BET 



BETH, in Literary Hi/lory, makes the title of a multi- 

 tude of books in tlie Hebrew language ; e. gr. " beth 

 avoth," or, the houfc of the fathers} " beth Elohim," or, 

 the houfe of God j " beth Ifratl," or, the houfc of Ifrael, 

 &c. 



BETHABARA, i.e. the houfe of pnjfage, in /Indent 

 Geography, is fiippofed by many to be the place to which 

 men paflcd over Jordan, over againfl Jericho, at the com- 

 mon ford of this river where the Ifraelites paffcd it under 

 Jofiiua. Ch. iii. 16. Lightfoot refers it to the paflage at 

 Gcythopolis, out of the precindls of Judsa, where the Jews 

 dwelt among the Syro-Gnecians, over againll Galilee. 

 Cellarius places it between thtfe two, obferving that there 

 were many pafiages over Jordan. At this place, beyosid 

 Jordan, John is faid to have baptized. Chap. i. 28. Origen 

 found, as he tells us, in almoli all his MSS. or, if we may 

 judge from what follows, in every one of them, without ex- 

 ception, this verfe thus written, " Thefe things were done 

 in Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing." 

 But he rcjefts this reading for the following reafon : " As I 

 have been in that country, in order to trace the footfteps of 

 Chriil and his apolHes, I am peiTuaded that we ought not 

 to read Bethany in this palfage, but Bethabara. For 

 Bethany, as the evangelift himftlf relates, was the birth- 

 place of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and only 15 ftadia 

 from Jerufalem ; but the Jordan was at leall, to fpeak in 

 round numbers, 190 ftadia from that city. Nor is there any 

 city whatfoever of the name of Bethany near to that river. 

 But there is a city of the name of Bethabara on the banks of 

 the Jordan, where, it is faid, John baptized." To this 

 alteration it has been objefled, that Origen grounds the 

 reading, which he has fubftituted for Bethany, on no other 

 authority than the relation of fiich pcrfons as conduA travel- 

 lers to the places in Palcfline, which arc mentioned in the 

 facred writings. Thefe perfons either had no inclination to 

 conducl Origen to the Bethany, which lay on the other fide 

 of the Jordan, as the journey might have been attended with 

 danger, on account of the tribes of wandering Arabs, who 

 rflfell that country ; or they were wholly ignorant of the 

 place. Not to lofe, therefore, their profits aiifing from ccn- 

 dufting ftrangers, they (hewed Bethabara to Origen, as the 

 place where John baptized, and the learned father was cre- 

 dulous enough to believe them. Befides, if the text itfclf 

 be examined, Origen's objeftions to the coramcn reading 

 will vanilh. He fays, that Bethany lay near to Jerufalem, 

 '^nd therefore at a diftance from the Jordan. But it may be 

 aiked, whether there was not more than one city of that 

 name, and whether we muft neceffarily fuppofe, that the 

 city in queftion was the place vrhere Lazarus refided. It 

 appears, even from the exprefiion ufed by St. John, that, 

 whether we read Bethany, or Bethabara, there was more 

 than one city of the name, which he mentioned. St. John 

 mentions a circumftance by way of diilinguilhing it, and when 

 he fpeaks of Bethany beyond Jordan, we are led to fuppofe, 

 that there were two cities of that name, and that the city 

 which he meant was different from that which was fituate 

 on the mount of Olives. But Origen fays, that there was 

 no town of the name of Bethany on any part of the Jordan. 

 To this it might be replied, that Origen hardly vifited all the 

 towns on the bank of the Jordan, as he probably took the 

 route pointed out by his guides, or that the wars between 

 the Jews and the Romans had fo dtfolatcd, or altered the 

 face of the country, that many towns might have exifted in 

 the time of John the baptift, of which no traces remained in 

 the days of Origen. But this mode of reply is ncedlefs, be- 

 caufe the evangelift ufes a very indeterminate exprefEon, 

 when he fays, that the place, where John baptized, was on 



BET 



the other fide of the Jordan ; an exprefTion which by no 

 means implies that the town lay on the banks of that river : 

 for It might have been fituated either on the Jabbok, or on 

 fome other ftream confiderably to the eailward, where John 

 had a fuflicient fupply of water for the purpofe of baptizing. 

 The alteration, therefore, made by Origen, and which upon 

 hio authority, and that of Chr) foftom and Epiphanius, is 

 introduced into our copies, was wholly without foundation. 

 See Michaclis's Introd. to the N. T. by Marfh, vol. ii. 

 p. 400. 



Bethabara, in Geography, the firft fettlement of the 

 Moravians ni America, in the lands of Wachovia, in North 

 Carolina, begun in 1753, 6 miles N. of Salem, fituate on 

 the wed fide of Graffy creek, which unites with the Gar- 

 gales, and feveral others, and fulls into the Yadkin, and 

 containing a church of the United Brethren, and about 50 

 dwelling houfes. 



BETH-ACHARA, or Beth-haccerim, (Jer. vi. i.) 

 i.e. houfe of the ■vineyard, a city feated on an eminence, be- 

 tween Jerufalem and Tckoa. See Nehem. iii. 14. 



BETHAGLA, or Beth-hagla, a town of the tribe 

 of Benjamin, (Jofli. xviii. 21.) on the northern boundary of 

 the tribe of Judah. In the time of Jerome and Eufcbius 

 there was a village in this fituation of the name of Agla, 

 dillant 10 miles from Ekutheropolis, towards Gaza. 



BETHA-GABRIS, now Bait-Djierim, a village of 

 Syria, about ^ of a league to the fouth of El-Tell ; fituated 

 between Jerufalem and Afcalon. 



BETH-ANATH, houfe of a fong, of an anfwer, or cf 

 qffliaion, a city of Naphtali. Joflt. xix. 38. 



BETHANO, Cape, in Geography, lies on the coaft cf 

 Chinan, or Quinam, off which is Pulo, or Illand Canton, 

 which is about 9 or 10 miles from the coaft. N. lat. 16'. 

 E. long. 108° 30'. 



BETHANY, in Ancient Geography, a village at the foot 

 of the mount of Olives, eaft of Jerufalem, in the way to Je- 

 richo. It took its name from a part of ground fo called 

 from " Athene," which fignifies the dates of palm-trees, 

 which grew there plentifully. The town of Betliany, where 

 I^izarusand his fifters dwelt (John xi. 1.) and where he was 

 raifed from the dead, was 15 furlongs, or about 2 miles dif- 

 tant from Jerufalem, (John xi. 18.); but thediftriit, or tra£t 

 of ground, that bore that name, reached within 8 furlongs 

 from jerufalem, it being only a fabbath-day's journey from 

 it(Johnxxiv. 50. Acts i. 12.); and then commenced the 

 tradl called " flethphage," from the " phagi," i. e. the 

 green figs which grow upon it, extending fo near to Jerufa- 

 lem, that the outermoft ftreet within the walls was called by 

 that name. A cliarge of fclf-contradi£lion has been alledged 

 againft the evangelill Luke, from the pafiage above cited. 

 In the Gofpel he tells us, that Jefus afcended into heaven 

 from Bethany, and in the AAsof the Apoftles, of which he 

 is the reputed author, he informs us, that he afcended from 

 Mount Olivet. This charge is founded on an ignorance of 

 ancient geography, or mull proceed from an imwarrantable 

 prejudice agamft Chriftianity ; bccaufe Bethany, as we have 

 above obferved, was not only the name of a town, but of a 

 diftrifl of Mount Ohvet adjoining to the town. See Beth- 

 Adaka. 



Bethany, or Betbania, in Geography, a Moravian fettle- 

 ment and poft town of America, in the lands of Wachovia, 

 in North Carolina, begun in 1760, 9 milts N. W. of Salem ; 

 containing about 60 houfes and a church. 



BETH-ARABAH, in Ancient Geography, a city of 

 Judah (Jofh. xv. 6.), afterwards given to Benjamin (jolb, 

 xviii. 22.) 



BETHARAMPHTHA, a town of Galilee, on the right 



buak 



