LiTBEATURB.— For description of the site — SWP Ii. 101-114 ; Robinson, Later Bli 32(i-332. For liistory — Schiirer, HJP u. i. IlOil.; Joe. Ant. and Jeufuh Warg.
G. W. Thatcher.
BETH-SHEMESH {tf-i? n-j 'temple of the sun'). — Three places so named occur in the OT in Pal. 1. Jos 15'" 21'«, 1 S «'•'", 1 K 4», 2 K 14", 1 Ch e'", 2 Ch 28'» = Irsheme8h of Jos 19*', a city of Judah given to the Levites, and afterwards in- cluded in Dan. It was here tliat the ark rested by a stone (see Abel), and it was a chief city of Solomon's province of Uan. Amaziah was here captured by Jehoash of Israel, and the Philistines took it in the time of Ahaz. It is the present niin 'Ain Shryns, in the valley of Sorek S.E. of Zorah. {SIVP vol. iii. sheet xvii.) 2. Jos 19*', a city of Nai)htali in Upper Galilee. See Jg I'". The site is unknown. 3. Jos 19''°. A city in Issachar. The site is also doubtful. There is a Tell c.sh-SKemsiyeh in the Jordan V.illey, but it seems to be too far north to be in Issachar, although its proximity to Tabor would perhaps suit {Pal. Survey Mnp, sheet ix.)
It is to be noted that No. 1 is specially noticed (2 K 14") as belonging to Judah, to distinguish it from the other sites. Bethshemite occurs as gentilic derivative from this name in 1 S 6" ".
C. R. CoNDER.
BETH-SHEMESH — 'The pillars of Beth -she- mesh tli.'it is in the land of Egypt' (Jer 43'').— The LXX, being written in Egypt, gives simply Toi>« trri\ovt 'HXiov xJXtwt toi>i ir Qp, ' the pillars of
284
BETH-SHITTAH
BEWAIL
Heliopolis that are at On.' The place U therefore On in Lower Egypt. Like Heliopolis, ' city of the Bun,' Beth-shemesh, ' house of the sun,' is here a translation of Per Ra, ' house of the Bun,' the sacred or temple name of On. The pillars, ori/Xoi, B'lDKij, must be the obelisks characteristic of the worship of Ra, the sun-god. See Avkn and On.
F. Ll. Griffith.
BETH-SHITTAH (ns^'n n-s), 'place of the acacia,' Jg 7^'. — In the vicinity of Abel-meholah. It is the present Shutta, a village on a knoll, in the Jezreel Valley. See SWP vol. ii. sheet ix.
C. R. CONDER.
BETHSDRA (Baifl<roiJpa), 1 Mao 4"-" 6'- *>•"• ♦»■•<' gsi 1014 iiM X4', 2 Mac. 13"- ".—The Greek form of BethzQi. In 2 Mac 11' Bethsoron.
BETH-TAPPOAH (ijisirn'S), 'place of apples,' Jos IS". — In the Hebron mountains, a town of Judah (see Tappuah in 1 Ch 2*»). Now the village TaffHh, west of Hebron. SWP vol. iii. Bheet xii. C. R. Conder.
BETHDEL (Sk^b?). — The son of Nahor and MUcah, nephew of Abraham, and father of Laban and Rebecca (Gn 22» 24"- «•"•*>• 25» 28^-''). In Gn 28' (P) he is called ' Bethuel the Syrian ' ('cnxn). WhUe frequently mentioned, he only appears in person in the narrative of the betrothal of Rebecca to Isaac, and even then his son Laban is the prin- cipal agent in the transaction.* This may have been due to a usage which gave a brother a special interest in the reputation and disposal of his sister (cf. Gn 34'>-^-» 2 S IS*-"). Jos. (Ant. I. zvi. 2) speaks of Bethuel as dead at the time.
R. M. Boyd.
BETHDEL (V^nna), 1 Ch 4«>. Bethul (Sin?), Jos 19*. — A to\vn of Simeon, noticed with Honnah, apparently S. of BeershebiL The site is unknown. See Bethel 2.
BETHUL (Vinj), Jos 19*.— See Bethueu
BETHDLIA (BoxToi-XoDd), Jth 4'-' 6"-"-" 7'-'- i».i8.« i3i»_ — X town near Dothan, on a hill over- looking the plain, with springs in the valley. The site was unknown in later times, and placed at Safed, in Galilee, in the Middle Ages. The village of MithUiek answers in position to these require- ments, being south of Dothan, on a hill at the edge of the plain. See SWP vol. ii. sheet xi.
C. R. CONDEB.
BETH-ZACHARIAS (Ba<9faxapid), 1 Mac 6'^-^.— A village on the mountain pass, south of Jerusalem and west of Bethlehem, now the ruin Beit Skaria. See SWP vol. iii. sheet xviL C. R. Conder.
BETH-ZUR (Tim's), 'house of rock,' Jos 15", 1 S 30" (in LXX), 1 Ch 2", 2 Ch 11', Neh 3". The Bethsnra of 1 Mac 4* etc. A town of Judah in the Hebron mountains, fortified by Rehoboam, and still important after the Captivity. Judas Maccaboeus here defeated the Greeks under Lysias in 165 B.C. The present ruined site, Beit Stir, on a cliif west of the Hebron road, near Halhul, is remarkable for a ruined tower, prob- ably built in the 12th cent, a.d., and for more ancient rock-cut tombs. See SWP vol. iii. sheet xxL C. R. Conder.
BETIMES la 'In good time,' as Pr 13" 'he that loveth hira [his son] chasteneth him b.' (i.e. in early life) ; the Heb. is ijid 'nQ?',t lit. ' visits him [dili- gently] with chastisement,' the idea expressed by • betimes ' being contained in the verb, which how-
* Id On W> th« worda ' and B«thuel ' were probably tnierted Vy B. 8«e Ball'l note in Haupt'a Het>. OT. t Od this double accue. see Davidson, Syntax, % 77.
ever means ' to seek diligently ' as RVm, rathei than ' to seek early ' ; so J ob 8' 24». In Gn 26" ' they rose up b. in the morning,' the idea expressed hy ' b.' is again in the verb (D'jfn), and b. or ' early ' la the correct idea ; bo 2 Ch 36" ' rising up b.' (RV ' early '). Besides the above, ' b.' occurs Sir 6 (heading) ' Seek wisdom b.' (in ref. to v." ' gather instruction from thy youth up '), 6"* 51*", 1 Mac 4"5*> IV". Betime is found only in Bel v." 'In the morning b. the king arose (xal (opSpujev o paaiKeit ri rpait). J. HASTINGS.