Category:Gath

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Gath - A wine-vat one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (Joshua 13:3) on which the ark brought calamity (1 Samuel 5:8, 1 Samuel 5:9; 1 Samuel 6:17). It was famous also as being the birthplace or residence of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4). David fled from Saul to Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10; 1 Samuel 27:2; Psalms 56:1), and his connection with it will account for the words in 2 Samuel 1:20. It was afterwards conquered by David (2 Samuel 8:1). It occupied a strong position on the borders of Judah and Philistia (1 Samuel 21:10; 1 Chronicles 18:1). Its site has been identified with the hill called Tell es Safieh, the Alba Specula of the Middle Ages, which rises 695 feet above the plain on its east edge. It is noticed on monuments about 1500 B.C.. (See METHEG-AMMAH.)