Gederah
Gederah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet Judraya. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Gederah is a town in the Shephelah lowlands of Judah, listed among the cities of the tribe of Judah in the second district of the lowlands (Joshua 15:36). The name derives from the Hebrew root meaning "wall" or "enclosure," likely referring to sheepfolds or walled settlement features characteristic of pastoral communities in the region. Gederah appears to have been a settlement associated with pottery-making and royal service, as 1 Chronicles 4:23 references "those who dwelt at Netaim and Gederah; there they lived and worked for the king." This suggests the town served as a center of craft production, potters working under royal patronage, during the monarchy period, contributing to the economic infrastructure of the Judean kingdom. The town's inclusion in Joshua's tribal allotments places it firmly within the territory assigned to Judah, and its artisan community indicates a settled, productive community rather than a mere military outpost. Gederah thus represents the quieter, workaday dimension of Israelite life in the Shephelah, communities of skilled craftsmen whose labor supported the larger administrative and economic life of the kingdom of Judah throughout the Iron Age.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Gederah is generally identified with Khirbet Judraya, located in the Shephelah foothills of modern Israel southwest of Jerusalem. Survey evidence from the site has revealed pottery dating to the Iron Age, consistent with the biblical period of Judah's monarchy. The identification is supported by the similarity between the ancient name Gederah and the Arabic toponym preserved at Khirbet Judraya. The site has not been the subject of major systematic excavation, but its position in the Shephelah along agricultural and pastoral zones aligns with the biblical description of Gederah as a center of pottery-making and royal craft production. The broader region of the Shephelah has seen extensive archaeological work at neighboring sites.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Chr
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]