Sokho

Sokho, alternate spellings: Sokhoh, Sochoh, Soco, Sokoh, Hebrew: שוכה ,שוכו ,שכה, is the name given to two ancient towns in the territorial domain of Judah, both now in ruin.

Both towns were given the name Shuweikah in its Arabic form, although the town that lay to the south of Hebron has been identified with the twin ruins known as Khirbet Shuwaikah Fauka and Tahta (Upper and Lower Shuwaikah), 6 km southwest of Eshtamoa in the Hebron hill district (Joshua 15:48). The other ruin is the more popular of the two, situate on a hilltop overlooking the Elah Valley between Adullam and Azekah (Joshua 15:35).

The Bible also mentions a Sokho in the Hefer region in the Sharon (1 Kings 4:10).

History

The Philistines encamped between Sokho and Azekah in the Elah Valley before Goliath's historic encounter with David, the son of Jesse (1 Samuel 17:1). David slew the Philistine giant with a stone slung from a shepherd's sling. Rehoboam fortified the place (2 Chronicles 11:7). It was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18).

Socoh (Shephelah)

Socoh or Soco (Hebrew: שוכו, שוכה‎) was a town in the Shephelah of Judah, situated between Adullam and Azekah (Josh. 15:35).

The Philistines camped between Socoh and Azekah prior to the encounter of David and Goliath (Sam. 17:1). Rehoboam fortified the place (Chron. 11:7). It was one of the cities occupied temporarily by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (Chron. 28:18). In that period it served as an administrative or storage center, being one of the four cities named on the la-melekh stamps of the Judean monarchy.

In Byzantine times, the name applied to a double village (Eusebius, Onom. 156:18ff.), which was still a center for pottery manufacture. The scholar Antigonus of Socoh (Avot. 1:3) was probably from this village or from . It is identified with the twin mounds of Khirbat Abbād (the site of the earlier occupation) and Khirbat Shuwayka (occupatied in the Iron Age), overlooking Wadi al-Samt (the valley of Elah), E. of Azekah.

See also