Gederoth, a town in Judah, was captured by the Philistines during the reign of King Ahaz.
Gederoth is mentioned in the Bible as a town located in the Shephelah, or lowland region, of Judah. It is listed among the towns allotted to the tribe of Judah in Joshua 15:41, along with other nearby settlements such as Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah.
The town is most notably mentioned in 2Ch.28.18 in the context of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah. During this time, the Philistines, taking advantage of Judah's weakened state, launched an invasion and captured several towns in the Shephelah, including Gederoth, Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon. They also attacked the Negev region and settled in the captured towns.
The Philistine conquest of Gederoth and other towns in the Shephelah demonstrates the vulnerability of Judah's borders and the ongoing threat posed by its neighboring enemies. It also highlights the consequences of Ahaz's unfaithfulness to God and his failure to protect the kingdom from foreign invaders.
The exact location of Gederoth is not specified in the Bible, but based on its association with the Shephelah and its proximity to other known towns, it is believed to have been situated in the western foothills of Judah, southwest of Jerusalem.
Approximate location: 31.823, 34.778 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
(sheepfolds), a town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 15:41; 2 Chronicles 28:18)
GEDE'ROTH (sheep-cotes), a city in the plain of Judah; taken by the Philistines, Josh 15:41; 2 Chr 28:18. Warren suggests as its site Katrah, a village in the valley of Sorek, 3 miles south-west of 'Akir (Ekron).
GEDE'ROTH (sheep-cotes), a city in the plain of Judah; taken by the Philistines, Josh 15:41; 2 Chr 28:18. Warren suggests as its site Katrah, a village in the valley of Sorek, 3 miles south-west of 'Akir (Ekron).
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1450
Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—sixteen cities, along with their villages.
The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.