View source for Eben-Ezer

{{short description|Location in the Books of Samuel}}
[[File:DuraSyn-NB1-Eben Ezer battle-The Ark.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the Battle of Eben-Ezer from the [[Dura-Europos synagogue]] (pre-244 AD)]]
[[File:Turfmarkt 60, Turfmarkt kerk. Gevelsteen.jpg|thumb|[[Gouda, South Holland|Gouda]], [[Netherlands]]]]
[[File:P1250035.JPG|thumb|Inscription: Eben-Ezer on the {{interlanguage link|Matthaus Frank House|he|בית פרנק}}, today #6 [[Emek Refaim|Emek Refaim Street]] in [[Jerusalem]]]]

'''Eben-Ezer''' ({{Langx|he|אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר|’éḇen hā‘ēzer|the stone of help}}) is a location that is mentioned by the [[Books of Samuel]] as the scene of battles between the [[Israelites]] and [[Philistines]]. It is specified as having been less than a [[day's journey]] by foot from [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]], near [[Aphek (biblical)|Aphek]], in the neighbourhood of [[Mizpah in Benjamin|Mizpah]], near the western entrance of the pass of [[Bethoron]]. Its location has not been identified in modern times with much certainty, with some identifying it with [[Beit Iksa]], and others with [[Dayr Aban]].<ref>C. R. Conder, "Notes from the Memoir", [[Palestine Exploration Fund#Palestine Exploration Quarterly|''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'']], vol. 18, London 1876, p. 149; Conder & Kitchener, ''The Survey of Western Palestine'', vol. iii (Judaea), London 1883, p. 24</ref>

== Biblical mentions ==
The placename appears in the Books of Samuel in two narratives:

* In the first narrative ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|4:1–11|HE}}), the Philistines defeat the Israelites, even though the Israelites bring the [[Ark of the Covenant]] onto the battlefield in hope of bringing about a divinely assured victory. The victorious Philistines [[Philistine captivity of the Ark|capture the Ark]], and do not return it until many months later [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%206:1-2&version=NIV (1 Samuel 6:1–2)].
* In the second narrative ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|7:2–14|HE}}), the Israelites defeat the Philistines after Samuel has offered a sacrifice. Samuel puts up a stone in memorial and names it ''Eben-Ezer'' (the placename in the previous narrative resulting from this). The hymn "[[Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing]]" refers to this monument.<ref>{{cite web |title= Here I Raise My Ebenezer! | date=31 December 2002 |url= http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=909 |publisher=Apologeticspress.org |access-date=4 April 2012}}
</ref>

== Modern-day placement ==
Many Israeli archaeologists and historians argue that the Eben-Ezer of the first biblical narrative was in the immediate neighborhood of modern-day [[Kafr Qasim]], near [[Antipatris]] (ancient city [[Aphek (biblical)|Aphek]]). In contrast, the second battle's location is deemed insufficiently well-defined in the Biblical text for certainty. The other proposed site is called "'''Isbet Sartah'''".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kochavi |first=Moshe |title=The History and Archeology of Aphek-Antipatris: A Biblical City in the Sharon Plain |journal=Biblical Archaeologist |date=1981 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=75–86 |doi=10.2307/3209863 |jstor=3209863 |s2cid=133373668}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/EbenEzer.html Location and map of Izbet Zartta or Eben-Ezer]</ref> Some scholars hold that there was more than one Aphek. [[Claude Reignier Conder|C. R. Conder]] identified the Aphek of Eben-Ezer<ref>The account in 1 Samuel 4:1 of the battle at Aphek and Eben-Ezer</ref> with a [[khirbet]] "ruin" some {{convert|6|km|mi|order=flip}} distant from [[Dayr Aban]] (believed to be Eben-Ezer), and known by the name ''Marj al-Fikiya''; the name ''al-Fikiya'' being an Arabic etymological variant of Aphek.<ref>{{cite journal |last=North |first=Robert |title= Ap(h)eq(a) and 'Azeqa |journal=Biblica |volume=41 |issue= 1 |pages=61–63 |jstor=42637769 |date=1960}}</ref> [[Eusebius]], when writing about Eben-Ezer in his ''Onomasticon'', says that it is "the place from which the Gentiles seized the Ark, between Jerusalem and Ascalon, near the village of Bethsamys (Beit Shemesh)",<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/p1eusebiuswer03euse/page/n36/mode/1up Eusebius Werke]'', [[Erich Klostermann]] (ed.), 1904, Leipzig, p. 33,24.</ref> a locale that corresponds with Conder's identification. The same site, near Beth Shemesh, has also been identified by [[Epiphanius of Salamis]] as Eben-Ezer.<ref>''Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures - The Syriac Version'' (ed. James Elmer Dean), University of Chicago Press 1935, p. 73 (§ 68)</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ebenezer (given name)]]
* [[Song of Moses]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Ebenezer |short=x}}
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Ebenezer |short=x}}

{{Ark of the Covenant}}
{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]
[[Category:Books of Samuel]]