Charles Ellicott Commentary Zephaniah 2:4

"For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up." — Zephaniah 2:4 (ASV)

In the words “Gaza (Azzâh) shall be forsaken (â zab)” and “Ekron shall be rooted up (âkar)” there is a paronomasia, or play on the words, similar to that in Micah 1:10 and following.

At the noon day. — that is, this city will be so weak and defenseless that there will be no need to surprise it at night: it will be spoiled at noon day (Jeremiah 15:8).

It is noticeable that these are the four of the five Philistine cities denounced by Amos (Amos 1:6–8) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:20). See also Zechariah 9:5. Gaza was captured by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after a two-month siege, and repeopled.

It was destroyed by Antiochus in 198 BC for its fidelity to the cause of Ptolemy. It was razed to the ground by Alexander Jannaeus but was rebuilt and appears to have been a place of importance in the time of Antipater. It was assigned by the Romans to the kingdom of Herod, and after his death to the province of Syria. The modern Gaza is described as “a place of very considerable size, larger than Jerusalem.”

Little is known of ancient Ashkelon, but the town later rose to a position of considerable importance. Antipater is said to have conciliated both “the Gazites and Ascalonites by many and large presents” (Josephus, Ant. 14.1 § 3). Its inhabitants joined with those of Gaza in the perpetration of some horrible atrocities in AD 361.

The Ascalonites are described as the “hostes immanissimi” of the Crusaders. Ashdod, the Greek Azotus, was destroyed by the Maccabees and not restored until the Roman conquest, when Gabinius rebuilt it in 55 BC. It was allotted to Salome after Herod’s death. Ekron is scarcely mentioned in post-Biblical history.

The prophecy appears only to indicate broadly that the Philistines as a nation would be obliterated, and the remnant of Judah be exalted. This effacement of the Philistine race had probably occurred before the Christian era. The last mention of the Philistines as a nation is in Malachi 3:5.