Bible Dictionary
Aphik
Aphik is a variant form of Aphek, a name applied to several strongholds or cities in Canaan. These included places in Asher, near Jezreel, and east of the Jordan.
Definition
Aphik is a variant of Aphek, a name associated with strongholds or cities. It referred to places in Asher, near Jezreel in Issachar, and east of the Jordan.
Biblical Usage
The places called Aphik or Aphek are connected with Israel’s tribal territories and with battles involving the Philistines and Syrians.
Historical Background
The Asherite site was associated with Afka near the source of the river Adonis. Another Aphek was identified with Fik, east of the Sea of Galilee.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Judg. 1:31); Aphek (Josh. 13:4; 19:30), stronghold. (1.) A city of the tribe of Asher. It was the scene of the licentious worship of the Syrian Aphrodite. The ruins of the temple, “magnificent ruins” in a “spot of strange wildness and beauty”, are still seen at Afka, on the north-west slopes of Lebanon, near the source of the river Adonis (now Nahr Ibrahim), 12 miles east of Gebal. (2.) A city of the tribe of Issachar, near to Jezreel (1 Sam. 4:1; 29:1; comp. 28:4). (3.) A town on the road from Damascus to Palestine, in the level plain east of Jordan, near which Benhadad was defeated by the Israelites (1 Kings 20:26, 30; 2 Kings 13:17). It has been identified with the modern Fik, 6 miles east of the Sea of Galilee, opposite Tiberias.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(strong), a city of Asher from which the Canaanites were not driven out. (Judges 1:31) Probably the same place as Aphek, 2.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>a'-fik: Variant of APHEK (which see).</p>