Mareshah (Place)

Abstract

Mareshah (MT Ma¯ re¯šâ, Ma¯ re¯ šâ; LXX Μαρησα, Μαρ- ισα) is listed among the towns allocated to the tribe of Judah in the Shephelah (Josh 15:44). King Rehoboam is said to have fortified Mareshah during his reign (2 Chr 11:8), and the town is mentioned again in connection with the alleged confrontation between King Asa and Zerah the Cushite (2 Chr 14:8– 9). The father of a prophet by the name of Eliezer, who prophesied against King Jehoshaphat for partnering with King Ahaziah of Israel, hailed from Mareshah (2 Chr 20:37). The town is also named in one of Micah’s oracles of judgement (Mic 1:15). In the genealogical lists in 1 Chr 2:42 and 4:21, Mareshah appears as a personal name with geopolitical import, although the historical realities reflected by these lists – Iron Age II, Persian, early Hellenistic, or late Hellenistic period? – are disputed.