Socoh
Socoh is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet Shuweikah. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Socoh in Judah appears in Joshua 15:35 in the list of cities allocated to the tribe of Judah in the Shephelah, the rolling foothills between the Judean highlands and the coastal plain. Though mentioned briefly in the tribal allotment, Socoh's most significant biblical moment may be its association with the Valley of Elah, the broad valley where the Philistines camped before the famous duel between David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1), Socoh was located along the northern edge of this valley, and Azekah was nearby. The town was also fortified by Rehoboam as part of his defensive network following the division of the kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:7), indicating its strategic value in guarding the approaches to the Judean hill country. Solomon's administrative list in 1 Kings 4:10 references the region of Socoh as part of a district under Ben-Hesed's governance. The city thus appears throughout the monarchic period as a settlement of ongoing administrative and military importance in Judah's western frontier zone.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
This southern Socoh in Judah is identified with Khirbet Shuweikah (also Khirbet Abbad), a site in the foothills west of Hebron. The site has produced Iron Age remains consistent with occupation during the Israelite monarchy. Perhaps the most important archaeological connection is the LMLK storage jar handles, stamped royal Judahite jars bearing the inscription "belonging to the king", which have been found in significant numbers at sites in this area. Tel Azekah, located nearby and currently under major excavation by a Tel Aviv University and Heidelberg University team, has revealed a major fortified site with Iron Age IIB destruction levels consistent with the Assyrian campaign. The broader Shephelah survey has confirmed dense Judahite settlement in the Socoh district during the eighth to seventh centuries BCE.
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]