Amos 1:6-8

Philistia. Philistia was another name to strike terror. The country is well represented by Gaza (Amos 1:6), the southernmost and largest city of the Philistines (p. 28), an emporium of trade and the centre of the slave-traffic. A typical instance of brutality is found in the carrying away of a whole deportation to deliver it (or them) over to Edom The reference may be to some raid in which the Philistines procured slaves for the Edomites to sell again. But Edom may, as elsewhere, be a mistake for Aram, and the reference may be to some episode in Hazael's campaign (2 Kings 12:18; so Orelli). Three more Philistine cities (p. 28) are mentioned (Amos 1:7 f.) as representatives of Philistia: Ashdod, Gr. Azotus, a strong fortress-city 21 miles NNE. of Gaza, on the caravan-route between Gaza and Joppa; Ashkelon, on the coast, about half-way between Gaza and Ashdod; and Ekron, the northernmost of the five chief cities of the Philistines, about 12 miles NE. of Ashdod.