Dictionaries :: Shaaraim

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Shaaraim:

two gates. (1.) A city in the plain of Judah (1Sa 17:52); called also Sharaim (Jos 15:36).

(2.) A town in Simeon (1Ch 4:31).

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Shaaraim:

gates; valuation; hairs

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Shaaraim:

sha-a-ra'-im (sha‘arayim, "two gates"; Sakareim; the King James Version Sharaim):

(1) A city in the Shephelah or "lowland" of Judah mentioned (Jos 15:36) in close association with Socoh and Azekah; the vanquished army of the Philistines passed a Shaaraim in their flight from Socoh toward Gath and Ekron (1Sa 17:52). It is possible that in this latter reference the "two gates" may refer-as Septuagint implies-to the two Philistine strongholds themselves. Shaaraim has been identified with Tell Zakariya (see however AZEKAH) and with Kh. Sa‘ireh (PEF, III, 124, Sh XVII), an old site West of Beit ‘Atab. Both proposals are hazardous.

(2) One of the towns of Simeon (1Ch 4:31), called (Jos 19:6) "Sharuhen" and, as one of the uttermost cities of Judah, called (Jos 15:32) "Shilhim." This town was in Southwestern Palestine and is very probably identical with the fortress Sharhana, a place of some importance on the road from Gaza to Egypt. Aahmes (XVIIIth Dynasty) besieged and captured this city in the 5th year of his reign in his pursuit of the flying Hyksos (Petrie, Hist, II, 22, 35), and a century later Tahutmes III, in the 23rd year of his reign, took the city of Sharuhen on his way to the siege and capture of Megiddo (Petrie, Hist, II, 104). On philological grounds Tell esh-Sheri‘ah, 12 miles Northwest of Beersheba, large ruin, has been proposed, but it does not suit at all the Egyptian data (PEF, III, 399, Sh XXIV).

Written by E. W. G. Masterman

Nave's Topical Bible

Shaaraim: 1. A City in the Territory of the Tribe of Judah

Called also Sharaim,

Jos 15:36; 1Sa 17:52.

Shaaraim: 2. A City in the Territory of the Tribe of Simeon

1Ch 4:31

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Shaaraim:

(two gates) a city in the territory allotted to Judah (Joshua 15:36) in Authorized Version incorrectly Sharaim (1 Samuel 17:52). Shaaraim one of the towns of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:31) must be a different place.