Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MEGIDDO, MEGIDDON*

City standing at the southwest edge of the plain of Esdraelon on the main route between Mesopotamia and Egypt. It overlooks the historic route where a pass through the Mt Carmel range led from the plain of Sharon into the plain of Jezreel. This strategic position made Megiddo one of the most important commercial and military centers of Palestine in the second millennium and the early first millennium BC. From earliest times, the environs have been the scene of major battles. Great military men, such as Thutmose III of 15th-century BC Egypt, Napoleon in 1799, and General Allenby during World War I, have fought for mastery there.

At the time of the conquest, Joshua defeated the king of Megiddo but did not take the city (Jos 12:21). In the subsequent allotments to the tribes of Israel, Megiddo was assigned to Manasseh, but they could not conquer it from the Canaanites (Jos 17:11-12; Jgs 1:27). During the days of the judges, Deborah and Barak defeated the forces of Hazor under the command of Sisera near Megiddo (Jgs 4:15; 5:19) but did not take the city either. Perhaps David conquered it as part of his program for establishing the kingdom. At any rate, by the time of Solomon, Megiddo served as the headquarters of one of his 12 administrative regions (1 Kgs 4:12). Solomon rebuilt it to serve as one of his chariot and garrison cities (9:15-19).

King Ahaziah of Judah died there (841 BC) after being wounded by Jehu while on a visit to the northern kingdom (2 Kgs 9:27). King Josiah of Judah met and intercepted Pharaoh Neco of Egypt (609 BC) at Megiddo in a vain effort to prevent him from going north to aid the Assyrians; he was mortally wounded in the battle (23:29-30). The plain of Megiddo (KJB “valley of Megiddon”) is referred to in Zechariah’s prophecies of restoration for Israel and Jerusalem (Zec 12:11). Revelation predicts a great future war that will take place at Armageddon (Har Megiddon, the “mount of Megiddo,” Rv 16:16).