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.