ROBERTSON'S _History of the Christian Church_, vol. i, 1854. ROBERTSON'S _Biblical Researches in Palestine_, vol. ii, 1856.
SAYCE'S _Patriarchal Palestine_, 1912. SCHÜRER'S _History of the Jewish People in the time of Christ_, vols. i, ii, 1898. SMITH'S (GEORGE ADAM) _The Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, 1902. STEVENSON'S _The Crusaders in the East_, 1907.
WORSDWORTH'S _Greek Testament_, "The Acts of the Apostles," 1860. WORDSWORTH'S _The Ministry of Grace_, 1901.
(I) OLD TESTAMENT, (II) DEUTERO-CANONICAL BOOKS, (III) NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO GAZA
There are twenty _Old Testament_ allusions to Gaza; certainly one reference in the _Deutero-Canonical_ books; and one more in the _Acts of the Apostles_.
1. Genesis x. 19.--_The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza._ Thus Gaza is among the earliest of the Canaanitish cities mentioned in Genesis. The reference in this early chapter, which transports us into the dim dawn of human history, is a presumption of its extreme antiquity, and like its distant neighbour Sidon suggests its being among the most ancient cities of the world. Even before Abraham left his fatherland Gaza stood on the southernmost border of Canaan. Its important strategic position on the frontier of Egypt has contributed to its long-continued existence.
Gaza, like Damascus, is mentioned both in the _Book of Genesis_, and in the _Acts of the Apostles_.
2. Joshua x. 41.--_Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza._
Gaza became celebrated as one of the five royal cities of the Philistines.
Politically, there were five _principal_ centres: the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron (1 Sam. vi. 16, 17).
Unlike its neighbours Gath and Askelon, Gaza has survived the various changes of history. Ashdod is now the mud village of Esdûd. The modern name of Askelon is 'Askalân.[4] The site of Gath is uncertain. Ekron is identified with 'Akîr, near a station on the railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem.
3. Joshua xi. 22.--_There were none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained._
Joshua only partially subdued this remarkable people, who seem to have been akin to the Rephaim and other gigantic races alluded to in the Old Testament. It was not contemplated that, under any circumstances, the "dispossession" alluded to in Numb. xxxiii. 51-3, would be _at once_ completed, as plainly intimated in Exodus xxiii. 29, 30.[5]