The Battle of Aphek is a biblical episode described in the

First Book of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Book ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

defeated the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

army and captured the Ark of the Covenant. Among biblical scholars, the historicity of the early events in the

Books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...

is debated, with some scholars leaning toward many events in Samuel being historical, and some scholars leaning towards less. (See also Biblical minimalism and

Biblical maximalism Biblical maximalism is the movement in Biblical scholarship that, as opposed to Biblical minimalism, ''affirms'' the historicity of central Biblical narratives, such as those pertaining to the United Monarchy, and the historical authenticity of anc ...

Biblical account

The Book of Samuel records that the Philistines were camped at Aphek and the Israelites at

Eben-Ezer Eben-Ezer (, ''’éḇen hā-‘ézer'', "the stone of help") is a location that is mentioned by the Books of Samuel as the scene of battles between the Israelites and Philistines. It is specified as having been less than a day's journey by f ...

. The Philistines defeated the Israelites during the first battle, killing 4,000 Israelites. The Israelites then brought up the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh, thinking that through this "they should have the presence of God with them, and so success", but the Philistines again defeated the Israelites, this time killing 30,000 and capturing the Ark. Samuel records that the two sons of the judge

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

Hophni and Phinehas Hophni () and Phinehas or Phineas () were the two sons of Eli. The first book of Samuel describes them as the officiating priests at the sanctuary of Shiloh at the time of Hannah. According to Josephus, Phinehas officiated as high priest because ...

, died that day, as well as Eli. "And it came to pass, when messengermade mention of the ark of God, that lifell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years." ()

Place

Most scholars agree that there were more than one Aphek.

C. R. Conder Claude Reignier Conder (29 December 1848, Cheltenham – 16 February 1910, Cheltenham) was an English soldier, explorer and antiquarian. He was a great-great-grandson of Louis-François Roubiliac and grandson of editor and author Josiah Conder. ...

identified the Aphek of Eben-Ezer with a ruin (''Khirbet'') some distant from

Dayr Aban Dayr Aban (also spelled Deir Aban; ar, دير آبان) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict, located on the lower slope of a high ridge that formed the western slope of a mountain, to the east of Beit Shemesh. It was fo ...

(believed to be Eben-Ezer), and known by the name ''Marj al-Fikiya''; the name ''al-Fikiya'' being an Arabic corruption of Aphek.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

, when writing about Eben-ezer in his ''Onomasticon'', says that it is "the place from which the Gentiles seized the Ark, between Jerusalem and Ascalon, near the village of Bethsamys (Beit Shemesh)",''Eusebius Werke'', Erich Klostermann (ed.), Leipzig 1904, p. 33,24. a locale that corresponds with Conder's identification.

References

{{The Bible and warfare Ancient Israel and Judah Aphek Books of Samuel