Zorah

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A biblical city associated with the Samson saga. The remains of the ancient site are to be found at Tel Zor'a, located near the former Arab village of Sar'ah in modern Israel. The city likely controlled the highway through the "great fosse" that passed along the western base of the hill country connecting the Shephelah and the road to Jerusalem. Set high upon a hill overlooking the Sorek Valley, Zorah may have had limited access to fields in the Sorek, but the Late Bronze Age city of Beth-shemesh most likely maintained a strict control over the fertile fields of the area. The city is mentioned as Sia-ar-ha in the Amarna Letters.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

Zorah - place of wasps, a town in the low country of Judah, afterwards given to Dan (Josh. 19:41; Judg. 18:2), probably the same as Zoreah (Josh. 15:33). This was Samson's birthplace (Judg. 13:2, 25), and near it he found a grave (16:31). It was situated on the crest of a hill overlooking the valley of Sorek, and was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:10). It has been identified with Sur'ah, in the Wady Surar, 8 miles west of Jerusalem. It is noticed on monuments in the fifteenth century B.C. as attacked by the Abiri or Hebrews.