And Eltekeh,.... Eltekeh was a city given to the Levites, Joshua 21:23; and supposed by some to be the same with Eltekon in the tribe of Judah given to the Danites, Joshua 15:59,
and Gibbethon was in the hands of the Philistines in the reign of Asa, 1-Kings 15:21; and in the same place Jerom (t) calls Gabatha a city of the strangers, or Philistines; and which lie places near Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah:
and Baalath is not the same with Baalah, Joshua 15:29; but the Baalath rebuilt by Solomon, 1-Kings 9:18; called by Josephus (u) Baleth, and spoken of by him as near to Gazara in the land of the Philistines; of these two last cities, the Talmudists (w) say that their houses belonged to Judah, and their fields to Daniel.
(t) De loc. Hebrews. fol. 92. C. (u) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 6. sect. 1. (w) T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 18. 3.

Eltekeh and Gibbethon, which were allotted to the Levites (Joshua 21:23), have not yet been discovered. Under the earliest kings of Israel, Gibbethon was in the hands of the Philistines (1-Kings 15:27; 1-Kings 16:15, 1-Kings 16:17). Baalath was fortified by Solomon (1-Kings 9:18). According to Josephus (Ant. 8:6, 1), it was "Baleth in the neighbourhood of Geser;" probably the same place as Baalah, on the border of Judah (Joshua 15:11).