One of the five chief cities of the Philistines, assigned to the tribe of Judah, but never conquered by them, Joshua 13:3; 15:47; 1 Samuel 5:1; 6:17; Nehemiah 4:7 . Here stood the temple of Dagon; and hither the ark was first brought, after the fatal battle at Ebenezer, 1 Samuel 5:1 . It was called by the Greeks Azotus. And belonged to Judea in the time of Christ. Here Philip preached the gospel, Acts 8:40 . At the present day, it is a miserable village, still called Esdud.