BET 



l.ank of the Jordan, on the weftern fide of the lake Gentic- 

 Tircth, at the influx of the Jordan into that lake. I.ight- 

 foot places it on the kft bank of the Jordan lu Persea. It 

 was fortified and ornamented by Herod the tetrarch, and 

 called " Julias," in honour of Jnha, the daughter of Au- 

 cuftus, and wife of Tiberius. See Bethsaida. 

 • BETHARAN, or Bfthara-, a town of the Pti-xa be- 

 yond Jordan, calkdalfo, by the Syrians " Betharair.phtha," 

 nnd by Herod " I.ibias,"or" Livias"in honour of Livia.the 

 wife of Auguftus. Jofcphus calls il Julias, and confounds it 

 with the Betharamphtha of the preceding: article: but it lay 

 more to the foivth, nearly, according to Ptolemy, in the fame 

 Lititude with Jerufalem, in the vicinity of tlie Ueao fea, and 

 of the mountains Aharim, Nebo, and Pilgah, and of the 

 citv Hedibon. 



BETH AV EN, tin- houfe of imqmty, a name given to 

 «' Bethel" by way of derilion, after the introduction of 

 idolatry into i't by Jeroboam. (Hofea iv. 15. x. 5 ). BelL- 

 aven was alfo the name of a dillinft town r.ear Bethel, and 

 fouth-eall of it, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin. Jofh. 

 vii. 2. xviii. 12. I Sam. xiii. 5. 



BETH-BASI, a city of Judah, fortified by the two 

 Maccabees, Simon and Jonathan. I Maccab. ix. 62. 64. 



BETH-DAGON, a city of Afher (Jo(h, xix. 27.)— 

 Alfo, a city of Judah (Jofli. xv. 51.) fo called, becaufe it 

 had probably a temple of Dagon, before the Ifrachtes took 

 pofTelFion of it. 



BETHEE, the hnufe of God, a name given to that town, 

 which was before called Luz, on account of Jacob's vifion. 

 (Gen. xxviii. 19.). They feem, however, to be diltingmft- 

 ed in Jolhua xvi. 2. though they were contiguous places; 

 and the name Luz might probably be loft in that of Bethel. 

 ■It was a city of Samaria, on the confines of the tribes cf 

 Benjamin and Ephiaim. Eufebius fays, that it was 12 

 miles from Jerufalem in the way to Sichem. It obtained 

 among the prophets the name ot Bethaven, on account of its 



idolatiy. , r m- l 



Tiie Mahometans believe their temple of Mecca to be 

 founded on the ftone, on which the patriarch Jacob flept 

 at Bethel, and hold it in great veneration. Some have fup- 

 pofed that the fuperftitious refpeft manifefted by the an- 

 cients to their Bityli, or ftones anointed and confecrated to 

 great men, after their death, derived its origin from Jacob's 

 pouring oil on the (lone of Bethel. Sec B.tTYLOS. 



BETHEL, in Geography, a fmall Moravian fcttlement 

 in Amei-ica, on the Swetara river, in Pennfylvania, 14 miles 

 from Mount Joy. — A towndiip in Dauphin county. — Alio, 

 a towndiip in Windfor county, Vermont, containing 473 

 inhabitants, N. N. W. of, and bounded by Stockbridge, 

 and about 67 miles N. N. eafterly of Bennington. Hence 

 rifes a fmaU branch of White-rivcr. — Alfo, a townftiip in 

 Delaware county, Pennfylvania. 



BETHENCOURT, John de, in Biography, a Norman 

 baron, in the beginning of the 15th century, obtained a 

 ^raiit from Henry III. of Callile, of the Canary iflands, 

 erefttd into a kingdom in 1344, by pope Clement VI. 

 Having vifited thcfe iflands in 1402, Betheiicourt returned 

 to them, and by affiilance from Henry, conquered them, held 

 them under the title of king, as a fief of the crown of Caftile, 

 and tranfmitted the pofl'effion of them to his family for fome 

 generations. His pofterity fettled in Spain. Although his 

 conqueil of thefe iflands was not complete, Btlhtncourt is 

 reckoned the firft Cliriftian who fubdued the Canary illes, 

 which before his time had been occafionally vifited by free- 

 booters. Robeilfon's Hift. Amer. vol. i. p. 54. 



Bethj NcovRT, James de, phyfician at Rouen, \shere he 

 pradifed with much reputation, towards the end of the 15th 



BET 



andjthe beginning of the I'Sth centuries, is now only known by 

 his treatife on the venereal difcafe, publidied in the year 1527, 

 under the fingular title of " Nova Penittntialis Q_uadrige- 

 fima, nee non'Purgatoriiim, in Morbum Gallicum, feu Ve- 

 nereum, una cum Dialogo aquas argenti, et lign! guiaci 

 luAantium fuper difti morbi prelatura. Opus fruftife- 

 rum." Paris, 8vo. By his penitence, he means the flrict 

 regimen enjoined thofe who underwent the guiacum, or 

 fweating procefs, for the cure of the lues, and by the pur- 

 gStor}-,^the pains and torments endured while under the 

 lalivation by mercury, f>)r the fame purpofc. Though he 

 treatsof the method of curing by the guiacums, as well as 

 that of mercury, yet he manifeifly gives the preference to 

 the latter mode, which is laid down by him, Aftruc fays, 

 in a more judicious manner, than it had been by any pre- 

 ceding writer. He fays the difeafe was unknown to the 

 ancient-^, and that it made its firlt appearance, or was firll 

 noticed in Europe, about the year 1495. He does notcon- 

 fider it as imported from America, or the Weft Indies, by 

 the Spaniards, but as procured from caufes fimilar to thofc 

 that occafion the plague, and other infcCtinus difeafe?. Af 

 true comrr.ends the work, but it has not obtained a place in 

 Luifi'ius's culletlion of tieatifes ou the complaint. Aftruc 

 de Morb. Gall. Haller. Bib. Med. 



BETHENNABRIS, in ylncunt Geography, a town of 

 Perxa, into which the Jews, who fle'd from Gadsra after 

 it was taken by Vefpafian, retired, and which was forced by 

 the tribune Placidus, before his complete rcduAion of Persa. 

 BETHER, Mountains of, are mentioned in the Song 

 of Sohmion, ch. viil. 14. Some fuppofe Bether to be Be- 

 thoron, called Betherby Eufebius, and Betliara by Jofcphus. 

 Bether was taken by the emperor Adrian, in the rebeUion of 

 Barchochebas. (See JiaRCHocnEBAS. ) Others will have it 

 to be Betharis, between Caelarea and Diofpohs; and others 

 again Bether, mentioned in the LXX ( Jof. xv. 6o.)among the 

 cities of Judah. Calmet fuppofes it to be Upper I'ethoron, 

 or Bttliora, between Dioipolis and Csefarea. Eufebius 

 fpeaks of Betharim near Diofpohs, and when he mentions 

 Bether, which was taken by Adrian, he lays, it was in the 

 neighbourhood of Jerulalem. Ec. Hift.l. iv. c. 6. 



BETHESDA, the name of a pool at Jerufalem, of 

 which we have an account in the Gofpel by St. John, 

 ch. V. I — 7. It was called in the Greek xoXn^^nSfos. v^oliy,- 

 %y.-ri, and in the vulgate " Pifcina probatica," becaufe, as lome 

 have fuppofcd, the (heep of the facrifices, called in Greek 

 ■xn^xlx, were wafhed in it ; or, according to others, becaufe 

 the blood of the facrifices ran into it. But neither of thefe 

 iuppofitions is fatisfactorily proved. The fheep were pro- 

 bably Wafhed as foon as they were bouci'ht in the adjoining 

 market, from which they were driven into this pool, which 

 always contained a fufficient quantity of water for this pur- 

 pofe. Tlie hitter fu])polition could not pollibly liave been 

 realized ; fi.':ce, in that caie, the blood muft tirft have de- 

 feended, and afterwards afcended to this pool, as there was a 

 drain ordjtch between the pool and the temple, and a bridge 

 over it for pafling into the temple. Hence Dr. Pococke, 

 who adopted the idea of the blood's running into the pool, 

 was obliged to feek for lower ground on the other hde of the 

 temple, and to place it in a fituation where it did not txiil, 

 as any one may fatisfy himfelf by adverting to the plan of the 

 temple at Jerufalem. The fituation of the Ihcep-gate, near 

 which this pool, or bath, ftood, was on the fouth-eaft wall of 

 Jerufalem, and therefore a great part of the city lay between 

 that and the temple, as the acurate Dr. Lightfoot has (hewn 

 in his " Harmony of the Evangelifts," p. 666. The appel- 

 lation " Bethefda" has therefore been erroneoully derived 

 from n"! j>>{if n'3> <fem!Js efujor.is, the fiuk-houfe,' or drain. 



The 



