Seirah
Seirah is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as hills of Ephraim. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Seirah (also rendered Se'irah) appears in Judges 3:26-27 in the account of Ehud's deliverance of Israel from Moabite oppression. After assassinating King Eglon of Moab in his private upper room at Jericho, Ehud escaped while the servants waited outside. The narrative records that "Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the stone idols and escaped to Seirah." Upon arriving in the hill country of Ephraim, Ehud blew a trumpet to rally the Israelites, who then followed him down to seize the fords of the Jordan, cutting off the Moabite retreat. They struck down about ten thousand Moabites, and the land had rest for eighty years (Judges 3:30). Seirah thus served as the staging ground for one of the most dramatic military liberations in the period of the Judges. The location in the hills of Ephraim provided natural concealment and a defensible position from which to organize resistance. The name Seirah, possibly meaning "wooded" or "rough," suggests a forested, rugged landscape suitable for the covert assembly of rebel forces against Moabite occupation.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The precise identification of Seirah remains elusive. The biblical text places it in the hill country of Ephraim, suggesting a location in the central highlands of Israel west of the Jordan Valley. The description of Ehud passing "beyond the stone idols" (or "sculptured stones" near Gilgal) before reaching Seirah indicates it lay in the rugged terrain ascending from the Jordan Rift Valley into the Ephraimite highlands. The forested, hilly character implied by the name would be consistent with the densely vegetated slopes of the central ridge during the Iron Age. No archaeological site has been conclusively identified as Seirah, partly because the region contains numerous small, unexcavated tells and ruins that could match the biblical description.
Verse Appearances (2)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →