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Ziklag - location profile

Location and Setting

• At least four sites have been proposed for the ancient city of Ziklag. The most probable location is in the southern region of Judah, fifteen miles southeast of Gaza.
• Ziklag was located in the Negev, not far from Gerar.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• The territory around Ziklag was originally allotted to the tribe of Simeon (Josh 19:5; 1 Chr 4:30). By the reign of King Saul, however, it was controlled by the Philistines (1 Sam 27:6).
• At the end of the years of David’s flight from Saul, Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, gave Ziklag to David as a refuge for his six hundred men and their families (1 Sam 27:6ff.; 1 Chr 12:1,20). From Ziklag, David raided the nomadic enemies of Israel and Philistia, which earned him increasing favor with Achish (1 Sam 27:8-11). David’s army began to grow, as defectors from Saul’s army found refuge at Ziklag in the midst of the Philistine-controlled southern part of the region (1 Chr 12:1-22).
• While David and his men were with Achish at Aphek, before the Philistines marched north against Saul, the Amalekites raided Ziklag and abducted the families of David and his men. The Amalekite victory was short-lived, however, as David’s army pursued and annihilated them, rescuing those who had been abducted and taking spoil from the victory (1 Sam 30:1-20).
• David heard of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan when a messenger delivered the news to him in Ziklag (2 Sam 1:1).
• Although David resided in Ziklag for only one year and four months (1 Sam 27:6-7; 30:14,26; 1 Chr 12:1,20), the city remained in David’s possession throughout his reign, and it continued to be occupied by Jews after they returned from the Babylonian exile (Neh 11:28).

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
2. Payne, D.F. "Ziklag" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.
3. Thompson, J. Arthur. "Ziklag" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.