Lod

Lod is a town in the territorial inheritance of Benjamin, paired repeatedly with its neighbor Ono. It first appears as a Benjamite foundation, recurs in the post-exilic returnee lists, and resurfaces under its Greek name Lydda in the Hasmonean period as one of three districts transferred from Samaria to Judea.

A Benjamite Foundation

Lod is built by the sons of Elpaal, descendants of Benjamin, alongside its companion town Ono: "And the sons of Elpaal: Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns" (1Ch 8:12).

The Returnee Lists

After the exile, men of Lod return with Zerubbabel and are enrolled in the registers of those resettling the land. The town is named together with Hadid and Ono, the same Benjaminite cluster on the western edge of the inheritance. Ezra records the count as "The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and five" (Ezr 2:33). Nehemiah's parallel list gives a slightly different total: "The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty and one" (Neh 7:37).

Resettlement Among the Villages of Benjamin

When the resettlement is described by district, Lod and Ono appear at the western limit of the Benjamite zone, in a stretch known as "the valley of craftsmen": "Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen" (Neh 11:35).

Lydda in the Hasmonean Annexation

Under its Greek name Lydda, Lod appears in the diplomatic confirmation by which three districts are formally transferred from Samaria to Judea. The grant ratifies the towns to those who sacrifice in Jerusalem and exempts them from royal revenue: "We have ratified therefore to them all the borders of Judea, and the three cities, Apherema, Lydda, and Ramatha, which are added to Judea, out of Samaria, and all their confines, to be set apart to all those who sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the payments which the king received of them every year, and for the fruits of the land, and of the trees" (1Ma 11:34).