Ezion-geber

Biblical Account

Ezion-geber appears only in the Old Testament.

• Wilderness journey: According to Numbers 33:35-36, Israel departed from Ebronah and encamped at Ezion-geber, then set out from there and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. Deuteronomy 2:8 records that Israel bypassed the land of Edom, where the children of Esau dwelt, going "through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber," and then passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
• Solomon's fleet: According to 1 Kings 9:26-28, Solomon "made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom." Hiram king of Tyre sent servants who had knowledge of the sea to sail with Solomon's servants to Ophir, and they brought back gold. The same account appears in 2 Chronicles 8:17-18.
• Jehoshaphat's failure: According to 1 Kings 22:48-49, Jehoshaphat king of Judah "made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber." Second Chronicles 20:35-37 explains this as the result of his alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel. The prophet Eliezer prophesied, "Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works," and the ships were wrecked as he had said.

Background

Ezion-geber is thought to have been located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Situated at the southern end of the Arabah Valley, it lay at a junction where sea routes toward Arabia and Africa met inland trade routes. It is often mentioned together with the neighboring town of Elath (Eloth), and the modern cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan lie in this area.

Several interpretations of the name's original meaning have been proposed, but none is certain.

Scholars are divided over its exact location. In the late 1930s the American archaeologist Nelson Glueck identified Tell el-Kheleifeh near Aqaba as Ezion-geber and interpreted the site as a copper smelter from Solomon's time. Later reexaminations, however, have generally not accepted this interpretation. Another view proposes a small island near the coast on the Sinai side (commonly called "Pharaoh's Island") as a candidate.

Broader Biblical Significance

First Kings 9:26 calls the sea on which Ezion-geber lay the "Red Sea" (Hebrew yam suph). This verse is often cited as evidence that the Old Testament "Red Sea" could also refer to the Gulf of Aqaba, and it is likewise brought up in discussions of which sea Israel crossed at the Exodus.

In Kings and Chronicles, Ezion-geber illustrates two things: the wealth and international trade of the kingdom in Solomon's time, and the failed attempt to revive that glory in Jehoshaphat's time. Control of the land of Edom and its Red Sea port remained a concern for Judah afterward; 2 Kings 14:22 records that Azariah (Uzziah) built Elath and restored it to Judah. Ezion-geber does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Issues

• Differences between Kings and Chronicles: The amount of gold brought from Ophir is given as four hundred and twenty talents in 1 Kings 9:28 but four hundred and fifty talents in 2 Chronicles 8:18. In addition, the "ships of Tharshish" of 1 Kings 22 are described in 2 Chronicles 20 as ships "to go to Tarshish." Accordingly, two views are commonly presented: one takes "ships of Tarshish" as a term for large ocean-going vessels, while the other holds that Tarshish was the actual destination.
• Theological reading: Second Chronicles 20:37 attributes the wreck of Jehoshaphat's ships to his alliance with the royal house of northern Israel. For this reason the passage is often read as a warning against joining forces with those who have turned away from God. First Kings 22, by contrast, records the event briefly without stating a cause. The common interpretation attributes this difference to the distinct narrative perspectives of the two books.
• Distinguishing later embellishments: Expressions such as "King Solomon's copper mines" or "Solomon's smelter" come not from the biblical text but from twentieth-century archaeological interpretation and popular books. The Bible records only that ships were built at Ezion-geber.