BEEROTH

where the fleeing Hagar was turned back (Gn 16"), where Isaac met his bride (24»2), and where he dwelt after Abraham's death (25"). 'Ain MuweUeh, about 50 miles S.W of Beersheba, has been suggested as a not Impossible identilication. It is a station where there are several wells, on the caravan route from Syria to Egypt. R. A. S. Macalisteh.

BEEROTH ('wells').— A Gibeoniteoity,usually coupled in enumeration with Chephirah and Kiriath-jearim (Jos 9", Ezr 2K, Neh 7='9); assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 1825, 2 S 42); the home of Rechab, murderer of Ish-bosheth (2 S 42), and of Naharai, armour-bearer of Joab (2 S 23"). Bireh, about 10 miles from Jerusalem on the main road to the north, is the usual identification, and there seems no special reason for objecting thereto. The circumstances and date of the flight of the Beeroth-ites to Gittaim (2 S 4^) are not recorded.

R. A. S. Macalisteh.

BEEROTH-BEKE-JAAKAN.— Probably certain wells in the territory of some nomad Horite tribe (Gn 36^', 1 Ch 1"), the Bene Jaakan; a halting-place in the IsraeUte wanderings, between Moseroth and Hor-haggid-gad (Nu 33"- », Dt 10»). The site is unknown.

R. A. S. Macaljster.

BEERSHEBA .—A halting-place of Abraham (Gn 2 l^i ) , where Hagar was sent away (Gn 21"), and where he made a covenant with Abimelech, from which the place is alleged to take its name (' well of the coyenant ,' according to one interpretation). Isaac after his disputes with the PhiUstines settled here (26^), and discovered the well Shibah, another etymological speculation (v.^'). Hence Jacob was sent away (28'°), and returned and sacrificed on his way to Egypt (46'). It was assigned to the tribe of Judah (Jos 15*'), but set apart for the Simeonites (19^). Here Samuel's sons were judges (1 S 82), and hither Elijah fled before Jezebel (1 K 19>). Zibiah, the mother of Joash, belonged to Beersheba (2 K 12'). It was an important holy place: here Abraham planted a sacred tree (Gn 21^), and theophanies were vouchsafed to Hagar (v."), to Isaac (.26^), to Jacob (462), and to Elijah (1 K 19'). Amos couples it with the shrines of Bethel and Gilgal (Am 5'), and oaths by its numen are denounced (8"). It is recognized as the southern boundary of Palestine in the frequent phrase ' from Dan unto Beersheba ',(Jg 20' etc.). Seven ancient wells exist here, and it has been suggested that these gave its name to the locality ; the suffixed numeral being perhaps due to the influence of the syntax of some pre-Semitic language, as in Kiriath-arba ('Tetrapolis'). The modem name is Sir es-Seba' , where are extensive remains of a Byzantine city; the ancient city is probably at Tell es-Seba' , about 2 miles to the east. Till recently the site was deserted by all but Bedouin; now a modern town has sprung up, built from the ruins of the ancient structures, and has been made the seat of a sub-governor. B. A. S. Macalisteh.

BE-ESHTERAH (Jos 212').— See ashtahoth.

BEETLE (.chargBD.—ln RV 'cricket' (Lv II22), prob-ably a grasshopper or locust. See Locust.

E. W. G. Mastehman.

BEFORE. — In Gn 112s 'Haran died before his father Terah,' the meaning is 'in the presence of as RV, literally 'before the face of.'

BEHEADING. — See Chimes and Punishments, § 10.

BEHEMOTH.— The hippopotamus (Job 40'5), as leviathan (41') is the crocodile. It has been suggested that the ancient Babylonian Creation-myth underlies the poet's description of the two animals (Gunkel, Schbpf. u. Chaos, 61 ff.). This is doubtful, but the myth un-doubtedly reappears in later Jewish literature: 'And in that day will two monsters be separated, a female named Leviathan to dwell in the abyss over the fountains of waters. But the male is called Behemoth, which occupies with its breast [7] an immeasurable desert named Dendain' (En 60'- *; cf. 2 Es 6"-6i, Apoc. Bar

BELOVED

29*, Baba bathra 745). Behemoth is rendered by ' beasts' in Is 30«. This may be correct, but the oracle which follows says nothing about the 'beasts of the south'; either the text is corrupt or the title may have been prefixed because Rahab, another name for the chaos- monster, occurs in v.'. The psalmist confesses, ' Behemoth was I with thee ' (Ps 7322) . The LXX under-stood this to be an abstract noun, 'Beast-Uke was I with thee'; others substitute the sing., and render 'a beast,' etc. J. Taylor.

BEKA (AV Bekah).— See Weights and Measures.

BEL, originally one of the Bab. triad, but synonym, in OT and Apocr. with Merodach, 'the younger Bel,' the tutelary god of Babylon (Jer 502 51", Is 46', Bar 6"). See also Baal, Assyria and Babylonia, ' Bel and the Dragon' (in art. Apocrypha, § 7).

BELA.— 1. A king of Edom (Gn 3632- s*, cf. 1 Ch l«t.). The close resemblance of this name to that of ' Balaam, the son of Beor,' the seer, is noteworthy, and has given rise to the Targum of Jonathan reading ' Balaam, the son of Beor' in Gn 36». 2. The eldest of the sons of Benjamin (Gn 462', Nu 26" [patronym. Belaites], 1 Ch 75 8'). 3. A Reubenite who was a dweller in the Moabite territory (1 Ch 5"-). It is noteworthy that this Bela, like the Edomite king mentioned above, seems to have been traditionally connected with the Euphrates. 4. A name of Zoar (Gn 142- «).

BELEMUS, 1 Es 2" («, LXX).— See Bishlam.

BELIAL (BELIAB).— This word, rendered by AV and RV as a proper noun in the majority of the OT passages, is in reality a compound, meaning ' worthless-ness,' whence 'wickedness,' 'destruction,' and as such is construed with another noun. In the sense of ' wicked-ness,' it occurs in 1 S 1" 'daughter of wickedness,' i.e. 'a wicked woman' (cf. Dt 13'= 15', Jg 922 20", 1 S 2'2 102' 25"- 26, 2 S 16' 20' 23», 1 K 21i»- 'a, 2 Ch 13', Pr 6'2 162' 192s, for similar usage). As ' destruction,' it is -found in Ps 17= (cf. 2 S 22=) 418 and Nah 1"- " (note in Nah 1" independent use, 'man' understood; RV 'wicked one'; others, 'destroyer'). Having such a meaning, it is used by St. Paul as a name for Satan (personification of unclean heathenism, 2 Co 6"), the Greek text spelUng it 'Beliar' (AV and RV 'Belial'), a variation due to the harsh pronunciation of 'I' in Syriac. N. Koeniq.

BELIEF. — Older Eng. (akin to lief and love) for the Lat.-French 'faith,' which displaced it in AV every-where except in 2 Th 2'=. RV follows AV except in Ro 10'«'-, where it restores ' belief, ' after Tindale, in continuity with 'beUeve.' 'UnbeUef held its ground as the antonym (Mt IS*', etc., Ro 3' etc.). In modern Eng., 'faith' signifies ethical, 'beUef intellectual, credence: 'faith,' trust in a person; 'belief,' recogni-tion of a fact or truth beyond the sphere of sensible observation or demonstrative proof. See Faith.

G. G. Findlay.

BELL. — A number of small bronze bells, both of the ordinary shape with clapper and of the 'bail and slit' form, have been found at Gezer (.PEFSt, 1904, 354, with illustt.). The bells of 'pure gold' (Ex 3925), which alternated with pomegranate ornaments on the skirt of the high priest's robe (28'" ), were doubtless of one or other of these forms. Their purpose is stated in v.", but the underlying idea is obscure (see the Comm.). The 'bells of the horses' of Zee 14^' represent another word akin to that rendered 'cymbals.' Whether these ornaments were really bells or, as is usually supposed, small metal discs (cf. the 'crescents' of Jg 82' RV) is uncertain. A. R. S. Kennedy.

BELLOWS.— See Arts and Crafts, 2.

BELMAIM (Jth 4* 7').- It seems to have lain south of Dothan, but the topography of Judith is very difficult. Bileam in Manasseh lay farther north than Dothan.

BELOVED.— See Lovb.