Socoh
Socoh — also spelled Shochoh, Shocho, Soco, and Sochoh — is a Judahite place name carried by two distinct towns within the tribe of Judah's allotment: one in the Shephelah (the lowland) and another in the hill-country. The lowland Socoh is the more frequently named of the two, anchoring Judah's western frontier as a muster-point, an administrative seat under Solomon, a Rehoboamic stronghold, and a Philistine prize.
Socoh in the Lowland of Judah
The lowland Socoh first appears in Joshua's allotment list among the fourteen-city block of Judah's Shephelah inheritance, set with Jarmuth, Adullam, and Azekah: "Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah" (Jos 15:35). The grouping fixes its place along the Shephelah ridge that lines Judah's western boundary against the Philistine plain.
The Philistine Muster Against Saul
That same lowland position makes Socoh the staging-ground of the Philistine campaign that drew out Goliath: "Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim" (1Sa 17:1). The notice that Socoh "belongs to Judah" places the muster on Judahite soil; the encampment-strip "between Socoh and Azekah" anchors the host along the Shephelah line, with Socoh as its western marker.
A Solomonic Commissary Seat
Under Solomon's twelve-district provisioning system, the lowland Socoh falls inside Ben-hesed's Arubboth-headed district: "Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him [pertained] Socoh, and all the land of Hepher)" (1Ki 4:10). The bracketed insertion makes the assignment explicit — Socoh and the Hepher-land lie under Ben-hesed's monthly provision-quota for the king's house.
Rehoboam's Fortification
After the kingdom's split, the Chronicler names Soco — the Chronicler's spelling for Shochoh — among Rehoboam's defensive buildup of the reduced southern kingdom, listed between Beth-zur and Adullam: "And Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam" (2Ch 11:7). The town joins the Shephelah block of Rehoboam's fortified Judahite cities, reinforced as a post-secession stronghold along the same lowland line that had earlier been the Philistine muster-ground.
Philistine Reconquest Under Ahaz
In Ahaz's reign that fortification line breaks open: "The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with its towns, and Timnah with its towns, Gimzo also and its towns: and they dwelt there" (2Ch 28:18). Soco is taken with its daughter-towns and held — the Philistine capture restores to them the very Shephelah seat from which they had once mustered against Saul, now emptied of Rehoboam's defense and settled as Philistine territory.
The Hill-Country Socoh
A second Socoh, distinct from the lowland town, lies in Judah's hill-country among the mountain-district cities: "And in the hill-country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh" (Jos 15:48). The grouping with Shamir and Jattir — both interior Judahite towns of the southern hill-country — fixes this Socoh inland and well away from the Shephelah Socoh of Joshua's lowland list, the Philistine muster-narrative, the Solomonic commissary roster, and the Chronicler's fortification and invasion notices.