HAZAR-SUSAH

(Haʹzar-suʹsah) [Courtyard (Settlement) of the Mare].

A Simeonite enclave city in the southern part of Judah (Jos 19:1, 2, 5), also called Hazar-susim. (1Ch 4:31) A similar list of cities originally assigned to Judah has “Sansannah” in place of Hazar-susah. (Jos 15:21, 31) Some view them as separate locations, placing Sansannah to the NNE of Beer-sheba and Hazar-susah about 26 km (16 mi) to the W of Beer-sheba at Sbalat Abu Susein, near the Plains of Philistia. A number of scholars, however, view it as probable that Hazar-susah is simply a secondary name for Sansannah, such secondary name, by its meaning, describing a notable function of the place. If it is the same as Sansannah, Hazar-susah may tentatively be identified with Khirbet esh-Shamsaniyat to the NNE of Beer-sheba, a short distance from the suggested site of Madmannah (likely Beth-marcaboth), mentioned before (Hazar-susah, Hazar-susim, or Sansannah) in the foregoing texts.​—See BETH-MARCABOTH.