SHAARAIM

(Shaʹa·raʹim) [double gate].

1. A city of Judah in the Shephelah. (Josh. 15:20, 33, 36) After David’s defeat of Goliath and due to the Israelite pursuit, the Philistine dead were scattered from ‘Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.’ (1 Sam. 17:52) Shaaraim was in the vicinity of the “low plain of Elah” (where Goliath died) and Azekah. (Josh. 15:35; 1 Sam. 17:1, 2) This would point to a location near the Wadi es-Sant (usually associated with the “low plain of Elah”) and Tell ez-Zakariyeh (the suggested site of Azekah). A more specific identification is not now available.

2. A city of Simeon. (1 Chron. 4:24, 31) It is apparently the same as Sharuhen (Josh. 19:6), identified with Tell el-Farʽah, some nineteen miles (31 kilometers) W of Beer-sheba. The city also appears to be called Shilhim.—Josh. 15:32.