Valley of Elah

A long, shallow valley in the foothills of the Judean Shephelah, roughly twenty-five kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. A small stony brook cuts through its floor — the same brook from which the shepherd David picked five smooth stones before facing Goliath of Gath.

Two armies camped here for forty days during the war between the Israelites under Saul and the Philistines: one army on each opposing ridge with the wide valley floor between them as the dueling ground. The valley is named for the terebinth trees (Hebrew "elah") that grew along its course.