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 ( Daniel 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 ; 6:1-8 ). There was here a noted sanctuary of Baal-zebub ( 2 Kings 1 :: 23616,3,6,16 ). 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.
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/easton— Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)