KEILAH

(Keiʹlah) [possibly, the spur].

A fortified Judean city in the Shephelah. (Josh. 15:20, 33, 44; 1 Sam. 23:7) Keilah was perhaps ‘founded’ or, at one time, ‘governed’ by some Calebite(s). (1 Chron. 4:15, 19; compare ATROTH-BETH-JOAB.) It is commonly identified with Khirbet Qila, situated on a hill about nine miles (15 kilometers) NW of Hebron. As in the region of ancient Keilah, today grain is cultivated in the vicinity of Khirbet Qila.—Compare 1 Samuel 23:1.

David, while outlawed by King Saul saved Keilah from falling to the Philistines. Yet afterward he and his men had to escape from the city to avoid being surrendered to Saul’s army by the landowners of Keilah.—1 Sam. 23:5, 8-13.

The city was reoccupied after the Babylonian exile. At the time Jerusalem’s walls were being repaired under Nehemiah’s direction, there were two half districts of Keilah, each with its own “prince.”—Neh. 3:17, 18.