📖 Biblical Definition
Major Philistine city on the southern Mediterranean coast, one of the five-city Philistine pentapolis (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath; Joshua 13:3; 1 Samuel 6:17). Gaza is consistently a hostile site in OT narrative. The Anakim giants survived in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod after Joshua's southern campaign (Joshua 11:22). Judah captured Gaza early in the period of the Judges (Judges 1:18) but the Philistines repeatedly recovered it. Samson's most famous Gaza-exploits: carrying off the city gates of Gaza in the night, posts and bar and all, and carrying them to the top of a hill before Hebron (Judges 16:1-3); his betrayal by Delilah and the Philistines' blinding him and binding him with brass fetters and setting him to grind in the prison house at Gaza (Judges 16:21); his prayer for one final exercise of strength, pulling down the temple of Dagon on himself and three thousand Philistines (Judges 16:28-30, so the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life). Gaza is one of the cities prophesied against in Amos (Amos 1:6-7), Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:4), and Zechariah (Zechariah 9:5). In the NT, Gaza appears once: Philip the evangelist is directed by the angel to go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert (Acts 8:26), where he encounters the Ethiopian eunuch and explains Isaiah 53 to him, leading to the eunuch's baptism. The patriarchal-Reformed reader values Gaza's biblical narrative significance and notes its continuing geopolitical prominence as part of the contemporary land-of-promise.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Major Philistine city; one of the five-city pentapolis (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath); Samson's exploits and death (Judges 16); NT site of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26).
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GAZA, proper n. (OT and NT place; Hebrew 'Azzah) Major Philistine city on southern Mediterranean coast; one of the five-city Philistine pentapolis (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath). Anakim giants survived in Gaza after Joshua's southern campaign (Joshua 11:22). Judah captured Gaza (Judges 1:18) but Philistines repeatedly recovered it. Samson's famous Gaza-exploits: carrying off the city gates (Judges 16:1-3); blinded and bound to grind in Gaza prison; pulling down the temple of Dagon on himself and three thousand Philistines (Judges 16:28-30). Prophesied against in Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah. NT: Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza (Acts 8:26).
📖 Key Scripture
Joshua 13:3 — "From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites."
Judges 16:30 — "And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life."
Acts 8:26 — "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert."
Amos 1:6-7 — "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. Gaza's biblical significance is distinct from its modern geopolitical situation; the principal pastoral application is Samson's death-victory pattern.
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Gaza as a place name does not undergo lexical corruption. The biblical Gaza is the major Philistine city, one of the five-city pentapolis, site of Samson's exploits and death-victory, and the road on which Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch. The contemporary geopolitical situation in the Gaza Strip is a distinct subject. The patriarchal-Reformed reader maintains the biblical narrative significance and notes that the LORD's prophetic word against the cities of the Philistine pentapolis (Amos 1:6-7; Zephaniah 2:4; Zechariah 9:5) remains a substantive part of the OT prophetic-historical record. Samson's death-victory pattern is theologically rich: so the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life — an OT shadow of Christ's greater death-victory over the principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15).
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Philistine pentapolis; Samson's exploits and death; NT road to Ethiopia eunuch baptism.
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['Hebrew', 'H5804', "'Azzah", 'Gaza; possibly strong']
['Greek', 'G1048', 'Gaza', 'NT transliteration']
['Hebrew', 'H6430', 'Pelishti', 'Philistine']
Usage
"Gaza: major Philistine city; one of the five-city pentapolis."
"Site of Samson's exploits and death-victory (Judges 16)."
"NT road to Ethiopia (Acts 8:26): Philip and the eunuch."