Hachilah
Hachilah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Zahrat al Kula. It appears across 3 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hachilah was a hill in the wilderness of Judah that appears three times in Scripture, all in connection with the dramatic episodes of David's flight from King Saul. In 1 Samuel 23:19, the Ziphites betrayed David's location to Saul, reporting that he was hiding "on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon." Saul pursued David, and only a Philistine invasion forced Saul to break off the chase before he could capture him. Hachilah reappears in 1 Samuel 26:1–3, where again the Ziphites reported David's location. This time David himself slipped into Saul's camp by night, taking Saul's spear and water jar while Saul slept, demonstrating both his courage and his refusal to harm the LORD's anointed. This act of mercy at Hachilah stands as a defining moment in David's character, a man who trusted divine timing over human opportunity. The hill thus becomes a stage for God's providential protection of his chosen king.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Hachilah is tentatively located in the wilderness of Ziph, southeast of Hebron in the Judean Desert, with the modern site of Zahrat al Kula proposed as one possible identification. The Judean wilderness in this region is characterized by rugged limestone ridges and deep wadis that provided natural concealment for fugitives, consistent with the biblical narrative of David hiding from Saul. Archaeological surveys of the Ziph plateau have identified Iron Age sites, though specific confirmation of Hachilah as a named place remains elusive. The desolate terrain of the area, with its sparse water sources and difficult terrain, matches well with the biblical description of David's precarious existence as a fugitive in the wilderness.
Verse Appearances (3)
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]