Azekah
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Josh. 15:35) (newly tilled field) — a place in the lowlands of the tribe of Judah, twelve English miles east of Bethlehem and ten south of Jerusalem. Joshua pursued the Canaanites as far as this place in the war with Adonizedek and his allies, whose armies were miraculously destroyed by a hailstorm from heaven; near this city the Philistine army encamped before the single combat of David and Goliath (1 Sam. 17:1). The city was fortified by Rehoboam after the division of the kingdoms (2 Chron. 11:9), and it still existed at the time of the Babylonian invasion; it is also mentioned after the Jews’ return from captivity (Neh. 11:30).