Joshua 15:33

In the valley. The next division of the territory of Judah was the “valley,” the lowland, or Shephelah — the strip of country between the central hills and the coastal plain of the Mediterranean. This was a region of limestone hills some 500 ft. (152 m.) above sea level. The territory contained a large number of towns arranged by the narrator in four groups. First comes the northeast portion, among whose 15 cities (v. 36 says 14; the last 2 named may represent the same city) we find 2 places connected with the history of Samson: Eshtaol and Zoreah, the residence of Manoah. Zoreah has been identified with a hill site above what is now the Wadi es-Sarar, about 14 1/2 mi. (24 km.) west of Jerusalem. This group also contains the Canaanite capital, Jarmuth; David’s refuge, Adullam; Socoh, now Khirbet Abbal, 2 mi. (3 km.) south of Jarmuth; and Azekah, mentioned in connection with the pursuit after the battle of Beth-horon (Joshua 10:10, 11). The second group comprises 16 cities situated wholly in the plain, including the Canaanite cities, Lachish, Eglon, and Makkedah. The third group, of nine cities, includes the southern portion bordering on the hill region. Here was Libnah, a fruit of Joshua’s prowess; Keilah, on a hill 2 1/2 mi. (4.1 km.) south of Adullam, the town that David rescued from the Philistines; and Mareshah, later fortified by Rehoboam, and famous in the time of Asa. It is near modern Merash, 1 mi. (1.6 km.) south of Beit-Jibrin (Eleutheropolis). The fourth group includes the towns on the Philistine seacoast. All of the cities enumerated above are important places in the Shephelah.