The prophets' dennnciations were soon fulfilled, for Bethel must have been involved in the general overthrow of the N. kingdom by tlie Assyrians in ~22 ; of. Jer 48'^. According to .Jewish tradition, Shalmaneser 'carried off the golden calf which was in Bethel, and departed to set it up.' t
During the Captivity Bethel is mentioned as the residence of a priest who was despatched by the oomiuerors to teach tlie strangers settled there • how they sliouKl fear J"' (li K 17^).
The reforming zeal of Josiah was directed against so much of the sanctuary as had survived the Assyrian devastation. The king carried to Bethel ttie ashes of idolatrous vessels from Jerusalem ; he deliled the altar which was still standing, but allowed the monument of the prophet, who had foretold the overthrow, to remain undisturbed (2 K ■2:1*. lo. 17. I'j).
Among the exiles who returned from Babylon ' llie men of Bethel' are named (Kzr 2'-^ = Neh 7*-) ; and the ancient city was inhabited once more by the children of Benjamin (Neh 11^'). In the fourth year of Darius a deputation was sent from Bethel to Jerusalem to inquire about the con- tinuance of the stated fasts (Zee 7-).
In the wars of the Maccabees Betliel wa-s one of the ))laces fortified by Bacchides (1 Mac 9'°). Filially, it was captured by Vespasian in his campaign against Jerusalem (Jos. Jew. Wars, iv. ix. 9).
2. There was another Bethel in Judah, mentioned in 1 S 30-', Jos 19* ''i^^, and 1 Ch 4^1 ''.nt-t (cf. for the form ''!?'J2). It is mentioned in the Midrash (Ekha ii. ."5) as one of the three places in which Hadrian placed garrisons to arrest deserters. The site is unknown. { G. A. COOKE.
BETH-EMFK (P"?.? r"? 'house of the deep valley'), Jos 19-'. — A town of Zebulun in the border valley, east of Acco, apparently near Cubul. The name has not been recovered.
C. R. CONDKi:.
BETHER Cv? ''!^7 'mountains of cutting'— or 'of divisions,' Ca 2"). — If a proper name, the famous site of Bether near Jerasalem (see added verse of L.\X Jos 15''') might be intended, the hill-ridge to the south being uncultivated land, near wooils in which deer might have been found. Bether is celebrated for the resistance of the Jews to Hadrian under Bar-Cochba in A.D. 135 (see authorities quoted by Hobinson, Bib. Ue.s. vol. iii., and the account in Xeubauer's Gcog. Talm. s.v.). The site was recognised by Canon Williams at liitt'ir, south-west of Jerusalem — a village on a cliff in a strong position, with a ruin near it called ' Uuin of the Jews,' from a tradition of a great Jewish massacre at this place. See 6'IKPvol. iii. sheet -xvii. C. R. Co.VDEl!.
•■BETHESDA CRnOeaSi, TU), Jn 5=.— A pool at .liru>,iK III, by the npoSariKr^ or 'sheep place' (market or gate), having five porches or cloisters. In N and L the name is given as liethzatha (comp. the name of Bezetha for the north quarter of .lerus.alem), in B it is liithsaida. It ajipears to have had steps from the cloisters, and the ^vater was at times ' troubled.' The account of the
• The LXX polnti pN P'S as fiN P'?, and tran.illtcratoii oI«o5 'Qi-, llos 4"' .'>• I0» (») 12*; Atiulln rcnilcM olicot diui^iAoCc. Tnri,'. .m IIos ■1>».V(;Ivc»Sn-"3. Cvrll, in llnn.^Onera, vol. III. p. II.'). I'll. lODS), counccls oI«05 'av ("Tiii-tvof HAiav) with llulli>|>iilli>.
t .Stdtr 'Ohim, ch. xxll.
} Probably llic Chc.ill ('"O:) of .Ion 15" is a textual error for this same HitlipUcf.notcslnllaii Ill's. ynorffffl^-so/Or In //.c/M.
•• Cojijirifiht, T-9'', hft f
angel troubling the waters (v.<) is omitted in n B and D, but occurs in A C, the Vulgate, the Peshitta, etc. It may therefore be thought that the troubling of the waters had a natural cause. The site is not definitely fixed by the description. The Sheep Gate was north of the Temple, but a place where the flocks were gathered for watering may be intended. The most probable derivation of the name seems to be from "^f •;< p',3 lietheslidah, 'house of the stream' (see under I'lSG.vu, and Gesen. Lex. s.v.). The traditions as to Bethe-sda have varied. In the 4th century it was placed (Onomasticon, s.v. Belhe.sda) at the Twin Pools, in the ditch at the north-west angle of Antonia, one of these being the Sheep Pool and the other that with porches, the fifth of which was supposed to divide the two ; but this pool was very probably made in the fosse at a later period (2nd or Gth century A.D.). In tlie 12th century Bethesda was shown farther north, at the Piscina Interior west of St. Anne. It is now .shown at the Blrket Israil, part of the northern fosse immediately east of the 'I'win Pools ; but here, again, the masonry is of later date than that of tlie llerodian walls of the Temple. A more probable site for Bethesda is the Virgin's Pool (Gihon and Kn-rogel), the only natural spring of Jerusalem, at the foot of the Ophel slope south-east of the Temple, as proposed by Robinson. This answers the requirements that it still presents the phenomenon of intermittent 'troubling of the water,' which overflows from a natural syphon under tlie cave, and that it is still the custom of the Jews to bathe in the waters of the cave, when this overflow occurs, for the cure of rheumatism and of other disorders. It is also still the place where the flocks are gathered for watering. A long flight of steps leads to the cave, and the debris is heaped up round these, so that it is imjiossible to say whether any buildings exi.sted round the cavern. A Greek text of late date was found by Tobler built into the masonry near. The name, ' house of the stream,' would be suitable for this site, whence a stream flowed to Siloam. See SWP, Jerusalem vol., s.v. 'Ain Umm ed Deraj ; also Weslcott and Ilort's N.T. App. 1&>.