AIJALON ā’ jə lŏn (אַיָּלֹֽון, LXX Αἰλών place of the deer). Also AJALON ăj’ ă lŏn. 1. A town on a hill overlooking the Valley of Aijalon between Jericho and the Mediterranean Sea and known as Yalo in modern times. Some remains of the town from c. 2000 b.c. have been found at Tell el-Qoq’a. The town is mentioned in the 14th and 15th cent. b.c. Amarna letters as Aialuna (e.g. EA, no. 273).

In the Biblical narrative, the town appears as a place surrounded by good pasture lands and it figures largely in the military history of Israel. The name first appears in the Biblical record in Joshua’s speech given after the defeat of the Amorites: “Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Aijalon” (Josh 10:12). In the division of Canaan, Aijalon was assigned to the tribe of Dan (19:42) and was also designated a Levitical city (21:24). The Danites, however, failed to take the town (Judg 1:35). Saul and Jonathan won a great victory against the Philistines in the vicinity of the town (1 Sam 14:31). At one stage, the town was inhabited by Ephraimites (1 Chron 6:69) and at another by Benjamites (8:13). Under the divided kingdom, Aijalon fell to Judah and, along with many other towns Rehoboam fortified it with strong defenses for the protection of both Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chron 11:10). In the reign of Ahaz, the Philistines raided the cities of the Shephelah (“lowlands”) and occupied Aijalon (28:18). Aijalon is not mentioned in the NT.

2. A town in Zebulun, mentioned only in Judges 12:12, the location of which is unknown. The judge Elon (אַיָּלֹ֖ון) is said to have been buried there. The LXX here translates Αἰλὼ̀μ.

Bibliography HGHL (1931²⁵), passim; F. M. Abel, Geographie de la Palestine, II (1938), 241; GTT (1959), 205; Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (1967), passim. On 2. see JPOS, IX (1929), 38ff.