philistines carried the ark before they sent it back to Israel (1 Samuel 5:10; 1 Samuel 6:1-8). There was here a noted sanctuary of Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1:2, 2 Kings 1:3, 2 Kings 1:6, 2 Kings 1:16). 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.