Battle of Aphek | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() The battle depicted in Rudolf von Ems' Weltchronik | |||||
| |||||
Belligerents | |||||
Israelites | Philistines | ||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
Hophni † Phinehas † (on behalf of judge Eli) | unknown | ||||
Strength | |||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
34,000 | Light |
The Battle of Aphek is a biblical episode described in the First Book of Samuel 4:1–10 of the Hebrew Bible. During this battle the Philistines defeated the Israelite army and captured the Ark of the Covenant. Among biblical scholars, the historicity of the early events in the Books of Samuel is debated, with some scholars leaning toward many events in Samuel being historical, and some scholars leaning towards less.[1] (See also Biblical minimalism and Biblical maximalism.)