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GATH

(Heb. gaṯ)

A city of the Philistine pentapolis, sometimes called Gath of the Philistines. Although the word Gath is usually translated “winepress,” in Ugaritic texts it refers to a processing center for agricultural goods. The city is usually identified with the impressive mound known as Tell eṣ-Òâfi/Tel ßafit (1359.1237). Although other sites have been proposed (e.g., Tel Nagila [127101], Tell esh-Shariʿa/Tel Seraʿ [119088], Tell Abu Hureireh/Tel Haror [08795.11257]), none of these has garnered support.

The city’s history begins in the 2nd millennium b.c.e., well before the Philistines (or Israelites) arrived in Palestine. In the 14th century the city appears in several Amarna Letters written by its ruler Šuwardata to his overlord, the Egyptian pharaoh. Gath was evidently conquered by the Philistines after their arrival on the southern coastal plain in the early 12th century. The city was still in Philistine hands in the late 11th century when David purportedly met Goliath, who came from a race of giants living in Gath, in a legendary man-to-man conflict (cf. 1 Sam. 17; 2 Sam. 21:20-22). The ark of the covenant resided there briefly after its capture by the Philistines (1 Sam. 5:8-10), and David found refuge in his flight from Saul with King Achish of Gath (1 Sam. 27). From Gath David began to curry favor with the leaders of Judah, especially round the Negeb region and the city of Hebron, and men from Gath (“Gittites”) became David’s most loyal supporters throughout his reign (cf. 2 Sam. 15:18). The city fell under Israelite control after the Israelites achieved independence from the Philistines.

The city was conquered by the Aramean king Hazael in the late 9th century, and its strategic location on the road leading up to Jerusalem via the Elah valley and Bethlehem was used in an attack against Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 12:17). Gath was finally conquered by the Assyrian king Sargon in 712 as part of his purported conquest of Judah (cf. ANET, 286), and the city then passed out of the pages of history. So complete was the collapse of the legendary city of the giants that it became a proverb (Amos 6:2; cf. Mic. 1:10).

William M. Schniedewind

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

GATH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)