Ephes-dammim

Ephes-dammim ("boundary of blood") was the hill in the Shephelah of Judah where the Philistine army camped just before the celebrated duel between David and Goliath. "The Philistines gathered their armies for battle... and Saul and the men of Israel gathered and encamped in the Valley of Elah... and the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them" (1 Samuel 17:1). The same site reappears in 1 Chronicles 11:13 as Pas-dammim, where one of David's mighty men, Eleazar son of Dodo, defended a barley field against a Philistine raid until "his hand grew weary and clung to the sword." Located between Socoh and Azekah in the Elah Valley, traditionally identified with the area around Khirbet Damūn just east of Azekah.