Zeph'athah (Heb. Tsepha'thah, צפָתָה, watchtower; Sept. κατὰ βοῤᾶν; Josephus, Σαφθά, Ant. 8:12,1; Vulg. Sephata), the name of a valley (גֵּאי) where Asa joined battle with Zerah the Ethiopian (2Ch 14:10). It was "at," or rather "belonging to," Mareshah (למָרֵשָׁה; Josephus, οὐκ ἄπωθεν). This would seem to exclude the possibility of its being, as suggested by Robinson (Bibl. Res.2, 31), at Teles-Safieh, which is not less than eight miles from Marash, the modern representative of Mareshah. There is a deep valley, which runs past the latter place down to, Beit Jibrin, and thence into the plain of Philistia. This, perhaps, may be the valley of Zephathah (Porter, Handbook, p. 258). Some, however, understand the name Zephathah to be only thatof Zepihath (q.v.), with ה directive, and render it "the valley towards Zephath."
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More