Beth-e'zel(I!eb. Beyth ha-E'tsel, fesitfl r^S, house of ilr firm root, i. c. fixed dwelling; Sept. translates oIkoq i xpptvoc, avrije, "neighboring house," as in our margin), a town in Judsea, mentioned Mic. i, 11, where there i, an allusion to Die above etymology. Ephraem Svru understands a place near Samaria; but the con- text Beems to locate ii in the Philistine plain, perhaps •it the modern Beit-Affa (Robinson, Researches, ii, 369, miles S.E.of Ashdod (Van de Veldc's Map).
Beth-ga'der i lie!,. Beytk-Gader', "Hr.-r^/tQwse o/the wall} Sept. Qa&yiSwp v. r. B&yi Stop), a place in tbc> tribe of Judah, of which Hareph is named as '■father'' or founder (1 Cbron. ii, 51) ; apparently the same with the GEDER (q. v. ) of. I,,, |,. xii, 1.'!, and prob- ably identical also -with theGEDOR(q. v.) of Josh, xix, 5s. a- il Mem- (from the associated names) to have
been in the mountains. Beth-ga'mul (Heb.
Beyth Gamul', Vi1
house of the weaned, or possibly camel-honsc ; Sept. oucoc Vaij-ioiX v. r. FafiGtka), a city, apparently in the " plain country" of Moab, denounced by the prophet (Jcr. xlviii, 23). Dr. Smith suggests (Biblical Researches, iii, Append, p. 153) that it is the modern Um-Jemal, a ruined site on the road (south according to Burck- hardt, p. 100) from Busrah to Dera (his Edrei) ; which is probably correct, although it is difficult to believe that Moab ever extended so far north. See Bozkaii.
Beth-gaii. Sec Beth-haggax.
Betll-gil'gal (Heb. Beylh hag-Gilgal' ', iaisil IT'S; house of ihe Gilgal ; Sept. omits, but some copies have Ba,Srya\ya\ v. r. Bi]Sayya\yd\), a place from which the inhabitants gathered to Jerusalem for the purpose of celebrating the rebuilding of the walls on the return from Babylon (Nch. xii, 29, where the name is tranf- lated "house of Gilgal);" doubtless the same else- where called simply Gilgal (q. v.), probably that near Bethel (2 Kings ii, 2).
Eetli-hac'cerem (Heb. Beyth hah-Ke'rem, fl^3 C")2ij, house of thi. vineyard; Sept. BifiaKxapip [v. r. Br/Bayyapip, Biyjayyajiapii^C] and Bai^a\aojie'i [v. r. BrfiSaxap, BnSaxappaJ), a place in the tribe of Judah, not far from Jerusalem (Neh. iii, 14), where the chil- dren of Benjamin were to set up a beacon when they blew the trumpet of warning at Tekoa against the in- vading army of Babylonians (Jer. vi, 1). From the no- tice in Nehemiah, it appears that the town, like a few other places, was distinguished by the application to it of the word pelek ("r?Q, Auth. Vcr. "part"), and that it had then a "ruler" (""lb). According to Je- rome (Comment, in loc. Jer.), there was a village call- ed Bethacharma, situated on a mountain between Jeru- salem and Tekoa. The name also occurs in the Tal- mud (Nidda ii, 7; Middoth. iii, 4) as belonging to a valley containing a quarry. Hence Pococke (East, ii, 42) suggests that this was the fortress Herodium (Uiithiiov cr 'Hpwdaov), founded by Herod the Great (Josephus, Ant. xvi, 2, 1; War, i, 13, 8; 21, 10), and where he died (Josephus, Ant. xvii, 8, 3), being 200 stadia from Jericho (Josephus, War, i, £3, 8 ; coir.p. iii, 3, 5), and identical with the modern "Frank Moun- tain," or Jebel Furtidis (Woleott, in the BibUoiheea Sacra, 1843, p. 69, 70) ; but this is denied by Robin- son (Researches, ii, 174), although affirmed by "Wilson (Lands of Bible, i, £96), Bonar ( Mission to Jetcs, p. 247), Stanley (Sinai and Palest, p. 163, 164), and Van de Velde (Narrative, ii, 39). See Herodium.
Beth-haccerem (i. e. Beth-Kerem) appears also to be identical with Carem (q. v.), one of the towns added in the Sept. to the Hebrew text of Josh, xv, 59, as in the mountains of Judah, in the district of Bethlehem.
Beth'-haggan (Heb. Beyth-hag-Gan', 'Jrj r^3, house of the garden ; Sept. BaiByc'iv; Auth. Vers, "the garden-house," 2 Kings ix, 27), one of the spots which marked the flight of Ahaziah from Jehu. It is doubt- less the same place as En-gannim (q. v.) of Issachar (Josh, xix, 21), " spring of gardens," the modern Jen'm, on the direct road from Samaria northward, and over- looking the great plain (Stanley, Palest, p. 319, note).
Beth-lianan. See Eeon-betii-hanan.
Beth-ha'ran (Heb. Beyth Harem', "JIM rh2, a variation of Beth-Haram; Sept. ?'/ Ba&apav), one of the "fenced cities" on the east of Jordan, "built" by the Gadites (Num. xxxii, £6). It is named with Beth- ninirah, ami therefore is no doubt the same place as Beth-aram (q. v.), accurately Beth-harain (Josh. xiii. 27). The name is not found in the lists of the towns of Moal> in Isaiah (xv, xvi), Jeremiah (xlviii), and Ezckiel (xxv, 9).
Beth-hog'la (Josh, xv, 6) or Beth-hog'lah (Heb. Beyth Choghh', n?:n T\^, partridge -house; though Jerome \_Onomast. s. v. Area-atad, where he
BETH-HOROX
119
BETH-HOROX
states that Betagla was three miles from Jericho and I two from the Jordan] gives another interpretation, locus gyri, reading the name fibs;." T^3, and connect- ing it with the funeral races or dances at the mourn- ing for Jacob [see Atad] ; Sept. BtfiayXd v. r. Bai9ay- \aap, BeOtydiw, BcuGaAaya), a place on the border of Judah (Josh, xv, 6) and of Benjamin (xviii, 19), to which latter tribe it was reckoned as belonging (xviii, 21). Eusebius and Jerome speak (Onomast. s. v. BtiSraXaifi, Bethagld) of two villages of this name, but they assign them both to the vicinity of Gaza. Jose- phus (Ant. xiii, 1, 5) reads Bethagla (Br)Sa\aya, doubt- less for B>fiaya\d) instead of the Bethuasi (q. v.) of 1 Mace, ix, 62. Dr. Robinson found a ruined site, doubtless the same, called by the Arabs Kusr-Hajla, twenty minutes S.W. by W. of a fine spring in this region called by the same name (Ain-Hajla), although he saw no ruins at the spring itself (Researches, ii, 268). It was also visited by M. de Saulcy, who states that he picked up large cubes of primitive mosaic at the place, indicating, in his opinion, the existence of a Biblical city in the neighborhood (Narrative, ii, 35) ; comp. Wilson, Lands of Bible, ii, 15; Schwarz, Palest, p. 94.