BETANE (BaiTdi/T)), Jth 1».— A place apparently south of Jerusalem, and not Bethany. It may be the same as Bethanoth. C. R. Conder.
BETEN (IB3), Jos 19«>. — A town of Asher, noticed next to Achshaph. The site is doubtful. In the fourth century (Onomasticon, s.v. Batline) it was sho\>'n 8 Roman miles east of Ptolemais (Acco), and then called Bebeten or Bethbeten. The place intended appears to be the present village El B'anch, which woulil be suitanle for the position of Beten. See SWP vol. i. sheet v.
C. R. Co.vnKR.
BETH (3), the second letter of the Heb. alphabet (see Alphabet). Beth is the heading or title of the second part of Ps 119, and each verse of that part begins with this letter (see Psai.ms). In Heb. beth (iT3) is the construct form of hnyith (n-;) ' a house,' and enters into the composition of many place-names. See Bavith, Names.
BETHABARA CBTjBapapi, Heb. rnjy^ n"3 'place of passing over,' Jn l'* AV onlj'). — It was ea.st of the river, and a day's distance at most from Cana of Galilee (2'). The reading in N A B C is Bethany (so RV), as in the time of Origen, who, how- ever, regarded this as incorrect. The traditional site, from the 4tli cent. A.D. (Onomasticon, s.v. ) was at the ford east of Jericho ; but this is clearly much too far south. The name surrives at the ford called 'Abi'irah, north-east of Bethshean, and this is the only jilace where this name occurs in Palestine. The site is as near to Cana as any point on the Jordan, and within a daj-'s journey. See SIVP vol. ii. sheet ix. C. R. CONDEK.
BETH-ANATH (n};:;r-3 'temple of .'V.nath,' so
Nestle, Baethgen, Meyer), Jos 19'*, Jg 1**. — A town of Naplitali, now the village 'Ainatha, in the mountains of Upper Galilee. (i'il'Pvol. i. sheet iv.) See Daberath for the early Egyptian notice.
C. R. Conder.
BETH-ANOTH (n'i:;'-n'3, perhaps 'temple of 'Anath '), Jos 15'". — A town in the mountains of Judah near Gedor. It is the present Beit 'Ainun, S.E. of Halhul. SWP vol. iu. sheet xxi.
C. R. Conder.
BETHANY (B7,9oWa).— 1. A village near Jeru- salem ( Mt 21''), near Bethphage, and at the Mount of Olives (Mk 11', cf. "•'-), where was Simon's house (14'), on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem by Olivet (Lk 19^) ; the home of Lazarus, about fifteen furlongs, or less than two English miles, from the city (Jn 11'- " 12'). The situation agrees with that of the vill.age El 'Azeriyeh, ' The place of Lazarus,' where it has been placed since the 4th cent. A.D. (See Onomasticon, s.v. Bethania.) The name means perhaps 'house of dates.' It is a small stone vUlage, on the south-east slope of Olivet, north of the Jericho road, surrounded with fig- gardens and terrace- walls. The most conspicuous feature is the tall square tower in the centre of the village, which belonged to the convent of St. Lazarus, founded by queen Milicent in A.D. 1147 for Benedictine nuns. There is a vault below, converted into a diminutive rock-cnt chapel by apses cut to the east. This is shown as the tomo of Lazarus. A church was shown at this spot in the 4th century, but the ancient rock-cut tombs are farther to the east beside the road. See Sli'P vol. iii. sheet xvii., and Neubauer, G^og. Tal. S.V., for the Talmudic notices. 2. RV of Jn 1^. See Bashan, Bethabara. C. R. Conder.
BETH-ARABAH (^TX}} -I'S). 'pla/^e of the Arabah" (wh. see), Jos lo'"-'" 18-; Arabah, 18". — A place in the Jericho plain, apparently north of Beth-noglah, in the ' wilderness. In the last cited passage the district only is mentioned. The name has not been recovered. 0. R. CoNDER.
BETH-ARBEL (Skj^k n>3), Hos 10" only.— The site is quite uncertain. It is said to have been spoiled by Shalman (perhaps Shalmaneser III.), and may have been in Syria. Two places called Arbela exist in Palestine, one (now Irbid) west of the Sea of Galilee (Jos. Ant. XII. xi. 1), the other (Irbid) in the extreme north of Gilead, both noticed in the 4th cent. A.D. (Onom. s.v. Arbela). (See Schrader, A'^ 7^440 If. ; G. A. Smith, Tioelve Prophets, 217, n. 5; Wellh., Kl. Proph. 123.)
C. R. Conder.
BETHASMOTH {BaiBaaniie), 1 Es 6". -For Beth- azmaveth.
BETH-AYEN (p,? n'3 'house of iniquity,' or 'idolatry'?). — Close to Ai (Jos 7^), by the wlder- ness (18'-), north-west of Michmash (1 S 13°), and on the way to Aijalon (14'^), still inhabited in the 8th cent. B.C. (Hos 5'). The 'calves of Bethaven' were probably those at Bethel close by (Hos lO'). Bethel is prob. meant alsoin Hos 4'° 5' (see Am 5') 10* (Aven). The name may have been altered from original \ih n'3 ' house of wealth.' See Bethel, p. 278*. C. R. Conder.
BETH-AZMAYETH (Neh 7»).— See Azmaveth.
BE TH-BAAL-MEON (Jos 13"). —See Baal-MeoN.
BETH-BARAH (.tjj n-s), Jg T".— Near Jordan and the valley of Jezreel. Some suppose it to b« the same as Bethabara, in which case the guttural has been lost in copying. The situation would suit. See Bethabara. C. R. Conder.
BETHBASI
BETHEL
277
BETHBASI (Bcuepaal), 1 Mac 9"-".— Jos. {Ant. Xlll. i. 5) reads Beibho^lah. The name has not been recovered. Jonathan and Simon the Has- monaeans here hid in the desert of Jericho. It may represent an ancient 'S3 n-a, or 'place of marshes.'