Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SOCO

(Heb. śôḵô),

SOCOH

(śôḵōh)

(PLACE)

1. A city of the Shephelah within the second district of the tribal territory of Judah (Josh. 15:35). Just prior to the David-Goliath clash the Philistine army was encamped between Azekah and Socoh (1 Sam. 17:1), illustrating the strategic importance of the region as the buffer between Judah and Philistia. This is likely the Socoh fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:7) after the division of the kingdom. As part of the border zone, the city was temporarily taken from Judah by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (2 Chr. 28:18).

Socoh is one of four city names which appear (spelled śwkh) stamped following the word lmlk (“for the king”) on the handles of royal storejars found in late 8th-century b.c.e. contexts in Judah. These lmlk jars are generally related to the reign of Hezekiah, specifically to his preparations for the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701. Thus, Socoh may have figured in Hezekiah’s reorganization of Judah’s administrative districts (2 Chr. 32:27-29). Socoh is identified confidently with Khirbet ʿAbbâd/µorvat Socoh (147121) in the Elah Valley E of Azekah. The site remains unexcavated, but has yielded a number of lmlk jar handles and other pottery of the expected periods.

2. A town of the hill country of Judah’s fifth district (Josh. 15:48), perhaps named for Soco, a descendant of Judah (1 Chr. 4:18). It is generally identified with the unexcavated Khirbet Shuweikeh (150090).

3. A town listed as the center of Solomon’s third administrative district (1 Kgs. 4:10), identified with Shuweiket er-Râs (153194), just N of modern Tūlkarm. This is probably the Socoh appearing in several Egyptian lists of conquered cities, including those of Thutmose III and Shishak.

Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, 1979); S. Ahituv, Canaanite Toponyms in Ancient Egyptian Documents (Jerusalem, 1984).

Daniel C. Browning, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SOCO

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)