And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall perish, says the Lord God. [Josh. 13:3.]
IN THE year that the Tartan [Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod in Philistia, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, he fought against Ashdod and took it.
He went out against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, of Jabneh, and of Ashdod, and built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He caused [mice to spring up and there was] very deadly destruction and He smote the people with [very painful] tumors or boils, both Ashdod and its territory.
Ashdod, with its towns and its villages; Gaza, with its towns and its villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt, and the Great [Mediterranean] Sea with its coastline.