Eshtaol

A town in the foothills of the territory of Dan, near where Samson was buried.

About Eshtaol

Lowland town on the border between Judah and Dan (Jos 15:33; 19:41), always mentioned along with nearby Zorah. In this area the young Samson began to be moved by the Spirit of the Lord (Jgs 13:25), and here he was later buried (16:31). Dan’s tribe sent out five brave men from Zorah and Eshtaol to seek additional land for tribal expansion. When they reported the vulnerability of the city of Laish, 600 men from Zorah and Eshtaol attacked it, opening the area for occupation by the Danites (ch 18).

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Key References

Judges 18:2

So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

Joshua 19:41

The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

Judges 16:31

Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

All Scripture References (8)

Joshua (2)
Joshua 15:33

These were in the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

Joshua 19:41

The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

Judges (5)
Judges 13:25

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 16:31

Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

Judges 18:2

So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

Judges 18:8

When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”

Judges 18:11

So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.

1 Chronicles (1)
1 Chronicles 2:53

and the clans of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites.