Megillah 4A

לוד ואונו וגיא החרשים ⁠— מוקפות חומה מימות יהושע בן נון הוו.

The cities Lod, and Ono, and Gei HeḤarashim are cities that have been surrounded by walls since the days of Joshua, son of Nun.

והני יהושע בננהי? והא אלפעל בננהי, דכתיב: ״[ו]בני אלפעל עבר ומשעם ושמר הוא בנה את אונו ואת לוד ובנותיה״! ולטעמיך, אסא בננהי, דכתיב: ״ויבן (אסא את ערי הבצורות אשר ליהודה)״.

The Talmud asks: Did Joshua, son of Nun, really build these cities? Didn’t Elpaal build them at a later date, as it is written: “And the sons of Elpaal: Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its hamlets” (I Chronicles 8:12)? The Talmud counters: According to your reasoning, that this verse proves that these cities were built later, you can also say that Asa, king of Judah, built them, as it is written: “And he, Asa, built fortified cities in Judah” (see II Chronicles 14:5). Therefore, it is apparent that these cities were built more than once.

אמר רבי אלעזר: הני מוקפות חומה מימות יהושע בן נון הוו. חרוב בימי פילגש בגבעה, ואתא אלפעל בננהי. הדור אינפול, אתא אסא שפצינהו.

R' Elazar said: These cities were surrounded by a wall since the days of Joshua, son of Nun, and they were destroyed in the days of the concubine in Gibea, as they stood in the tribal territory of Benjamin, and in that war all of the cities of Benjamin were destroyed (see Judges, chapters 19–21). Elpaal then came and built them again. They then fell in the wars between Judah and Israel, and Asa came and restored them.

דיקא נמי, דכתיב: ״ויאמר ליהודה נבנה את הערים האלה״, מכלל דערים הוו מעיקרא. שמע מינה.

The Talmud comments: The language of the verse is also precise according to this explanation, as it is written with regard to Asa: “And he said to Judah: Let us build these cities” (II Chronicles 14:6), which proves by inference that they had already been cities at the outset, and that he did not build new cities. The Talmud concludes: Indeed, learn from this that it is so.