Aijalon, a city allotted to Dan and the Levites, known for Joshua's miracle.
Also known as Ajalon
Aijalon was a city in the territory of the tribe of Dan, located in the Shephelah (foothills) region of Judah. It is most famously known as the place where Joshua commanded the moon to stand still during the battle against the Amorite kings (Joshua 10:12). The city was allotted to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:42) and later designated as a Levitical city for the Kohathites (Joshua 21:24; 1Ch.6.69).
After the conquest of Canaan, the Amorites continued to dwell in Aijalon, and the Danites failed to drive them out completely (Judges 1:35). Elon, a judge of Israel, was buried in Aijalon (Judges 12:12). During Saul's reign, the Israelites pursued the Philistines as far as Aijalon (1Sa.14.31). Some descendants of Benjamin, including the family of Beriah, lived in Aijalon (1Ch.8.13).
King Rehoboam of Judah fortified Aijalon as part of his defensive strategy (2Ch.11.10). Later, during the reign of King Ahaz, the Philistines captured Aijalon and settled there (2Ch.28.18). The city is generally identified with the modern village of Yalo, about 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Jerusalem.
Approximate location: 31.841, 35.025 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
10 verses in 5 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0357
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.
Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.
Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, together with their pasturelands.
and Beriah and Shema (who were the heads of families living in Aijalon and who drove out the inhabitants of Gath).
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.