The Battle of Aphek is a biblical episode described in the First Book of Samuel 4:1–10 of the Hebrew Bible.

The Book of Samuel records that the Philistines were camped at Aphek and the Israelites at Eben-Ezer.

"And it came to pass, when [a messenger] made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy.

C. R. Conder identified the Aphek of Eben-Ezer[3] with a ruin (Khirbet) some 3.7 miles (6 km) distant from Dayr Aban (believed to be Eben-Ezer[4]), and known by the name Marj al-Fikiya; the name al-Fikiya being an Arabic corruption of Aphek.

[5] Eusebius, when writing about Eben-ezer in his Onomasticon, says that it is "the place from which the Gentiles seized the Ark, between Jerusalem and Ascalon, near the village of Bethsamys (Beit Shemesh)",[6] a locale that corresponds with Conder's identification.