Ekron
    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 (Josh. 13:3), and afterwards to Dan
    (19:43), but came again into the full possession of the
    Philistines (1 Sam. 5:10). It was the last place to which the
    Philistines carried the ark before they sent it back to Israel
    (1 Sam. 5:10; 6:1-8). There was here a noted sanctuary of
    Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1: 2, 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.
 Ekron, barrenness; torn away