APHEK . 1 . An unidentified city in the plain of Sharon ( Joshua 12:18 ). It may be the same as Aphek of 1 Samuel 4:1 , and of Jos [Note: Josephus.] BJ II. xix. 1. 2 . A city which Asher failed to take ( Joshua 13:4; Joshua 19:30 , Judges 1:31 ). It may be Afqa , on Nahr Ibrahîm . 3 . Some authorities identify this ( 1 Samuel 29:1 ) with No. 1 , and make the Philistines advance upon Jezreel from the S.W. But if they approached from Shunem ( 1 Samuel 28:4 ), Aphek must have been in Esdraelon in the neighbourhood of el-Fûleh . 4 . The place where Ahab defeated Benhadad ( 1 Kings 20:26; 1 Kings 20:30 ), in the Mîshôr , probably the modern Fîq , or Afîq , on the brow of the plateau, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Possibly Joash smote the Syrians here ( 2 Kings 13:17 ff.). W. Ewing.
Aphek. [A'phek] 1. Royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was killed by Joshua, Joshua 12:18: probably the same as APHEKAH in Joshua 15:53. Not identified. 2. City in the north border of Asher, from which in the time of Joshua the inhabitants were not expelled. Joshua 13:4; Joshua 19:30: called APHIK in Judges 1:31. Identified with Afka at the foot of the Lebanon between Baalbek and Byblus. 3. Place where the Philistines encamped when Israel was defeated. 1 Sam. 4:1. 4. Where the Philistines encamped when Saul and Jonathan were killed. 1 Sam. 29:1. Perhaps the same as No. 3. 5. City, the wall of which falling killed 27,000 of the Syrians, 1 Kings 20:26, 30; 2 Kings 13:17. It is identified with Fik, 32 47' N, 35 41' E, on the great road between Damascus and Jerusalem.
A’phek - Restrained