Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 11:8
Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text is a fragment of an administrative inventory recording cities Rehoboam fortified in Judah and Benjamin. It functions as a geographic list immediately following Beth-zur, Soco, and Adullam, and preceding Adoraim, Lachish, and Azekah.
The words — גַּת (gat) denotes Gath, and זִֽיף (zif) denotes Ziph. Both entries function as proper place names within a simple object-construction list marked by וְ/אֶת (ve./'et).
The thread — Ziph appears in Joshua 15:24 as part of a southern territorial boundary and in 1 Samuel 23:14 regarding the wilderness of Ziph. Mareshah is separately recorded in Joshua 15:44 among cities assigned to Judah.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to track specific geographic points Rehoboam secured for defense. It demands attention to the concrete expansion of royal infrastructure rather than abstract theological claims.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
Cross-references
- Joshua 15:24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,
- Joshua 15:44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah—nine cities, along with their villages.
- 1 Samuel 23:14 And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- 1 Samuel 23:19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
- 1 Chronicles 18:1 Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from the hand of the Philistines.
- Psalms 54:1 For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “Is David not hiding among us?” Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!