Rock of Etam

Rock of Etam is mentioned as a rock with the cave where Samson hid after smiting the Philistines "hip and thigh with a great slaughter."[1] It was in Judah but apparently in the low hill country (same place as the town of Etam) . The rocky hill on which lies the village of Beit `Atab, near Sur`ah (Zorah), was suggested by Conder to be the "Rock of Etam," by way of a corruption of its name.[2] Others suggest that the cavern known as `Arak Isma`in, as described by Hanauer (PEFS, 1886, 25), is to be identified with the "Rock of Etam." The cavern, high up on the northern cliffs of the Wady Isma`in, is a noticeable object from the railway as the train enters the gorge. [3]

References
  1. Book of Judges 15:8,11.
  2. Claude Reignier Conder, Tent Work in Palestine (vol. 1), London 1879, pp. 273, 275
  3. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915 (public domain)
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