Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.
The Philistines gathered together their armies - twenty-seven years after their overthrow at Michmash. Having now recovered their spirits and strength, they sought an opportunity of wiping out the infamy of that national disaster, as well as of regaining their lost ascendancy over Israel.
Shochoh - now Shuweikeh, a town marked by ancient ruins, nine Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, toward Jerusalem, situated on the southern side of a spacious wady, which extends in a northwesterly direction from the spurs of the Judah hills until it opens down into the Shephelah, or plain of Philistia.
Azekah - now Zakariyeh, another site of ancient ruins on a round projecting eminence, about two miles distant, on the same side of the valley.
Ephes-dammim - `the portion or effusion of blood' [Septuagint, Efermen; Alexandrian, afesdommein], lying between the other two, and chosen as the site of the Philistine encampment.