Ziklag
Encyclopedia
Ziklag is the Biblical
name of a town that was located in the Negev
region in the south of what was the Kingdom of Judah
.
At the end of the 19th century, both Haluza
(by Wadi
Asluj, south of Beersheba
) and Khirbet Zuheiliqah (located north-west of Beersheba and south-southeast of Gaza city) had been suggested.
Ziklag is generally agreed to be a significant corruption of the location's actual name; Haluza was identified as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Halusah (slightly clearer in the underlying Hebrew script than in English), meaning fortress; Khirbet Zuheiliqah was identified by Conder and Kitchener as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Zahaliku.
Other proposed identifications for Ziklag are:
as the origin of the Philistines
. Biblical scholars regard this as an eponym
rather than an individual, and it is thought possible that the name is a corruption of Halusah; with the identification of Ziklag as Haluza, this suggests that Ziklag was the original base from which the Philistines captured the remainder of their territory. It has also been proposed that Ziklag subsequently became the capital of the Cherethites
.
In the lists of cities of the Israelites by tribe given in the Book of Joshua
, Ziklag appears both as a town belonging to the Tribe of Judah
and as a town belonging to the Tribe of Simeon
. Textual scholars
believe that these lists were originally independent administrative documents, not necessarily dating from the same time, and hence reflecting the changing tribal boundaries. claims that by the time of David
, the town was under the control of Philistines
, but subsequently was given by their king - Achish
- to David, who at that time was seemingly acting as a vassal
of the Philistines. Biblical scholars
argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king. Since the compilation of the Book of Joshua is regarded by textual scholars as late, probably being due to the deuteronomist
, it is possible that the tribal allocations given within it date from after this annexation rather than before.
According to , while David was encamped with the Philistine army for an attack on the Kingdom of Israel, Ziklag was raided by Amalekites; the Amalekites burning the town, and capturing its population without killing them (scholars think this capture refers to enslavement
). However, none of the archaeological sites which have been proposed to be Ziklag show any evidence of destruction during the era of David.
In the narrative, when David's men discovered that their families had been captured, they became angry with David, but once David had sought divination
from the ephod
that Abiathar
possessed, he managed to persuade them to join him in a pursuit of the captors, as the divination was favourable. Six hundred men went in pursuit, but a third of them were too exhausted to go further than the HaBesor Stream. They found an abandoned and starving slave, formerly belonging to one of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag, and having given him fig
cake
, raisin
cake, and water, persuaded him to lead them to the Amalekite raiders. The slave lead them to the camp of the captors, and found the captors holding a feast and celebrating, due to the size of their spoil; David's forces engaged in battle with them for a night and a day, and ultimately became victorious.
Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the monarchial source of the Books of Samuel; the rival source, known as the republican source (named this due to its negative presentation of David, Saul, and other kings), does not at first glance appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the republican source by the story of Nabal
, who lived in the region south of Hebron
(which includes the Negev). There are some similarities between the narratives, including David leading an army in revenge (for Nabal's unwillingness to give provisions to David), with 400 of the army going ahead and 200 staying behind, as well as David gaining Abigail
as a wife (though in the Ziklag narrative he re-gains her), as well as several provisions, and there being a jovial feast in the enemy camp (i.e. Nabal's property). However, there are also several differences, such as the victory and provisions being obtained by Abigail's peaceful actions rather than a heroic victory by David, the 200 that stayed behind doing so to protect the baggage rather than due to exhaustion, the main secondary character being the wife of the enemy (Nabal) rather than their former slave, David's forces being joined by damsels rather than rejoining their wives, and Nabal rather than the Amalekites being the enemy.
The Books of Samuel go on to mention that as a result, the people taken by the Amalekites were released, and the spoil that the Amalekites had taken, including livestock, and spoil from attacks elsewhere, were divided among David's men, including the third that had remained at the Besor
. This ruling, that even those left behind would get a share, is stated by the text to have been a response by David to those who believed only the two thirds of David's men that had battled with the Amalekites should get a reward. A similar ruling is given in the Priestly Code
and in . Scholars believe that the these rulings are derived from the decision in regard to the Amalekite spoil, rather than vice versa.
According to the text, once back at Ziklag, David sent portions of the spoil to the various community leaders within Judah; the text gives a list of the locations of the recipients, but they are all just within the Negev.
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
name of a town that was located in the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
region in the south of what was the Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
.
Identification
The exact location of Ziklag has not been identified with any certainty.At the end of the 19th century, both Haluza
Haluza
Haluza , also known as Halasa, Chellous , al-Khalasa and Elusa, is a city in the Negev, Israel, that was once part of the Nabataean Incense Route. Due to this historic importance, UNESCO have granted four cities in the Negev the joint status of a World Heritage Site; Haluza is one of these, the...
(by Wadi
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
Asluj, south of Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
) and Khirbet Zuheiliqah (located north-west of Beersheba and south-southeast of Gaza city) had been suggested.
Ziklag is generally agreed to be a significant corruption of the location's actual name; Haluza was identified as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Halusah (slightly clearer in the underlying Hebrew script than in English), meaning fortress; Khirbet Zuheiliqah was identified by Conder and Kitchener as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Zahaliku.
Other proposed identifications for Ziklag are:
- Tel Zayit
- Tel Sera (Tel esh-Sharia, 31°23′26.06"N 34°40′50.07"E).
In the Bible
The Book of Genesis refers to CasluhimCasluhim
The Casluhim or Casluhites were an ancient Egyptian people mentioned in the Bible and related literature. According to and , they were descendants of Mizraim son of Ham, out of whom originated the Philistines....
as the origin of the Philistines
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
. Biblical scholars regard this as an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
rather than an individual, and it is thought possible that the name is a corruption of Halusah; with the identification of Ziklag as Haluza, this suggests that Ziklag was the original base from which the Philistines captured the remainder of their territory. It has also been proposed that Ziklag subsequently became the capital of the Cherethites
Cherethites
Cherethites is a name given by the Hebrew Bible to one of the ethnic groups in the Levant. Their identity has not been determined with certainty....
.
In the lists of cities of the Israelites by tribe given in the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
, Ziklag appears both as a town belonging to the Tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
and as a town belonging to the Tribe of Simeon
Tribe of Simeon
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BC, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
. Textual scholars
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
believe that these lists were originally independent administrative documents, not necessarily dating from the same time, and hence reflecting the changing tribal boundaries. claims that by the time of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, the town was under the control of Philistines
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
, but subsequently was given by their king - Achish
Achish
Achish is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for two Philistine rulers of Gath. It is perhaps only a general title of royalty, applicable to the Philistine kings. The two kings of Gath, which is identified by most scholars as Tell es-Safi, are:...
- to David, who at that time was seemingly acting as a vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of the Philistines. Biblical scholars
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king. Since the compilation of the Book of Joshua is regarded by textual scholars as late, probably being due to the deuteronomist
Deuteronomist
The Deuteronomist, or simply D, is one of the sources underlying the Hebrew bible . It is found in the book of Deuteronomy, in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings and also in the book of Jeremiah...
, it is possible that the tribal allocations given within it date from after this annexation rather than before.
According to , while David was encamped with the Philistine army for an attack on the Kingdom of Israel, Ziklag was raided by Amalekites; the Amalekites burning the town, and capturing its population without killing them (scholars think this capture refers to enslavement
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
). However, none of the archaeological sites which have been proposed to be Ziklag show any evidence of destruction during the era of David.
In the narrative, when David's men discovered that their families had been captured, they became angry with David, but once David had sought divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
from the ephod
Ephod
An ephod was an article of clothing, and a worship object, in ancient Israelite culture, and was closely connected with oracular practices....
that Abiathar
Abiathar
Abiathar , in the Hebrew Bible, son of Achimelech or Ahijah, High Priest at Nob, the fourth in descent from Eli and the last of Eli's House...
possessed, he managed to persuade them to join him in a pursuit of the captors, as the divination was favourable. Six hundred men went in pursuit, but a third of them were too exhausted to go further than the HaBesor Stream. They found an abandoned and starving slave, formerly belonging to one of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag, and having given him fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
, raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
cake, and water, persuaded him to lead them to the Amalekite raiders. The slave lead them to the camp of the captors, and found the captors holding a feast and celebrating, due to the size of their spoil; David's forces engaged in battle with them for a night and a day, and ultimately became victorious.
Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the monarchial source of the Books of Samuel; the rival source, known as the republican source (named this due to its negative presentation of David, Saul, and other kings), does not at first glance appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the republican source by the story of Nabal
Nabal
According to the 1st Book of Samuel Chapter 25, Nabal , was a rich Calebite who was also described as being harsh and surly. David and his band of men who had been outlawed by King Saul were living off the Wilderness of Paran and providing voluntary protection to the shepherds in the area.The...
, who lived in the region south of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
(which includes the Negev). There are some similarities between the narratives, including David leading an army in revenge (for Nabal's unwillingness to give provisions to David), with 400 of the army going ahead and 200 staying behind, as well as David gaining Abigail
Abigail
Abigail was the wife of Nabal; she became a wife of David after Nabal's death .In the passage, Nabal demonstrates ingratitude towards David, and Abigail attempts to placate David in order to stop him taking revenge...
as a wife (though in the Ziklag narrative he re-gains her), as well as several provisions, and there being a jovial feast in the enemy camp (i.e. Nabal's property). However, there are also several differences, such as the victory and provisions being obtained by Abigail's peaceful actions rather than a heroic victory by David, the 200 that stayed behind doing so to protect the baggage rather than due to exhaustion, the main secondary character being the wife of the enemy (Nabal) rather than their former slave, David's forces being joined by damsels rather than rejoining their wives, and Nabal rather than the Amalekites being the enemy.
The Books of Samuel go on to mention that as a result, the people taken by the Amalekites were released, and the spoil that the Amalekites had taken, including livestock, and spoil from attacks elsewhere, were divided among David's men, including the third that had remained at the Besor
Besor
HaBesor is a wadi in southern Israel. The stream begins at Mount Boker , and spills into the Mediterranean Sea near Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, where it is called Wadi Gaza...
. This ruling, that even those left behind would get a share, is stated by the text to have been a response by David to those who believed only the two thirds of David's men that had battled with the Amalekites should get a reward. A similar ruling is given in the Priestly Code
Priestly Code
The Priestly Code is the name given, by academia, to the body of laws expressed in the Torah which do not form part of the Holiness Code, the Covenant Code, the Ritual Decalogue, or the Ethical Decalogue. The Priestly Code constitutes the majority of Leviticus, as well as some of the laws...
and in . Scholars believe that the these rulings are derived from the decision in regard to the Amalekite spoil, rather than vice versa.
According to the text, once back at Ziklag, David sent portions of the spoil to the various community leaders within Judah; the text gives a list of the locations of the recipients, but they are all just within the Negev.