ABSTRACT
The Amalekite spoil town list (1 Sam 30:26–31) contains around a dozen toponyms that relate to towns or people groups of Judah to whom David sent spoil that was captured from the Amalekites. While several of the towns can be identified with confidence (e.g., Jattir, Aroer, Eshtemoa, and Hebron), several other sites are either unidentified or their original spelling is uncertain based on varying traditions in the available manuscripts. In this case study, we use the Amalekite spoil town list to illustrate the variety of disciplines that a historical geographer will encounter when dealing with a biblical text containing geographical information.
