Gederah

Gederah (from Hebrew gāder, a wall or sheepfold) was a town in the Shephelah, the foothills between the coastal plain and the Judean highlands, assigned to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:36). It is listed among the lowland cities in Judah's territorial inheritance. The name suggests a location associated with walled enclosures — either defensive walls or the sheepfolds common in pastoral settlements of the region.

A Gederathite — a native of Gederah — is mentioned as Jozabad, one of the Benjaminite warriors who came to David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:4). The potters who settled in Netaim and Gederah were described as engaged in royal service, indicating the town had an artisan community of potters producing wares for the court (1 Chronicles 4:23). The city's identification with modern sites in the Shephelah region has been proposed but not confirmed. Gederah appears to represent the kind of small agricultural and craft-producing settlement that typified the Judean lowland towns in the monarchic period.