AIJALON

(Aiʹja·lon) [Place of the Hind; Place of the Stag].

1. A city of the Shephelah or hilly lowland of Palestine, on a hill at the S end of the beautiful low plain, or valley, of Aijalon. The village at this site is now called Yalo and is situated just N of the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv-Yafo, about 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Jerusalem.

The Valley of Aijalon is the northernmost of several valleys cutting across the hills of the Shephelah and was an important pass leading from the coastal plains up into the central mountainous region. Joshua was evidently near this plain when he called for the sun and the moon to stand “motionless” over Gibeon and over “the low plain of Aijalon,” when he was completing his victorious battle against the five Amorite kings who had warred against Gibeon. (Jos 10:12-14) After Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, Aijalon was assigned to the tribe of Dan. (Jos 19:40-42) It was later assigned to the sons of Kohath as a Levite city.​—Jos 21:24.

The Danites at first proved unable to oust the Amorites from Aijalon, but it appears that Ephraim from the N came to their aid and “the hand of the house of Joseph got to be so heavy that they [the Amorites] were forced into task work.” (Jg 1:34, 35) This may be the reason 1 Chronicles 6:69 lists Aijalon as belonging to Ephraim and as given by them to the Kohathites. (See, however, the corresponding case of GATH-RIMMON No. 1.) Later on, perhaps after the division of the kingdom, it is spoken of as the city of certain prominent Benjamites.​—1Ch 8:13.

At Aijalon, Saul won his first victory over the Philistines, when Israel “kept striking down the [fleeing] Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon.” (1Sa 14:31) Many years after that, when the kingdom had been divided after King Solomon’s death (c. 998 B.C.E.), his son and successor Rehoboam fortified Aijalon and made it one of his strongholds against the N and W. (2Ch 11:5-12) Almost two and a half centuries later, Aijalon was lost to the Philistines during the reign of unfaithful King Ahaz (761-746 B.C.E.).​—2Ch 28:18.

Aijalon is mentioned in one of the Amarna Tablets as Aialuna.

2. A place in the territory of Zebulun, where Judge Elon of that tribe was buried. (Jg 12:12) Its site is uncertain.