EZION-GEBER — GLUECK 469 



very end of the account in I Kings 9 of Solomon's manifold building 

 fictivities throughout Palestine, there is narrated in some detail the 

 story of the construction of a fleet of ships for him at Ezion-geber, 

 which, manned by Phoenician sailors, sailed to Ophir for gold. For 

 some reason or other, the author of this account failed to mention 

 that Solomon exported copper and iron ingots and finished products 

 on these ships in exchange for the gold and other products obtainable 

 in Ophir. He also failed to mention that shortly before, or shortly 

 after, or at the same time as the ships were being constructed, the 

 port city and industrial town of Ezion-geber was being built. After 

 the time of Jehoshaphat, the name of Ezion-geber disappears from 

 the Bible. It fell into the hands of the Edomites.-^ 



=2 During the reign of Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, Edom revolted against Judah 

 and regained her complete independence (II Kings 8:20-22; II Chron. 21:8-10). In all 

 probability the 'Arabah and Ezion-geber reverted to Edomite control. In fact, if there was 

 a .Tudaean garrison at Ezion-geber, as seems likely, then in all probability the town was 

 beseiged and sacked and the garrison put to the sword. In a word, the successful rebellion 

 may well have resulted in a destruction of Ezion-geber shortly after the middle of the ninth 

 century B. C. Once communications between Judah and Ezion-geber were cut, as they 

 must have been when Edom successfully shook off the Judaean control which had been 

 imposed upon her by David, it would have been impossible for the Judaean garrison to 

 have resisted for long. For about half a century Edom retained her independence, and 

 then lost it again to Judah. Amaziah of Judah (c. 797-779 B. C.) waged successful war 

 against Edom and captured Sela', which he renamed Joktheel (II Kings 14:7; II Chron. 

 25:11-12). His capable son, Uzziah, rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah (II Kings 

 14:22; II Chron. 26:1-2). Ezion-geber is no longer mentioned, and, so far as the 

 Biblical accounts are concerned, it had, from the time of Joram of Judah (c. 849-842) on, 

 ceased to exist. It plays no further role in the historical accounts, being passed over as 

 completely henceforth as Elath had been previously. 



A lot must be read between the lines of the statements in II Kings 14 : 22 (II Chron. 

 26: 1-2) that Azariah (Uzziah) "rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah." It is clear that 

 the city that was lost when Edom first regained her independence from Joram of Judah 

 was Ezion-geber. We are told, however, that it was not Ezion-geber but Elath which 

 TJzziah restored to Judah. What then had happened to Ezion-geber during the seventy- 

 odd years that intervened between the time when Edom regained her independence from 

 Joram of Judah and lost it again to TJzziah of Judah — figuring from the beginning of the 

 reign of Joram to the beginning of the reign of Uzziah ? 



There are two possible explanations that suggest themselves. The first is that Ezion- 

 geber was utterly destroyed and left abandoned by the Edomltes when they captured it 

 from Joram's troops, while they occupied the insignificant neighboring site to the east of 

 it, called Elath, which had fallen to them at the same time as Ezion-geber. It was then 

 this Elath which Uzziah built or rebuilt (perhaps it, too, had been partly destroyed) and 

 restored to Judah. The question rises Immediately, how could he restore Elath to Judah, 

 when, at least so far as we know, Elath had never been lost, it being Ezion-geber that had 

 passed out of Judaean control ? The alternative explanation is that when Ezion-geber was 

 captured and destroyed by the Edomites in the time of Joram, it was abandoned for many 

 years and there was no settlement of any moment at the head of the Gulf of 'Aqabah, 

 with the exception of the small, straggling site of Elath. This may have been nothing 

 more than a tiny collection of mud-brick houses somewhat to the east of it. Not being 

 strong enough to develop into a sea power, Edom was not able to make out of Elath what 

 Judah had created out of Ezion-geber. Actually Edom probably no longer controlled the 

 head of the Gulf of 'Aqabah from the time of Amaziah on, having held it in what seems to 

 have been little more than nominal control for about 50 years. Meanwhile Ezion-geber 

 lay a sand-covered ruin, which differed little in appearance from the sand hillocks in the 

 vicinity. Even the name of Ezion-geber may no longer have been heard, because two full 

 generations had passed by since it was destroyed. In the course of time it may gradually 

 have become identified with Elath — as belonging to Elath. When Uzziah came to the 

 south end of the 'Arabah, he actually built on top of the former site of Ezion-geber, which 

 had become Identified with Elath. The reasons that had Impelled Solomon and Jehosha- 



