Daily Archives: September 15, 2008

The biblical site of Azekah is identified with Tell ez-Zekariyeh which overlooks the Valley of Elah. Azekah is a town of the Shephelah and is mentioned seven times in the Bible. Here is a summary of the information:

• Azekah is mentioned in the account of Joshua’s long day (Joshua 10:10-11).
• It was assigned to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:35).
• The Philistines camped at Ephes-Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah, at the time of the conflict between David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1).
• It was one of the fortified cities of Rehoboam, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:9).
• Upon return from Babylonian captivity some of the Jews settled in Azekah and its villages (Nehemiah 11:30).

Jeremiah states that only Lachish and Azekah remained of the fortified cities of Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity of Judah in 586 B.C. (Jeremiah 34:7). This indicates that Jeremiah wrote shortly before Lachish Letter # 4 was written. The last portion of the letter reads this way:

And let (my lord) know that we are watching for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord hath given, for we cannot see Azekah. (The Ancient Near East an Anthology of Texts and Pictures, 322)

Tel Azekah overlooks the Valley of Elah. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

A photograph of the Valley of Elah made from atop Tel Azekah may be seen here. An excavation conducted by Bliss and Macalister in 1898-99 showed that Azekah was occupied from Canaanite times. (The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeoogy, 83).