SOREK, TORRENT VALLEY OF

(Soʹrek) [choice red vine].

Location of the home of Delilah, where Samson was seduced to reveal the secret of his strength, leading to his capture, blinding and imprisonment by the Philistines. (Judg. 16:4-21) The name Sorek seems to be preserved in that of Khirbet Suriq, about sixteen miles (26 kilometers) W of Jerusalem, situated on the N side of the Wadi es-Sarar and opposite the proposed location of Beth-shemesh. A little over three miles (4.8 kilometers) W of Suriq this wadi, joined by others, becomes a broad fertile valley. This particular section of Wadi es-Sarar, cutting across the Shephelah westwardly toward the Mediterranean Sea, is apparently the Biblical valley of Sorek. Much of this region then, as today, was probably suited for vineyards (a possible reason for its name). The Philistine wagon that returned the ark of the covenant to the Israelites evidently followed the torrent valley of Sorek from Ekron on the road to Beth-shemesh. (1 Sam. 5:10; 6:10-12) The Jerusalem-to-Jaffa railroad currently uses this route.