Zorah was a town in the Shephelah region, originally allotted to Judah and later to Dan, and was the hometown of Samson .
Also known as Zoreah
Zorah was a town located in the Shephelah, the foothills between the coastal plain and the hill country of Judah. It was originally allotted to the tribe of Judah (Jos.15.33) but later became part of the territory of Dan (Jos.19.41). Zorah was the hometown of Samson, the judge of Israel (Jdg.13.2). The Spirit of the Lord began to stir Samson in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol (Jdg.13.25). Men from Zorah and Eshtaol were involved in the Danite migration (Jdg.18.2,8,11). Samson was buried between Zorah and Eshtaol (Jdg.16.31). During the reign of Rehoboam, Zorah was fortified as a defensive city (2Ch.11.10). In the time of Nehemiah, the people of Zorah helped rebuild Jerusalem (Neh.11.29). Zorah is identified with the modern-day village of Sar'a, about 15 miles west of Jerusalem.
Approximate location: 31.762, 34.969 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Place of wasps, a town in the low country of Judah, afterwards given to Dan (Josh. 19:41; Judg. 18:2), probably the same as Zoreah (Josh. 15:33). This was Samson’s birthplace (Judg. 13:2, 25), and near it he found a grave (16:31). It was situated on the crest of a hill overlooking the valley of Sorek, and was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:10). It has been identified with Sur’ah, in the Wady Surar, 8 miles west of Jerusalem. It is noticed on monuments in the fifteenth century B.C. as attacked by the Abiri or Hebrews.
(hornet), a town in the allotment of the tribe of Dan, (Joshua 19:41) It is previously mentioned ch. (Joshua 15:33) in the catalogue of Judah, among the places in the district of the Shefelah (Authorized Version “Zoreah”), It was the residence of Manoah and the native place of Samson. It is mentioned among the places fortified by Rehoboam. (2 Chronicles 11:10) It is perhaps identical with the modern village of Sur’ah .
ZO'RAH, and ZORE'AH (hornets' town), and ZA'REAH, Neh 11:29, a town in the low-country of Judah; afterward assigned to Dan, Josh 15:33; Josh 19:41; the birthplace and burial place of Samson. Jud 13:2, Gal 4:25; Jud 16:31. From Zorah the Danites sent spies to search the land for a place of inheritance. Jud 18:2. Zorah was fortified by Rehoboam, 2 Chr 11:10, and inhabited after the return from captivity. Neh 11:29. The place still exists as Surah, 13 miles west of Jerusalem, 23 miles southeast of Joppa, and 2 miles north of Bethshemesh. It is situated on the crest of a hill, 1150 feet above the sea. It overlooks the valley of Sorek. Timnah stands some 2 or 3 miles to the southwest, across the valley.
ZO'RAH, and ZORE'AH (hornets' town), and ZA'REAH, Neh 11:29, a town in the low-country of Judah; afterward assigned to Dan, Josh 15:33; Josh 19:41; the birthplace and burial place of Samson. Jud 13:2, Gal 4:25; Jud 16:31. From Zorah the Danites sent spies to search the land for a place of inheritance. Jud 18:2. Zorah was fortified by Rehoboam, 2 Chr 11:10, and inhabited after the return from captivity. Neh 11:29. The place still exists as Surah, 13 miles west of Jerusalem, 23 miles southeast of Joppa, and 2 miles north of Bethshemesh. It is situated on the crest of a hill, 1150 feet above the sea. It overlooks the valley of Sorek. Timnah stands some 2 or 3 miles to the southwest, across the valley.
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.
10 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6881
These were in the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,
The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,
Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.
And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Then Samsonʼs brothers and his fatherʼs family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.
So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”
So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
in En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
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.