ASHDOD - Modern Esdud, called in Apocrypha and NT by its Greek name Azotus, a city of the Anakim not captured by Joshua; although it was allotted along with its villages to the tribe of Judah, it was never occupied by Judah, for it soon became one of the five cities of the Philistines (Jos.11.22, 13.3, 15.47). It was to the temple of Dagon in Ashdod that the Philistines first brought the Ark of Yahweh after they captured it from the Israelites (1 S.5.1.f). Uzziah attacked Ashdod, dismantled its walls and established Jewish settlements in its neighbourhood (2 Ch.26.6). It probably became tributary to Assyria under Tiglath-pileser III. In 711 BC it revolted against Sargon II at the instigation of a Greek whom the Ashdodites chose in preference to the Assyrian nominee; the crushing of this revolt is mentioned in Is.20.1. Mitinti, king of Ashdod, remained loyal to Sennacherib when Hezekiah and others revolted, and was rewarded by receiving portions of Hezekiah's territory. Judgment is pronounced on Ashdod by Hebrew prophets both before and after the exile (cf Am.1.8, Zeph.2.4, Jer.25.20, Zec.9.6). (In Am.3.9 read 'Assyria' with LXX; so RSV.)
Ashdod was the capital of a district under the Persian Empire; Nehemiah was indignant at hearing its dialect spoken by Jewish children whose fathers had married women from there (Neh.13.23f). It was captured by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Mac.5.68) and his brother Jonathan (1 Mac 10.84), and burned by John Hyrcanus (1 Mac.16.10). It was given the status of a free city by Pompey in 63 BC. Herod the Great bequeathed it to his sister Salome, who bequeathed it in turn to the Empress Livia (AD 10).
In NT Philip visits it after his meeting with the Ethiopian eunuch (Ac.8.40). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - R.A.S.M. - F.F.B.]