Gath was a walled city in the land of the Philistines (2 Chronicles 26:6). It was one of five main Philistine cities. The other cities were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron (Joshua 13:3; 1 Samuel 6:17). These cities were located on or near the southern coast of what is now Israel and Palestine.
Gath often fought with the Israelites. But Israel did not take control of the city until the time of David (1 Chronicles 18:1). Gath was a Canaanite city. It was the hometown of Goliath, a giant who fought David (1 Samuel 17:4). Other very tall warriors also came from Gath (2 Samuel 21:18–22). Some of the Anakim (a group of giants) still lived there, even after Joshua’s battles to take the land (Joshua 10:36–39; 11:21–22).
The Philistines once captured the ark of God. They took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, then to Gath, and finally to Ekron (1 Samuel 5:8). Many Philistines died or got tumors after taking the ark. So they sent it back to Israel. It first went to Beth-shemesh, then to Kiriath-jearim (6:14; 7:1). Later, when David was running away from King Saul, he went to Gath. He pretended to be insane in front of King Achish so they would not harm him (21:10–15).
During Absalom’s rebellion, 600 men from Gath (called Gittites) served as soldiers in David’s army (2 Samuel 15:18). Rehoboam, a king of Judah, made the walls of Gath stronger (2 Chronicles 11:8). In the 800s BC, King Hazael of Syria captured Gath (2 Kings 12:17). But later, the Philistines seemed to rule it again. King Uzziah of Judah broke down the walls of Gath during his reign (2 Chronicles 26:6).
In the 700s BC, Gath was destroyed by Sargon II of Assyria. After that, it disappeared (Amos 6:2).