e.tam is a proper place name, used for a city and for the rock cleft identified with that place.

The occurrences use the noun proper form as a place name: a city named among other settlements and a rock cleft identified as belonging to or located at Etam; 1 Chronicles 4:3 also speaks of “the fathers of Etam.”

1. Place name in settlement and rock-cleft settings · dominant

   All five occurrences are tagged Noun · Proper. In 1 Chronicles 4:32 and 2 Chronicles 11:6, the APB renders Etam in lists of cities or built places; in Judges 15:8 and Judges 15:11, it renders “the cleft of the rock of Etam,” where Samson stayed and where men of Judah went down. In 1 Chronicles 4:3, the APB renders “the fathers of Etam,” retaining the same proper name in a family-related statement.

   1 Chronicles 4:31 Chronicles 4:322 Chronicles 11:6Judges 15:11Judges 15:8

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB consistently presents the form as “Etam.” It places the name among cities in 1 Chronicles 4:32 and 2 Chronicles 11:6 and in the phrase “the cleft of the rock of Etam” in Judges 15:8 and Judges 15:11.