Ajalon
And Aij’alon, place of deer. (1.) A town and valley originally assigned to the tribe of Dan, from which, however, they could not drive the Amorites (Judg 1:35). It was one of the Levitical cities given to the Kohathites (1 Chr 6:69). It was not far from Beth-shemesh (2 Chr 28:18). It was the boundary between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and is frequently mentioned in Jewish history (2 Chr 11:10; 1 Sam 14:31; 1 Chr 8:13). With reference to the valley named after the town, Joshua uttered the celebrated command, “Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon” (Josh 10:12). It has been identified as the modern Yalo, at the foot of the Beth-horon pass (q.v.). In the Tell Amarna letters Adoni-zedek (q.v.) speaks of the destruction of the “city of Ajalon” by the invaders, and describes himself as “afflicted, greatly afflicted” by the calamities that had come on the land, urging the king of Egypt to hasten to his help.
(2.) A city in the tribe of Zebulun (Judg 12:12), the modern Jalun, three miles north of Cabul.
Named in the Bible
3 verses
- Joshua 10:12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
- Joshua 19:42 And Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, and Jethlah,
- 2 Chronicles 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
