Ether appears in Joshua's tribal allotments as a town assigned first to Judah and then to Simeon (whose inheritance was within Judah's territory). In both passages it's listed alongside Ashan. Possibly identified with modern Khirbet 'Atr, about two miles northwest of Beit Jibrin, though the identification is uncertain. Like many minor settlements in these lists, its precise location has been lost, but it served as a marker in defining tribal boundaries and inheritances.