So'coh (Heb. Sokoh', nbVo, Josh, xv, 35, 48 [marg. Soko', isi'J, which occurs in the text at 1 Chron. iv, 18, " Socho ;"' 2 Chron. xi, 7, " Shoco ;"xxviii, 18, " Shocho ;" " Shochoh," 1 Sam. xvii, 1 twice], or nbiU, 1 Kings iv, 10, " Sochoh ;" another form for Socho [q. v.]), the name of two towns, both in the tribe of Judah (q. v.).
1. (Sept. Saojxib V. r. 'Slmx(ii> ; Vulg. Soccho.) A place in the district of the lowland or Shephelah (Josh. XV, 35). It is a member of the same group with Jar- rauth, Azekah, Shaaraim, etc., which were located in the N. \V. corner (see Keil, Comment, ad loc. ). The same relative situation is imiilied in the other passages in which the place (under slight variations of form) is mentioned. At Ephes-dammim, between Socoh and Azekah (1 Sara, xvii, 1), the Philistines took up their position for the memorable engagement in which their champion was slain, and the wounded fell down in the road to Shaaraim (ver. 54). Socho, A(hdlam, Azekah, were among the cities in Judah which Kehoboam forti- fied after the revolt of the northern tribes (2 Chron. xi, 7), and it is mentioned with others of the original list as being taken by the Philistines in the reign of Ahaz (xxviii, 18). In the time of Eusebius and Jerome (Ono- mast. "Soccho") it bore the name oi Soechoth (So/j;^^^), and lay between eight and nine Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, on the road to Jerusalem. Paula passed
through it on her way from Bethlehem (?) to Egypt (Jerome, £>?. Paitlce, § 14). As is not unl'requently "the case in this locality, there were then two villages, an upper and a lower (Onomast.). Dr. Robinson's identifi- cation of Socoh with esh-Shiiweikeh (a diminutive of iShaukeh) in the western part of the mountains of Judah is very probable (Bibl. Res. ii, 21). It lies about one mile to the north of the track from Beit Jibrin to Jerusalem, between seven and eight English miles from the former. ^ To the north of it, within a couple of miles, is Varmuk, the ancient Jarmuth. Damun, perhaps Ephes-dammim, is about the same distance to the east, and Azekah and Shaaraim, no doubt, were in this neighborhood. To complete the catalogue, the ruins which must be those of the upper one of Eusebius's two villages stand on the southern slope of the Wady es-Sumt, which with great probability is the Valley of Elah, the scene of Go- liatli's death (see Tobler, JJril'te Wanderuny, p. 122). The ruins are extensive, with many caverns, "nearly half a mile above the bed of the wady, a kind of natural ter- race covered with green fields (in spring), and dotted with gray ruins" (Porter, Handb. p. 249).
From this village probably came " Antigonus of Soco," who lived about the commencement of the 3d century B.C. He was remarkable for being the earliest Jew who is known to have had a Greek name; for being the dis- ciple of the great Simon, surnamed " the Just," whom he succeeded as president of the Sanhedrim; for being the master of Sadok, the reputed founder of the Saddu- cees : but most truly remarkable as the author of the following saying which is given in the Jlishna (Pirke A both, i, 3) as the substance of his teaching, " Be not ye like servants who serve their lord that they may receive a reward. But be ye like servants who serve their lord without hope of receiving a reward, but in the fear of heaven." Socoh appears to be mentioned under the name ofSochiis in the acts of the Council of Nice, though its distance from Jerusalem as there given is not suffi- cient for the identification proposed above (Reland, Pa- lo'st. p. 1019).
2. (Sept. ^wxd V. r. Sw^w; Vulg. Soccho.') Also a town of Judah, but in the mountain district (Josh, xv, 48). It is one of the first group, and is named in com- pany with Anab, Jattir, Eshtemoh, and others. It has been discovered by Dr. Robinson (Bibl. Res. i, 494) in the Wady el-Khalil, about ten miles S.W. of Hebron ; bear- ing, like the other Socoh, the name of esh-Shiiu-eikth, and, with Anab, Semoa, 'Attir, within easy distance of it. — Smith.
Socordia, in Roman mythology, was the daughter of ^Ether and the Earth ; a personification of dulness.
Socrates, the most notable and the best known of all the (ireek philosophers, to whom the designation of " the Father of Philosophy" (parens philosojMcB) has been deservedly given. His prominence during life, his influence after death, and his notoriety through his death affected the character and development of speculation more than they have ever been affected by any other philosopher. It is the impress of his own heart and mind upon the growing thought of the world — the impulse and direction which he gave to intel- lectual inquiry and to moral action — much more than any special doctrine, which have insured to his name the distinction and affectionate reverence that have at- tended it through all the ensuing centuries. Even if no regard should be paid to the peculiarities of his phil- osophical doctrine, the career and the character of Soc- rates would merit the highest admiration in any age. Thev were singularly remarkable in a pagan age, and amid all the corruptions, the sophistries, and the brill- iant license of Athens during the Peloponnesian war. He was a heathen, with many of the virtues and more of the aims of Christianity. In a period of unrestrain- ed ochlocracy, of eager ambition, of greed, of self-seek- ing, and of rapacity, he, though conscious of the highest intellectual vigor, and associating with the ablest public