Hebrew word · H796

אַשְׁדּוֹדִי

veha'ashdodim

Ashdod

Feminine plural of the gentilic 'Ashdodite': women of Ashdod. Ashdod was one of the five Philistine cities (Josh 13:3; 1 Sam 5). In the Persian period it was the centre of its own province on the coastal plain, west of Yehud.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Ashdodite = "I will spoil"

an inhabitant of Ashdod

Another spelling of ash.dod (אַשְׁדּוֹד "Ashdod" H0795)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Nehemiah 13:23

Range of meaning

Feminine plural of the gentilic 'Ashdodite': women of Ashdod. Ashdod was one of the five Philistine cities (Josh 13:3; 1 Sam 5). In the Persian period it was the centre of its own province on the coastal plain, west of Yehud.

Against the English

English versions agree: 'women of/from Ashdod.' There is no real difference between them.

Used elsewhere in the period

Neh 4:7 [4:1 Heb.] lists 'the Ashdodites' with Sanballat, Tobiah and the Arabs as enemies who plotted against the wall. The Assyrian annals of Sargon II record Ashdod's revolt and its conversion into an Assyrian province (c. 711 BCE). Its standing as a province continued under Babylon and Persia. Zech 9:6 speaks of 'a mixed people' (mamzer) dwelling in Ashdod.

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 13:3 וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִי֙ and the Ashdodite[s]

    from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;

    Here: The realm of Ashdod, a coastal city-state north of Ashkelon.

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 5:3 אַשְׁדּוֹדִים֙ [the] Ashdodites

    When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

    Here: The citizens of Ashdod, one of the five chief Philistine cities. The narrator names the townspeople as a body, not only the priests, so the humiliation falls on the city that had just hosted the trophy.

  2. 1 Samuel 5:6 הָאַשְׁדּוֹדִ֖ים the Ashdodites

    Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.

    Here: The people of Ashdod, one of the five main Philistine cities, where the captured ark had been put in Dagon's temple.

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 4:7 וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִ֗ים and the Ashdodites

    When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

    Here: People of Ashdod, the old Philistine city that was then the centre of a Persian district on the coast, west of Judah. They are new to the list: the opposition has widened.

  2. Nehemiah 13:23 אַשְׁדֳּדִיּ֔וֹת Ashdodite

    In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

    Here: Women from Ashdod, the old Philistine coastal city that was the seat of a neighbouring Persian province. Its people were among Nehemiah's opponents (4:7). It comes first in the list because v. 24 goes on to the 'language of Ashdod.'

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.