Hosah
Hosah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Phoenicia in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tell Rachidiyeh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hosah is a border town mentioned in the tribal allotment of Asher as recorded in Joshua 19:29. It appears in the description of Asher's northern boundary, which extended along the Phoenician coast toward Tyre. The boundary description places Hosah in a sequence of coastal cities, running from Helkath to the sea near Achzib, Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. Hosah marked a point along the frontier between Israelite and Phoenician territory, reflecting the complex ethnic and political landscape of the northern coastal plain. The tribe of Asher was promised this fertile coastal region as part of their inheritance in the Promised Land, though Judges 1:31-32 records that the Asherites were unable to fully dispossess the Canaanite inhabitants of many coastal towns. Hosah's location near the powerful city-state of Tyre meant it remained in a contested zone throughout much of the settlement period. Its mention, though brief, contributes to the detailed geographical picture of how the land was divided among the twelve tribes.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Hosah has been tentatively identified with Tell Rachidiyeh (also written Tell er-Rashidiyeh), a site located approximately five kilometers south of Tyre along the Lebanese coast. The tell sits near the mouth of the Litani River and commands a strategic position on the coastal road. Archaeological surveys have identified pottery sherds from the Bronze and Iron Ages at the site, consistent with the period of Israelite settlement. However, the identification remains uncertain, and some scholars have proposed alternative locations closer to the promontory of Ras el-Ain. The site of Tell Rachidiyeh has not been extensively excavated, and modern development in the area, including a Palestinian refugee camp established in 1963, has complicated further archaeological work.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
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]