ESHTAOL, ESHTAOLITES ĕsh’ tĭ əl, ĕsh’ tĭ ə-līts (אֶשְׁתָּאֹ֥ול, אֶשְׁתָּ֖אֻֽלִֽי), a reflexive form of the verb “to ask,” possibly a place name serving to define possession (Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible [1967], p. 98); possibly modern Eshwa’ (Ishwa’). Scholars have differed in their explanation of the anomaly that Eshtaol is listed as one of the cities of Judah (Josh 15:33) and also as one of cities of Dan (Josh 19:40, 41). KD harmonize the passages by assuming that the most northerly part of Judah’s district was given up to the tribe of Dan on the second division of the land by Joshua (cf. Josh 18:2ff.). A. Alt, followed by most modern scholars, proposed that the Judean town list in Josh 15:21-62 is based on an administrative apportionment by the Judean monarchy (A. Alt, Palästinajahrbuch, 21 [1925], 100-116,=Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte des Volkes Israel, II [1953], 276-288; F. M. Cross and G. E. Wright, JBL, 75 [1956], pp. 202-226; K. Kalli-Kleinmann, VT, 8 [1958], 134-160; Y. Aharoni, VT, 9 [1959], 225-240). When the Danites’ attempt to occupy the Shephelah (“the lowland” RSV) region around Zorah and Eshtaol encountered stiff opposition from the Amorite cities there (Judg 1:34, 35), the Danites of Zorah and Eshtaol played a principal role in relocating the tribe in Leshem (Josh 19:47; Judg 18:2, 8, 11). In the genealogy of Judah (1 Chron 2-4) the sons of its various clans are mentioned along with the names of their respective settlements in such a way that a clansman becomes the father of the place occupied; accordingly it can be determined that Judeans from Kiriath-jearim, descendants of Hur, prob. replaced the Danites in both Zorah and Eshtaol (1 Chron 2:50-53). The Spirit of God began to stir Samson, a Danite (Judg 13:24), between Zorah and Eshtaol (Judg 13:25), and he was buried there (Judg 16:31).