Ashdod

Ashdod was originally allotted to the Tribe of Judah when the Land of Israel was divided. The Philistines conquered Ashdod, and during the reign of King Saul they took the captured Ark of the Covenant to Ashdod.

Generations later, King Uzziah’s of Judea recaptured Ashdod.

Generations later, during the 70-year Babylonian exile, Jewish residents of Jerusalem intermarried with non-Jewish women from Ashdod. They divorced these women as part of a mass repentance process during the days of Nehemiah.