2. (Sept. Vat. Ban)p; the Alex, entirely alters the passage — kcil twopevOri iv oC(>i Kai i(pvytv tig 'Papa; Vulg. in Bera.) A town in the tribe of Judah, to which Jotham fled for fear of Abimelech (Judg. ix, 21). Eu- sebius and Jerome (Onomast. s. v. B>ipa, Beret) place Beer in the great plain eight Roman miles north of Eleutheropolis ; perhaps the well near Deir Dubban. By many this place is identified with Beeroth (q. v.).
Beii'ra (Heb. Beera', J01X3, a Chaldaizing form = the well; Sept. Btnpa), the last son of Zophah, a de- scendant of Asher (1 Chron. vii, 37). B.C. long post 1612.
Beii'rah (Heb. Be'erah' ', "1^X3, i. q. Becra, the well; Sept. Btnpa v. r. BtrjK), the son of Baal, a prince (JO'iUJ) of the tribe of Reuben, carried into captivity by the Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser (1 Chron. v, 6). B.C. cir. 738.
Be'er-e'lim (Heb. Beer'E'im ', E^?X "X3, veil of heroes; Sept. to tppiap rov AiXtiu ; Vulg. puteus Elim), a spot named in Isa. xv, 8, as on the " border of Moab," apparently the south, Eglaim being at the north end of the Dead Sea. The name points to the well dug by the chiefs of Israel on their approach to the promised land, ch.se by the " border of Moab" (Num. xxi, 16; comp. ver. 13), and such is the suggestion of Gesenius (Jesaia. p. 533). See Beer simply. Beer-Elim was probably chosen by the prophet out of other places on the boundary on account of the similarity between the sound of the name and that of fi?b?— the " howling,"
BEERI
T23
BEEROTH-BENE-JAAKAX
which was to reach even to that remote point (Ewald, Proph. p. 233). — Smith, s. v.
Bee'ri (Heb. Beeri' ', "1"1X3, font 'anus, according to Gesen. ; enlightener, according to Fiirst ; Sept. Bt ))p in Gen., Btijpti in Hos.), the name of two men.
1. The father of Judith, one of the wives of Esau (Gen.xxvi, 34). B.C. ante 1963. See Esau. Judith, daughter of Beeri, is the same person that is called in the genealogical table (Gen. xxxvi, 2) Aholibamah, daughter of Anah, and consequently Beeri and Anah must be the same person. See Aholibamah. Yet Beeri is spoken of as a Ilittite, while Anah is called a Horite and also a Hivite. See Anah. It is agreed on all hands that the name Horite ("pH) signifies one who dwells in a hole or cave, a Troglodyte ; and it seems in the highest degree probable that the inhabi- tants of Mount Seir were so designated because they inhabited the numerous caverns of that mountainous region. The name, therefore, does not designate them according to their race, but merely according to their mode of life, to whatever race they might belong. Of their race we know nothing, except, indeed, what the conjunction of these two names in reference to the same individual may teach us ; and from this case we may fairly conclude that these Troglodytes or Horites be- longed in part, at least, to the widely-extended Ca- naanitish tribe of the Hittites. On this supposition the difficulty vanishes, and each of the accounts gives us just the information we might expect. In the nar- rative, where the stress is laid on Esau's wife being of the race of Canaan, her father is called a Ilittite; while in the genealogy, where the stress is on Esau's connection by marriage with the previous occupants of Mount Seir, he is most naturally and properly de- scribed under the more precise terra Horite. — Smith, s. v. See Horite ; Hivite ; Hittite.
2. The father of the prophet Hosea (Hos. i, 1). B.C. ante 725.
Be'er-lahai'-roi (Heb. Beer' Lachay' Pol', *iX2 ^X"1 nr&, signifying, according to the explanation in the text where it first occurs, well of [to] I'fe of vision [or, of the living and seeing God], i. e. survivorship after beholding the theophany ; but, according to the natural derivation, well of the (keel-bone [i-och] rf vision; Sept. in Gen. xvi, 14, (ppiap ov tviinriov fldov , in Gen. xxiv, C2, to (pp'tap ri)g bpaveojQ ; Vulg. puteus viventis ct videntis me), a well, or rather a living spring (A. V. "fountain," comp. ver. 7), between Kadesh and Bered, in the wilderness, "in the way to Shur," and therefore in the " south country" (Gen. xxiv, C2), which seems to have been so named by Hagar because God saw her (nXn) there (Gen. xvi, 14). From the fact of this etymology not being in agreement with the formation of the name (more legitimately, *Tb "'Xl), it has been suggested (Gesenius, Thes. p. 175) that the origin of the name is Lehi (q. v.) (Judg. xv, 9, 19), the scene of Samson's adventure, which was not far from this neighborhood. By this Avell Isaac dwelt both before and after the death of his father (Gen. xxiv, 62; xxv, 11). In both these passages the name is given in the A. V. as " the well Lahai-roi." Mr. Rowland announces the discovery of the well Lahai-roi at Moyle or Moilaki, a station on the road to Beersheba, ten hours south of Ruheibeh, near which is a hole or cavern bearing the name of Be't Hagar (Wil- liams, Holy City, i, 465); but this requires confirma- tion. This well is possibly the same with that by which the life of Ishmael was preserved on a subse- quent occasion (Gen. xxi, 19), but which, according to the Moslems, is the well Zem-zem at Mecca.— Smith. Bee'roth (Heb. Beeroth', iTVhKa, wells; Sept. BqpwT, Bnjoo^a, B//pw3), one of the four cities of the Hivites who deluded Joshua into a treaty of peace with them, the other three being Gibeon, Chephirah, and