
		Upper Aphek Photos Scriptures ref.

Upper Aphek - location profile

Location and Setting

Two cities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee bear the name, Aphek. The city of Upper Aphek was located four miles east of the Sea of Galilee, on a ridge from which the lake was visible. Lower Aphek (modern En Gev) is located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, two miles south of Kursi.
These sites in Bashan (Golan) should be distinguished from several others in Palestine by the same name, especially the important city of Aphek north of Joppa on the International Coastal Highway. The name can mean ‘stream-bed,’ ‘strong,’ or ‘fortress.’ Because each of these meanings could be an appropriate descriptor for any number of locations in Palestine, it is understandable that the name Aphek would be used for several towns.

Historical and Biblical Significance

Although the following two events are recorded as occurring at the Aphek east of the Sea of Galilee, it is not clear whether the reference is to Lower Aphek or Upper Aphek. Yohanan Aharoni argues that these events took place at Lower Aphek.
When Israel defeated the Syrians at Samaria, the Syrians concluded that Israel’s God was "the god of the mountains." They therefore planned to return to fight Israel in the valleys, where Israel’s God, they believed, would be unable to protect His people. In 854 B.C., Ben-hadad, King of Syria, attacked Israel at Aphek. The Aramean (Syrian) forces far outnumbered the Israelites. It was said that the Arameans filled the country, while the Israelite camps looked like two small flocks of goats. In spite of being greatly outnumbered, Israel soundly defeated the Arameans, killing 100,000 foot soldiers in one day (1 Kings 20).
At some time between 790 and 782 B.C., King Jehoash of Israel defeated the Arameans, again at Aphek, partially fulfilling Elisha’s prophecy (2 Kgs 13:17).

Aharoni, Yohanan. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962.
Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
Huey, F. B. Jr. "Aphek" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
Smith, George Adam. The Historical Geography of the Holy Land. London: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1966.