Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
"Ashdod" This was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, "located thirty-three miles west of Jerusalem,"[2] "only 3 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, situated on an elevation overlooking the Philistine plain half way between Gaza and Joppa; its importance consisted in the fact of its commanding the high road from Palestine to Egypt."[3] This city is the Azotus of the N.T. (Acts 8:40) and, "the modern Tell Ashdod."[4]