Seirah

SEIRAH, SEIRATH (sē-ī'ra, sē-ā'răth). A place in Mount Ephraim, probably in the SE part, to which Ehud escaped after murdering Eglon (Judg.3.26).

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SEIRAH se’ ə rə (שְׂעִירָה, H8545; in Heb. text with article and locative suffix, häs-sc-'ē-rä'-tä; possible meanings: hairy, shaggy, wooded, shegoat; KJV SEIRATH). Ehud’s refuge after killing Eglon (Judg 3:26) apparently in the hill country of Ephraim W of Jericho (v. 27). No suitable identification has been offered. Recently, the possibility that the term designates a topographical feature in the Jordan Valley has been noted (IDB). In light of the usage of this root in general Sem. with the meaning “forest,” the name may refer to a particular, well-known forest in the hill country of Ephraim (cf. Josh 17:15, 18). Thus the sense of the text may be that Ehud escaped to “The Forest of the hill country of Ephraim.”

Bibliography

“Seirah,” IDB (1962).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

se-i’-ra, se’-i-ra (ha-se`irah; Codex Vaticanus Seteirotha; Codex Alexandrinus Seeirotha; the King James Version, Seirath): The place to which Ehud escaped after his assassination of Eglon, king of Moab (Jud 3:26). The name is from the same root as the foregoing, and probably applied to some shaggy forest. The quarries by which he passed are said to have been by Gilgal (Jud 3:19), but there is nothing to guide us to an identification. Eusebius, in Onomasticon, gives the name, but no indication of the site.