Where is Eshtaol in the Bible?
Eshtaol was a city located in the Shephelah, or foothills, of Judah. It was initially allotted to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:33) but was later assigned to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:41). Eshtaol appears in 7 verses across 2 books of the Bible.
What happened at Eshtaol?
Eshtaol was a city located in the Shephelah, or foothills, of Judah. It was initially allotted to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:33) but was later assigned to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:41). Eshtaol is particularly associated with the story of Samson, the legendary Israelite judge. Samson was born in the nearby town of Zorah and is described as moving between Zorah and Eshtaol, where the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him (Judges 13:25). After Samson's death, he was buried between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father, Manoah (Judges 16:31). Eshtaol also played a role in the Danite migration narrative. Due to limited territory and pressure from the Philistines, a group of Danites sent spies from Zorah and Eshtaol to search for a new land to settle (Judges 18:2). After the spies returned with a favorable report, six hundred men from the clan of the Danites set out from Zorah and Eshtaol to conquer the city of Laish in the north (Judges 18:8, 11). The descendants of the Eshtaolites, a clan from Eshtaol, are mentioned in 1Ch.2.53 among the descendants of Judah's son Shobal. This suggests that the city maintained its ties to the tribe of Judah even after being allotted to Dan.
Definition text: STEPBible · Tyndale House Cambridge. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Lightly edited for length and formatting.
Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.
Where does Eshtaol appear in the Bible?
Eshtaol is referenced in 7 verses across 2 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.
- Judges 13:25
- Judges 16:31
- Judges 18:2
- Judges 18:8
- Judges 18:11
- Joshua 15:33
- Joshua 19:41
What else appears in these passages?
These turn up in the same passages as Eshtaol.
Common questions
How many times does the Bible mention Eshtaol?
Eshtaol appears in 7 verses across 2 books, most often in Judges, which accounts for 5 of them.
Which books of the Bible mention Eshtaol?
Judges, Joshua.
Where can I read every verse about Eshtaol?
This page lists 7 of them. Protos carries all 7, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.
