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.