Azekah
עֲזֵקָה
Where was biblical Azekah? At Tel Azekah, Britannia Park, above the Elah Valley, about 30 km west of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
Saul's army camped on this hill while Goliath came out every morning and evening to taunt them from the valley. Centuries later Judah watched for Azekah's signal fires as Babylon closed in.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tel Azekah, Britannia Park, above the Elah Valley
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Azeka, Azeqah, Tel Azekah, Tell Zakariya
- Location
- 31.7000° N, 34.9360° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
Azekah lost its name. The Arabic Tell Zakariya comes from a nearby village. So the case rests on the text and the ground. The Bible sets the Philistine camp "between Socho and Azekah," with the Elah Valley between the two armies. This steep hill, speckled with trees, towers over the valley directly across from Socho. An Assyrian inscription of Sennacherib describes Azekah as a stronghold "like an eagle's nest" on a mountain ridge. That describes this hill well.
Then comes a letter. As the Babylonians closed in, a Judean officer wrote to Lachish on a piece of pottery that he could no longer see the signals of Azekah. Jeremiah names Lachish and Azekah as the last fortified towns of Judah still holding out. Long before that, Joshua chased the Amorite kings this way, and hailstones fell on them all the way to Azekah.
Walk up and you'll see broken pottery lying everywhere. On the flat top every step stands on layers of buried city. I filmed the Walking Tanach episode David and Goliath here to ask why Saul froze for forty days. He was Israel's first king, with no model to follow. The Philistines offered a "civilized" contest, one champion against another. Refusing might make Israel look primitive. Accepting meant finding a fighter, and he had no one trained like Goliath. The Talmud adds that Goliath shouted morning and evening to break Israel's concentration at the hour of the Shema.
David broke the deadlock. His father sent him down from Bethlehem with food for his brothers. I've hiked that route with my son in about four or five hours.
Watch: David and Goliath
Walking Tanach, Episode 3. Filmed on the tel, on why Saul froze for 40 days.
Visiting today
A short trail in Britannia Park climbs to the summit, with a lookout over the Elah Valley and the excavation areas. I filmed on the tel for David and Goliath.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Azekah on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Socoh 4 km southeast
- Jarmuth 4 km east
- Beth Shemesh 7 km northeast
- Adullam 8 km southeast
- Gath 8 km west
- Zorah (Tzorah) 10 km northeast