Keilah: Citadel, a city in the lowlands of Judah
(Joshua 15:44) David rescued it
from the attack of the Philistines
(1 Samuel 23:1-8) but the inhabitants
proving unfaithful to him, in that they sought to deliver him up to
Saul
(1 Samuel 23:13) he and his men "departed from Keilah, and went
whithersoever they could go." They fled to the hill Hareth, about 3
miles to the east, and thence through Hebron to Ziph (q.v.). "And
David was in the wilderness of Ziph, in a wood"
(1 Samuel 23:15) Here
Jonathan sought him out, "and strengthened his hand in God." This was
the last interview between David and Jonathan
(1 Samuel 23:16-18) It is
the modern Khurbet Kila. Others identify it with Khuweilfeh, between
Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) and Beersheba, mentioned in the Amarna
tablets.
