BETH-MERHAK

BETH-MERHAK (2 S 15" RV, for AV 'a place that was far off'; RVm 'the Far House').— Stade and others understand it to mean the last Jicmse of the city. No town so called is known between Jerusalem and Jericho.

BETH-MILLO (Jg 9* RVm; 2 K 122" AVm, text 'house of Millo'). — See Millo.

BETH-NIMRAH (' place of the leopard," Nu 32» etc., called Nimrah v.', and, some think, Nimrim Is 15^, see Nimeim). — A town in the territory E. of Jordan allotted to Reuben. It is represented by the modern Tell Nimrin, 6 miles E. of the Jordan, about 10 miles N. of the Dead Sea, on the S. bank of Wady Shaib.

W. EWINQ.

BETH-PAZZEZ (Jos (192').— A town of Issachar near En-gannim and En-haddah. The name has not been recovered.

BETH-PELET (RV; in AV Beth-palet, Jos 15", Beth-phelet, Neh 11M).— The Paltite, 2 S 23m, called by scribal error Pelonite in 1 Ch 11^' 27'°, was an in-habitant of this place. The site was south of Beer-sheba, but is unknown.

BETH-PEOR.— A city belonging to Reuben (Jos13M), located most probably some four or five miles north of Mt. Nebo, near the Pisgah range. Just opposite to it, in the ravine (Wady HesbWn probably), the Israelites encamped (Dt 3^' 4"). Moses was buried in the valley 'over against Beth-peor' (Dt 348). Conder suggests a site several miles to the S., near 'Ain el-Minyeh, but the impression given by Nu 26' -' is that the city was not so far distant from the plain of Shittim.

G. L. Robinson.

BETHPHAGE {'house of figs').— The place whence Christ, on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, sent His disciples to fetch the ass (Mt 21', Mk 11', Lk 1928). It must have been close to Bethany, and is tradi-tionally identified with Abu Dis, a village that satisfies this condition. R. A. S. Macalister.

BETH-RAPHA ('house of the giant'?). — An unknown place mentioned in 1 Ch 4'2.

BETH-REHOB.— A town or district near Laish (Jg 1828), whose inhabitants joined the Ammonites against David (2 S 10"). Its site is unknown.

R. A. S. Macalister.

BETHSAIDA.— A place on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, whither Christ went after feeding the five thousand (Mk 6", cf. Lk 9'°), and where He healed a blind man (Mk 822); the home of PhiUp, Andrew, and Peter (Jn 1'* 122'). It was denounced by Christ for unbelief (Mt 112', Lk 10'=). The town was advanced by Philip the tetrarch from a village to the dignity of a city, and named Julias, in honour of Caesar's daughter. The situation is disputed, and, indeed, authorities differ as to whether or not there were two places of the same name, one east, one west of the Jordan. Et~Tell, on the northern shore of the sea, east of the Jordan, is generally identified with Bethsaida Julias: those who consider that the narrative of the crossings of the Lake (Mk 6") requires another site west of the Jordan, seek it usually at 'Ain el-Tabigha near Khan Minyeh. The latest writers, however, seem inclined to regard the hypothetical second Bethsaida as unnecessary (see Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, p. 41), and to regard et- Tell as the scene of all the incidents recorded about the town. R. A. S. Macalister.

BETH-SHEAN, BETH-SHAN.— The site of this ancient stronghold, allotted to Manasseh, although in the territory of Issachar (Jos IT""-, Jg 12'), is marked by the great mound and village of Beisan, in the throat of the Vale of Jezreel, where it opens into the OhOr. Manasseh failed to eject the Oanaanites, but at a later date they were reduced to servitude. Here the Phihstines dishonoured the bodies of Saul and his sons (1 S 31's.). During the Greek period it was known as Scythopolis ; but the ancient name again prevailed in

BEULAH

the form of Beisdn. After changes of fortune in the Maccabiean struggle, and in the time immediately succeeding, it attained considerable prosperity as a member of the Decapolis (1 Mac 12", Jos. Ant. xiv. v. 3, BJ III. iv. 7, etc.). There must always have been a strong admixture of heathen inhabitants (Jos. Vila, 6; Abkoda Zarah i. 4). It is now in the hands of a body of Circassians. W. Ewinq.

BETH-SHEMESH (' house' or ' temple of the sun').— 1. A town in Judah (Jos 15'» etc., called Ir-Shemesh in Jos 19") allotted to the children of Aaron (Jos 21"). Hither the ark was brought when sent back by the Philistines, and the inhabitants were smitten because of their profane curiosity (1 S 6). Here Amaziah was defeated and captured by Jehoash, king of Israel (2 K 14". "). It was one of the cities taken by the Philistines in the time of Ahaz (2 Ch 28'*). It is identified with the modern 'Ain Shems, on the S. slope of Wady es-Surar, 16 miles W. of Jerusalem. 2. A city in Issachar (Jos 1922), unidentified. 3. A city in Naphtali (Jos 19'8), unidentified. 4. A city in Egypt, a seat of heathen idolatry (Jer 43"), identified with the ancient Heliopohs, called 'Ain Stiems by the Arabs (Wallis Budge, T!ie Nile, 2Slf.). W. Ewinq.

BETH-SHITTAH ('place of the acacia,' Jg 722).— In the vicinity of Abel-meholah. It is the present Shutta. a village on a knoll, in the Jezreel valley.

BETHSUBA (1 Mac 429. "■ 6'. 25. si. <». to gsz iqu lies 147, 2 Mac 13"- 22). — The Greek form of Bethzur. In 2 Mac 11' Bethsuron.

BETH-TAPPUAH ('place of apples.' Jos 15").— A town of Judah in the Hebron mountains (seeTappuah in 1 Ch 2"). Now the village Taffuh, west of Hebron.

BETHUEL. — 1. The son of Nahor and Milcah, nephew of Abraham, and father of Laban and Rebekah (Gn 2225 24"- «■ "■ '« 252" 282. 6). in Qn 281^ (P) he"" is called 'Bethuel the Syrian.' 2. 1 Ch 4"; or Bethiil (Jos 19'i). See Bethel, 2.

BETHUL (Jos 19').— See Bethel, No. 2.

BETHULIA.— The locality of the scenes of the Book of Judith (Jth 4«. ' etc.). If not a synonym for Jeru-salem itself, it is an unknown site south of the plain of Jezreel. Mithilyah from the similarity of the name, SanuT from its commanding position, and even Shechem, have all been suggested as possible sites.

E. W. G. Masterman.

BETH-ZACHARIAS (1 Mac 6^- '').—A village on the mountain pass, south of Jerusalem and west of Bethlehem, now the ruin Beit Sakaria. It was the scene of the defeat of Judas MaccabEeus by Lysias.

BETH-ZUB ('house of rock,' Jos 16", 1 S 30'' [in LXX), 1 Ch 2«, 2 Ch 11', Neh 3'«).— The Bethsura of 1 Mac 428 etc. A town of Judah in the Hebron mountains, fortified by Rehoboam, and still important after the Captivity. Judas Maccabaeus here defeated the Greeks under Lysias in b.c. 165. It is the present ruined site, Beit Sur, on a cliff west of the Hebron road, near Halhul.

BETOLION (AV Betolius, 1 Es 52'; in Ezr 2*8 Bethel). — Fifty-two persons of this place returned from captivity with Zerubbabel.

BETOMASTHAUa (Jth 15<, AV Betomasthem) ; BETOMESTHAIM (4', AVBetomestham).— Apparently N. of Bethulia and facing Dothan. There is a site called Deir Massin W. of the Dothan plain, but the antiquity of this name is doubtful.

BETONIM (Jos 1328).— In N. Gilead. The name may survive in that of the Butein district, the extreme N. of Gilead.

BETROTHING.— See Marriage.

BETJLAH ('married' [of a wife)). — An allegorical name applied to Israel by the Deutero-Isaiah (Is 62'- 1^). She was no longer to be a wife deserted by God, as she had been during the Captivity, but married

94