Azotus

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Ἄζωτος)

Azotus, the Gr. form of ‘Ashdod,’ occurs often in 1 Mac. ( 1 Maccabees 4:15;  1 Maccabees 5:68;  1 Maccabees 10:77;  1 Maccabees 10:83 f. etc.), and once in the NT. St. Philip met the Ethiopian on ‘the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza,’ and, after baptizing him, ‘was found at Azotus’ ( Acts 8:26;  Acts 8:40). Ashdod was the most important of the Philistine cities which formed the Pentapolis. Situated midway between Joppa and Gaza-about 25 miles from each-it passed through many vicissitudes. It appears often in the historical and prophetic books of the OT, in the Assyrian records, in the Maccabaean annals, and in Josephus. Herodotus (ii. 157) says that the siege which Azotus endured before it was subdued by Psammeticus, king of Egypt, was the longest on record, lasting 29 years. Ashdod survives in the modern Esdûd , a village on the slope of a wooded artificial mound ( tell )-once, no doubt, a strong fortress-about 3 miles from the sea-coast, where the traces of a harbour have been found. The ancient city lies beneath the sand-drift that now threatens to bury the mud hovels of the village, among which some remains of old stone buildings are to be seen. The wide plain to the east is exceedingly fertile.

James Strahan.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Azo'tus. See Ashdod .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See Ashdod .

Holman Bible Dictionary

Ashdod

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 8:40

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

AZOTUS . See Ashdod.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

See ASHDOD.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( ῎Αζωτος ), the Graecized form ( Acts 8:40; so  1 Maccabees 4:15;  1 Maccabees 5:68;  1 Maccabees 10:77-78;  1 Maccabees 10:83;  1 Maccabees 11:4;  1 Maccabees 13:34;  1 Maccabees 16:10) of the name of the city ASHDOD (See Ashdod) (q.v.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a - zō´tus . See Ashdod (1 Macc 9:15;  Acts 8:40 ).