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Gaza - location profile

Location and Setting

• Gaza was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea about fifty miles southwest of Jerusalem.
• Situated twelve miles south of Ashkelon, Gaza was the southernmost city of the Philistine pentapolis. The pentapolis was a league of five Philistine city-states which were allied for mutual economic, military and political benefit.
• The International Coastal Highway, the main north-south caravan and military route linking Egypt to Mesopotamia, ran through Gaza, making it an important trade center.
• Fifteen fresh water wells in and around Gaza also made the city an important stopping place for caravans entering the desert on the way to Egypt.
• The city of Gaza has given its name to gauze, a product of the cotton that is grown in the area.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Because of its location on the International Coastal Highway and because of the fifteen wells, Gaza was the site of many battles as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and other powers sought to control this strategic city.
• Joshua subdued the southern region of Judah from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza during his southern campaign of the conquest (Josh 10:41). However, Joshua did not defeat the Anakites who were living in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod (Josh 11:22). The Anakite tribe was known for being very large in stature.
• Because the Israelites did not completely destroy the Philistines living in Canaan, the Philistines eventually reclaimed the entire Coastal Plain, including Gaza (Josh 13:3).
• Samson, from Eshtaol in the Shephelah, humiliated Gaza by tearing out its city gates and carrying them thirty-eight miles away to the hill that faces Hebron (Judg 16:1-3). Later, Gaza executed revenge on Samson by blinding him and forcing him to grind their grain, the work of women (Judg 16:21).
• It is likely that Solomon regained control of Gaza and the surrounding region during his reign (1 Kgs 4:24).
• Gaza was apparently involved in the slave trade, selling slaves to Edom, a sin for which the prophet Amos rebuked the city (Amos 1:6-7).
• Control of Gaza changed hands several more times during the Old Testament period. Assyria held it for some time in the eighth century B.C. under the reigns of Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II. King Hezekiah of Judah reclaimed it (2 Kgs 18:8) only to lose it again to King Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 B.C. A century later, the Pharaoh of Egypt conquered Gaza (Jer 47:1).
• In the New Testament period, Gaza was the city to which an angel sent Philip to meet an Ethiopian eunuch. He was told to take the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26).

Bibliography

1. Mare, W. H. "Gaza" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
2. Mitchell, T. C. and A. R. Millard. "Gaza" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.