Ezion-Geber

A city of Arabia, meaning, the Wood of the strong. So called from Hets, wood; and Gaber, strong. (1 Kings ix. 26.)

See ELATH.

E´zion-Ge´ber, a very ancient city lying not far from Elath, on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. It is first mentioned in Num 33:35, as one of the stations where the Hebrews halted in their journeyings through the desert (Deu 2:8). From its harbor it was that Solomon (1Ki 9:26) sent the fleet which he had there built to the land of Ophir, whence they fetched four hundred and twenty talents of gold. Here, also, Jehoshaphat (1Ki 22:47; 2Ch 20:35) built a fleet ’to go to Ophir,’ but because he had joined himself with Ahaziah, ’king of Israel, who did wickedly,’ ’the ships were broken that they were not able to go to Tarshish.’ Eziongeber is probably the same with the once populous city Assyan. Robinson says, no trace of Eziongeber seems now to remain, unless it be in the name of a small wady with brackish water, el-Ghudyan, opening into el-Arabah from the western mountain, some distance north of Aqabah.

E’zion-ge’ber. See Eziongaber.

("the giant’s backbone".) A town on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. The last stage in Israel’s march before the wilderness of Zin or Kadesh. The station of Solomon’s navy "beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom." The timber was probably brought to Ezion Geber from Tyre to build the ships (2Ch 8:17-18). There Jehoshaphat’s fleet was broken on the jagged rocks on each side (1Ki 9:26; 1Ki 22:48). Now wady Ghadyan (another form of Ezion), a valley running E. into the Arabah, some miles N. of the present head of the Elanitic gulf. A salt marsh marks where the sea anciently reached. A tidal haven was here, at the head of which the city of Ezion Geber stood. On the haven’s eastern side lay Elath (now Akaba), from whence the Elanitic gulf took its name, meaning "trees"; a palm grove is still there; on the W. lay Ebronah (Num 33:35-36).

(Hebrews Etsyon’-Ge’ber, עֶצְיוֹןאּגֶּבֶר[in this form only at 1Ki 9:26; 2Ch 8:17], i.e. giant’s back-bone; Sept. Γασιὼν [in Deuteronomy Γεσιὼν] Γάβερ [in Chronicles Γαβέρ], but in 1 Kings Α᾿σίων Γάβερ ; Vulg. Asiongaber) or EZION-GA’BER (being "in pause," Hebrews Etsyon’-Ga’ber, עֶצִין גּ בֶר[in 1 Kings 20:49; 2Ch 20:36, fully עֶצְיוֹן], so found also at Num 33:35-36; Deu 2:8; but Angli. cized "Ezion-geber" in 1Ki 22:48 [49]), a very ancient city near Elath (q.v.), on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Jonathan’s Targum; following a false etymology, defines the name as i.e., "castle of the cock" (see Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. col. 384; Beck, Chron. Chald. paraphr. 2:101). It is first mentioned in Num 33:35 as one of the stations where the Hebrews halted in their journeyings through the desert, being the last there named before they came to "the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh," and the point where they afterwards turned from the ’Arabah to Elath, towards "the wilderness of Moab" (Deu 2:8). SEE EXODE. From its harbor it was that Solomon (1Ki 9:26) sent the fleet which he had there built to the land of Ophir. SEE COMMERCE.

Here also Jehoshaphat (1Ki 22:47; 2Ch 20:35) built a fleet "to go to Ophir;" but because he had joined himself with Ahaziah, "king of Israel, who did wickedly," "the ships were broken that they were not able to go to Tarshish," being probably destroyed on the rocks which lie in "jagged ranges on each side" (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, page 84). Busching (Erdbeschr. V, 1:620) erroneously locates it at Shurmn, a port at the southern end of the gulf (Geogr. Nub. 3:5). Wellsted (Travels, 2:153) would find it in the modern Dahob, but this is the ancient Dizahab (q.v.); Laborde (Commentaire Geogr. page 124) seeks it in the rocky island el-Kurdiyah, which is hardly adequate in extent or position; and Rtippel (Arab. page 252) locates it at the mouth of’wadv Emrag, i.e., el-Mlursk, which is liable to the same objection. Josephus (Ant. 8:6, 4) says that Ezion-geber (Α᾿σσιογγάβαρος) was also called Berenice, and that it lay not far from JElath. It is probably the same with the once-populous city ’Asyun (Burckhardt, Syria, page 511). Robinson (Bibliccl Researches, 1:250) says, “No trace of Ezion-geber seems now to remain, unless it be in the name of a small wady with brackish water, el- Ghudyan, opening into el-’Arabah from the western mountain, some distance north of Akabah." It is doubtful, however, whether the sea ever extended so far up the ’Arabah as this. It was probably situated at the point where the Haj route strikes the ’Arabah at the north-west point of the gulf (Robinson, ib. 1:239). Yet the town may have given name to this the nearest spring, for Ghudyan in Arabic corresponds in all the essential letters to Ezion in Heb., which is identical with the later ’Asyun. By comparing 1Ki 9:26-27, with 2Ch 8:17-18, it is probable that timber was floated from Tyre to the nearest point on the Mediterranean coast, and then conveyed over land to the head of the Gulf of Akabah, where the ships seem to have been built; for there can hardly have been adequate forests in the neighborhood. Dr. Wilson noticed fragments of an old caravan route part way up the hill-side in this vicinity (Lands of the Bible, 1:284). SEE WILDERNESS OF THE WANDERING.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn

A maritime place of Idumæa, situated on the Ælanitic Gulf of the Red Sea, not far from Elath or Eloth (Deut. ii. 8; I Kings ix, 26; II Chron. viii. 17). It was the last encampment of the Israelites before they came to the wilderness of Zin, or Kadesh (Num. xxxiii. 35, 36), and the station for Solomon's navy, whence it sailed to Ophir (I Kings ix. 26). There also the ships of Jehoshaphat were wrecked (ib. xxii. 48), probably on the rocks near the roadstead. This place was called by the Greeks "Berenice" (Josephus, "Ant." viii. 6, § 4); it was near the present Akabah.

"Religious Liberty," by Moses Ezekiel.(From a photograph.)

EZION-GEBER, later called Berenice (Jos. [Note: Josephus.] Ant. VIII. vi. 4).—A port on the Red Sea (on the Gulf of Akabah) used by Solomon for his commerce (1Ki 9:26). Here also the Israelites encamped (Num 33:35, Deu 2:8).

A. J. Maclean.

More properly Ezion-geber, a city of Idumea, situated on the northern extremity of the Ælanitic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Akabah. it is mentioned six times in the Holy Scriptures: Numbers, xxxiii, 35; Deut., ii, 8; III K. (Vulgate), ix, 26; xxii, 49; II Par. (Chron.), viii, 17; xx, 36. The general site of Asiongaber is indicated in III K., ix, 26 (I K.); but its ruins have disappeared, so that its precise site is a matter of conjecture. The Children of Israel encamped in Asiongaber in their journey through the wilderness (Numbers 33:35). The ships of Solomon and Hiram started from this port on their voyage to Ophir. It was the main port for Israel’s commerce with the countries bordering on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Josaphat, King of Juda, joined himself with Ochozias, the wicked King of Israel, to make ships in Asiongaber; but God disapproved the unholy alliance, and the ships were broken in the port (2 Chronicles 20:37).-----------------------------------A.E. BREEN Transcribed by Thomas J. Bress The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

ē-zi-on-gē´bẽr (עציון גּבר, ‛ecyōn gebher; Γασιών Γάβερ, Gasiō̇n Gáber): Always mentioned along with Elath (“Eziongaber,” Num 33:35 f the King James Version). When the children of Israel left “the way of the Arabah,” having come from the Northwest, they seem to have turned to the Northeast from the neighborhood of ‛Aḳaba, passing up by Wādy el-Ithm toward the eastern desert (Deu 2:8). Elath and Ezion-geber were evidently not far apart. They are named together again in connection with the maritime enterprises of Solomon and Jehoshaphat (1Ki 9:26, etc.). They therefore both lay on the shore of the sea. No trace of Ezion-geber is to be found on the present coast line. It is probable, however, that in ancient times the sea covered a considerable stretch of the mud flats at the South end of Wādy el-‛Arabah, and the site of Ezion-geber may be sought near the spring ‛Ain el-Ghuḍyān, about 15 miles North of the present head of the Gulf of ‛Aḳaba.

Ezion-geber (along with its twin town Elath, or Eloth) was situated on the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqabah, the north-eastern arm of the Red Sea. It was the port from which shipping routes went east and overland routes went north (Deu 2:8; 1Ki 9:26). This meant that the nation that controlled Ezion-geber controlled much of the trade in the region (1Ki 9:27-28; 1Ki 10:22). (For fuller details of Ezion-geber’s significance see EDOM.)