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Moresheth-Gath

MORESHETH-GATH (Heb. מוֹרֶשֶׁת גַּת), town of the tribe of Judah in the Shephelah, between Lachish and Achzib. It is mentioned by the prophet Micah, who was born there (Micah 1:1, 14; Jer. 26:18). Later sources (Eusebius, Onom. 134:10: Sozomenus, Historia Ecclesiastica 9:17; Jerome, In Micam 1:10) identify it with a village, which is also called Birat Satia or Kiryat Satia, in the territory of Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin). The *Madaba Map indicates a village called Morasthi to the north of Eleutheropolis, near a church of St. Micah. Some scholars have identified Birat Satia with Khirbat Saʿad or Khirbat al-Baṣal and Moresheth-Gath with nearby Tell al-Judayda; others have looked for it at Tell Khirbat al-Bayḍāʾ approximately 4 mi. (6 km.) northeast of Bet Guvrin. The Gath fortified by Rehoboam (II Chron. 11:8) has also been tentatively identified with Moresheth-Gath.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

A. Saarisalo, in: JPOS, 11 (1931), 98ff.; J. Jeremias, in: PJB, 29 (1933), 42–53; EM, 4 (1962), 741f.; Aharoni, Land, index.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.