Gath

Gath (meaning: a wine-press) was one of the five principal Philistine city-states, situated in the Shephelah foothills between the coastal plain and the Judean highlands. It was the home city of Goliath, the giant champion whom David killed with a sling stone (1 Samuel 17:4), and of other descendants of the Rephaim who were later slain by David's warriors (2 Samuel 21:20–22). The ark of the covenant was brought to Gath by the Philistines after its capture, where it brought divine judgment (1 Samuel 5:8).

David himself took refuge in Gath during his flight from Saul, feigning madness before Achish king of Gath to avoid being killed (1 Samuel 21:10–15), and later entering Achish's service as a mercenary. Gath was one of the cities that fell to David's campaigns and was later fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:8). Hazael of Syria later captured Gath and threatened Jerusalem (2 Kings 12:17). The city's prominence declined in the later monarchy period, and the prophetic injunctions not to tell it in Gath (2 Samuel 1:20; Micah 1:10) became a proverbial expression for keeping news of Israel's defeats from its enemies.