Hadid

Hadid (meaning rejoicing or sharp) was a town in the territory of Benjamin, situated in the Shephelah west of Jerusalem near the ancient road from Joppa to Jerusalem. It is identified with modern el-Haditheh, approximately three miles northeast of Lydda (Lod). The town appears in the lists of returning exiles who came back to Judah after the Babylonian captivity: 721 men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37).

Hadid's prominence in the post-exilic period suggests it was a settled and recognizable community in the Benjamin-Judah border zone. The grouping with Lod and Ono in both Ezra and Nehemiah indicates these three towns formed a recognized cluster in the coastal plain approaching Jerusalem, an area important for commerce and travel on the main western approach to the capital.