City
Gaza
GAH-zuh · Modern Gaza City, Gaza Strip · Also called Azzah, Ghazzah
Gaza is a city of the biblical world.
What is known
- Samson carried off the city gates of Gaza to a hilltop near Hebron after being trapped there overnight (Judges 16:1-3)
- Samson was later brought to Gaza as a blinded prisoner and died there pulling down the temple of Dagon on the Philistine lords (Judges 16:21-30)
- Listed as the southern boundary marker of Canaanite/Philistine territory in Genesis 10:19 and Joshua's territorial descriptions
- The road from Jerusalem to Gaza is the setting for Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26)
History
- Founded
- Inhabited since at least the Bronze Age; a strategic hub on the coastal trade route between Egypt and the Levant (the Via Maris)
- Population
- Uncertain for the biblical period, but consistently described as the largest and southernmost of the five Philistine cities
- Industry
- Caravan and trade crossroads between Egypt, Arabia, and the Levant; agriculture
- Coordinates
- 31.5017° N, 34.4668° E
Rulers and powers
- Philistine city-lords — c. 1175-604 BC
- Egyptian garrison town (earlier, under the New Kingdom) — c. 1550-1150 BC
Scripture references
- Genesis 10:19
- Joshua 10:41
- Joshua 13:3
- Judges 1:18
- Judges 6:4
- Judges 16:1-3 — Samson carries off the city gates
- Judges 16:21-30 — Samson's death in the temple of Dagon
- 1 Samuel 6:17
- Amos 1:6-7
- Zephaniah 2:4
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
In Gaza, blinded and humiliated, Samson prayed one more time — how easy is it for you to pray after failure?
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