MARESA
“to the head”.
(a) City of the plain of Judah (Josh. 15:44; cf. 1 Chron. 4:21). Fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:8). A great battle took place between King Asa and Zero the Ethiopian near Mareshah (2 Chron. 14:9, 10).
During the Hellenic period, it was an important city called Marissa, inhabited by Edomites (Ant. 13:9, 1; 14:1, 3, 9). The Parthians destroyed it in 40 BC.
According to Eusebius, its ruins were two Roman miles from Eleutheropolis. Bliss places it at Tell Sandahannah, 1.5 km south-southeast of Beit Djibrin.
(b) “Father” of Hebron (1 Chron. 2:42), descendant of Judah; The context suggests that Mareshah was the brother of Mesha, Caleb’s firstborn. He is not cited anywhere else.