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Bible Dictionaries
Soco, Socoh
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or SOCO, SOCOH (RV [Note: Revised Version.] has Socoh everywhere, except in 1 Chronicles 4:18 and 2 Chronicles 28:18 , where it has Soco ). 1 . A fortified town in the Shephçlah of Judah, mentioned in Joshua 15:35 along with Adullam and Azekah; the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 17:1 ) ‘pitched between Socoh and Azekah’: Ben-hesed, one of Solomon’s twelve officers, had charge of it ( 1 Kings 4:10 ); it was re-fortified by Rehoboam ( 2 Chronicles 11:7 ); during the reign of Ahaz it was taken, along with other prominent fortress cities of the Shephçlah, by the Philistines. Its site was known to Eusebius and Jerome. It is now Khurbet Shuweikeh (dim. of Arab. [Note: Arabic.] Shaukeh ), a ruin on a remarkable isolated hill in the Wady es-Sunt (Vale of Elah) near where it turns west. The hill is surrounded on three sides by deep valleys, while on the remaining, the E. end, a narrow, low neck, easily defended, connects it with the higher ground. Although there are few remains on the surface, the ancient city wall may be traced round most of the circumference: there is a plentiful spring to the S.W. Such a defensible site, lying close to main roads from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, etc., to the great Philistine plain, must always have been of first-class importance. The Suchathites of 1 Chronicles 2:55 are perhaps inhabitants of Socoh.
2 . Another Socoh (apparently) is mentioned in Joshua 15:48 , along with Jattir and Debir. The site of this may be esh-Shuweikeh , 10 miles S.W. of Hebron. 3 . Soco in 1 Chronicles 4:18 is probably one or other of these two towns.
E. W. G. Masterman.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Soco, Socoh'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/s/soco-socoh.html. 1909.
