Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land did not include the territory occupied by the Philistines. This was to be accomplished later. Accordingly, Jehovah instructed Joshua to assign the territory to the tribes, Judah receiving the territory in which Gath was located.—Josh. 13:2, 3; 15:1, 5, 12.

Both the Ephraimites and Benjamites skirmished with the Gittites, as incidentally noted in the genealogies. (1 Chron. 7:20, 21; 8:13) In Samuel’s day the captured ark of the covenant was brought to Gath, with disastrous consequences to the city’s inhabitants. (1 Sam. 5:8, 9) Shortly thereafter Israel subdued the Philistines, and certain cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel “kept coming back to Israel from Ekron to Gath.” (1 Sam. 7:14) Later, when David slew the Gittite giant Goliath, Israel pursued the Philistines as far as Ekron and Gath.—1 Sam. 17:23, 48-53.

After this, when David was forced to flee from Saul he took refuge in Gath. When the servants of Achish the king of Gath began to say: “Is this not David the king of the land?” David became afraid and feigned insanity in order to escape. (1 Sam. 21:10-15) David composed two psalms recalling this experience in Gath. (Psalms 34 and 56, superscriptions) On David’s next visit to Gath, however, Achish granted him and 600 men safe residence in the town of Ziklag until Saul was killed sixteen months later, after which David moved to Hebron. (1 Sam. 27:2–28:2; 29:1-11; 2 Sam. 1:1; 2:1-3) In his dirge over Saul and Jonathan David noted that the news of Saul’s death would cause rejoicing and exultation in the Philistine cities of Gath and Ashkelon.—2 Sam. 1:20.

During David’s reign Gath and its dependent towns came into Israelite hands. (1 Chron. 18:1) When David fled from Absalom there were 600 “Gittites” among those who went with him. (2 Sam. 15:18) But during Solomon’s rule Achish was still king of Gath. (1 Ki. 2:39-41) Solomon’s successor Rehoboam rebuilt and fortified Gath.—2 Chron. 11:5-8.

King Hazael of Syria captured Gath from King Jehoash of Judah sometime after Jehoash’s twenty-third year (876 B.C.E.). (2 Ki. 12:6, 17) The Philistines must have regained control of the city later, for Uzziah recaptured it in his campaign against them. (2 Chron. 26:3, 6) The prophet Amos, and afterward, Micah, refer to Gath as a foreign city. (Amos 6:2; Mic. 1:10) Following the Assyrian king Sargon’s boast of conquering it not long after 740 B.C.E, there are no further historical references to Gath, and later Biblical mention of Philistine cities does not include it.—Zeph. 2:4; Jer. 25:17, 20; Zech. 9:5, 6.

The exact location of Gath is unknown. Its early passing from historical mention and the absence of tradition about its site make it difficult to locate. Even the goodly number of references in tablets and secular records such as the Amarna letters do not identify the site. Several rather widely separated places have been suggested, the most recent being Tell esh-Shariʹah, fifteen miles (24 kilometers) SE of Gaza.

GATH-HEPHER

(Gath-heʹpher) [winepress of digging].

A border city of Zebulun (Josh. 19:10, 13) and home of the prophet Jonah. (2 Ki. 14:25) It is usually identified with Khirbet ez-Zurraʽ, about two and a half miles (4 kilometers) N-NE of Nazareth and just S of Meshhed, the traditional site of Jonah’s tomb. Surface explorations at Khirbet ez-Zurraʽ appear to corroborate the Biblical statements that the site was occupied at both time periods in the aforementioned accounts.

GATH-RIMMON

(Gath-rimʹmon) [winepress by the pomegranate].

1. A city of Dan (Josh. 19:40, 41, 45) assigned to the Kohathite Levites. (Josh. 21:20, 23, 24) First Chronicles 6:66-70 appears to make Gath-rimmon an Ephraimite city. However, on the basis of the parallel account at Joshua 21:23, 24, Hebrew scholars believe that, due to scribal error, a portion of the text has accidentally dropped out and been lost. So, they suggest inserting the following (corresponding to Joshua 21:23) before 1 Chronicles 6:69: “And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and its pasture ground, Gibbethon and its pasture ground . . . ” This could have been the original reading. However, not to be overlooked is the possibility that Gath-rimmon was a Danite enclave city located within Ephraim’s territory.

Gath-rimmon is usually identified with Tell ej-Jerisheh, about three miles (4.8 kilometers) NE of modern Tel Aviv.

2. A city of Manasseh, given to the Kohathite Levites. (Josh. 21:20, 25) Since the similar account at 1 Chronicles 6:70 has “Bileam,” many scholars believe this latter name originally appeared in place of Gath-rimmon at Joshua 21:25.—See BILEAM; IBLEAM.

GAZA

(Gaʹza).

1. An ancient city listed in the earliest Canaanite boundary description. (Gen. 10:19) Aside from some twenty Scriptural references to Gaza, ancient Egyptian records and inscriptions of Ramses II, Thutmose III and Seti I mention the city. Gaza was apparently the most southwesterly city assigned to the tribe of Judah. (Josh. 15:20, 47; Judg. 6:3, 4) Its inhabitants were called Gazites.—Josh. 13:3; Judg. 16:2.

Some would identify Gaza with Tell el-ʽAjjul, but this has not been confirmed by archaeological diggings there. Generally, the ancient city is linked with modern Gaza, located about fifty miles (c. 80 kilometers) SW of Jerusalem. Although separated from the Mediterranean Sea by some three miles (5 kilometers) of rolling sand dunes, Gaza lies in a well-watered region known for its olive groves, fruit and sycamore trees, grapevines and grain. Agriculture likely contributed to the prosperity of ancient Gaza. But its importance stemmed primarily from its location on the main road linking Egypt with Palestine. This made Gaza a “gateway” both for caravans and military traffic.

OCCUPIED BY PHILISTINES

Sometime before Israel’s exodus from Egypt in 1513 B.C.E., the Hamitic Caphtorim (Gen. 10:6, 13, 14) dispossessed the “Avvim, who were dwelling in settlements as far as Gaza.” (Deut. 2:23) When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Gaza itself was a Philistine city, and its inhabitants included some of the Anakim. Although Israel’s war operations under Joshua extended as far as Gaza, the city apparently was not taken. It remained a Philistine city and some of the Anakim continued to live there. (Josh. 10:41; 11:22; 13:2, 3) Assigned to Judah, Gaza was afterward conquered by this tribe, but the Judeans did not retain control over the city. (Josh. 15:20, 47; Judg. 1:18) In Samson’s day Gaza was again a fortified city of the Philistines, with a “house” used for Dagon worship that could accommodate about 3,000 persons, if not more, on its roof. While Samson was at Gaza on one occasion, he “rose at midnight and grabbed hold of the doors of the city gate and the two side posts and pulled them out along with the bar and put them upon his shoulders and went carrying them up to the top of the mountain that is in front of Hebron.” Later, he caused the collapse of the aforementioned house, this resulting in his own death and that of the Philistines who had assembled there.—Judg. 16:1-3, 21-30.

Gaza apparently continued to be a Philistine city throughout the period of the judges (1 Sam. 6:17) and during the rule of Israel’s kings. King Solomon held dominion as far as Gaza in the SW, but evidently the Philistines were still there, although subject to him.—1 Ki. 4:21, 24.

UNDER ASSYRIAN RULE

Toward the close of the ninth century B.C.E., through his prophet Amos, Jehovah stated that