BET 



BETHOME, or Bethora, was otherwlfe called JuVtasy 

 and wao the birth-place of the prophet Joe!. The inha- 

 bitants of Bcthome rebelled againft Alexander Jann^us. 

 The town was taken, and they were feat captives to Jeru- 

 falem, 



BETHONEA, or Beth-oanea, was fituated 15 miles 

 eaft from Cifarea, and was famous, according to Eulcbius 

 and Jerom, for its beneficial hot baths. 



BETHQRON, a town of Samaria. The Scriptures 

 Tncnlioii two cities of this name, theZ'/'/'''' and Z-ou'it, both 

 belonging to the tribe of Ephraim, (Jofh. xvi. 3, 5.) and 

 given by this tribe to the Levites (Jofli. xxi. 22.). They 

 were both built by Sherali, grand-daughter of Ephraim 

 ( I Chron. vii. 24.) and rcllored by Solomon after they had 

 ■fallen to decay (r Kings ix. i ". 2 Chron. viii. 5). Their 

 dillaiice fiom one another was almott the whole breadth of 

 the tribe of Ephraim; the Upper hcmg in the north, and 

 the Lotvcr in the fouth of that tribe. The former was fitu- 

 ated in the road from Conilantinople to Antioch, and the 

 fame with iJ^/^/ron of Antoiiine's itinerary ; ov Betaro, placed 

 between Caefarca and Diofpolis. The latter was fcated on a 

 mountain, on the public roud to LydJa aadCaefarea, diilant 

 100 ftadia, or about 12 miles from Jerufalem ; and hence it 

 has been allotted by fome to the tribe of Benjamin. Jerom 

 fays, that Paula paiTed through both the Bethorons in her 

 way from Naploufe to Jerufalem. See Bither. 



BETH-PALATH, or Beth-peleth, the houfe of dc- 

 liveranee, or of expul/ion, a city in the moll fouthern part of 

 the tribe of Judah, Jofh. xv. 27. Nehcm. xi. 26. This 

 city was furrendered to the tribe of Simeon. 



BETH-PAZZEZ, the houfe of divficu, a city in the tribe 

 of Iffachar. Jofh. xix. 21. 



BETH-PEOR, or Beth-phagor, the temple of Peer, 

 a city of Moab given to the tribe of Reuben, (Deut. iv. 46.) 

 where the idol Baal-Peor was worfhipped. Numb. xxv. 3. 

 It was fituated on the other fide of Jordan, oppofile to 

 mount Peor, or Phagor. 



BETHPHAGE, a village at the foot of mount Olivtt, 

 between Bethany and Jerufalem, and about 15 furlongs from 

 the latter. Sec Bethany. 



BETHSAIUA, a city of the half tribe of ManafTch, 

 near the defert of the fame name. It was fituated, accord- 

 ing to Pliny, on the eaft, or on the Arabian fhore of the lake 

 of Gennefareth, in Batanea, and the lower Gaulonites, ac- 

 cording to Jofephus, at the beginning of the mountainous 

 country. It was a place of filfiing, according to Bochart, 

 and a place of hunting, fays Dr. Lightfoot, fo called be- 

 caufe it ftood near Naphtali, where were many deer. Gen. 

 xlix. 21. It was raifed by Phihp, the brother of Herod the 

 tetrarch, from the rank of a village to the honour of a city, 

 and called Julias, in honour of the emperor's daughter. It 

 feems to have been different from Betharamphtha, called 

 alfo Bethfaida Julias. See Betharamphtha. Thislatter 

 Ikthfaida, which was on the weftern fhore of the lake of 

 Gennefareth (Mark vi. 45. viii. 22.) was, one of the cities 

 againfl which Chrifl denounced a woe (Matt. xi. 21.) on ac- 

 count of its impenitence and infidelity, after the mighty 

 works which he had performed in it. It was alfo the city 

 where three apoftles dwelt, viz. Phihp, Andrew, and Peter. 

 John i. 45. 



BETH-SHALISHA, or Baal-salisa, a town of Pa- 

 leftine, in the canton of Thamna, 15 miles north of Diofpo- 

 lis, according to Eufebius, and fouth-eall of Antipatris. 



BETHSAN, or Bethsean, a town of Samaria in the 



half tribe of Manafleh, upon the borders of Galilee, on this 



fide Jordan, and about half a league from it. It was the capital 



cf a diftriifl of the fame name, extending to Pcrsa. In 



6 



BET 



2 Maccabees xii. 29. it is placed 600 ftadia, or 75 miles 

 from Jerufalem. Jofephus fays, that it was the largell towij 

 of the DecapoUs, and that it was 120 ftadia, or 15 miles 

 from Tiberias. It was upon the walU of this city tliat the 

 Philillines, after the battle of Gilboa, hung the bodies of 

 S.^ul and Jonathan,, which were removed in the night by the 

 inhabitants of Jabefli-Gilead, and honourably interred, un- 

 der a grove of oaks near the city, (l Sam. xxxi. 10, &c.) In 

 proccls of time it was called Scythopolis, which name it de- 

 rived from the Sc)-\hians, who, in the reign of Jofiah, king 

 of Judah, about 635 years before Chrifi, made an irruption 

 into Paleiline, and left a colony at Bethfan. Steph. Byz. 

 and Pliny call it Nyfa. Bryant (Anal. Myth. vol. 'iii. 

 p. 4i5.)deduces its name Beth fan, from beth, houfe or temple, 

 and fan, or fhan, an ancient denomination of the fun, under 

 which he was worfliipped ; and he fuppofes, that he had a 

 temple in this c'ty, to the walls of which the body of Saul 

 was fallcned. Images of the fuii, under the appellation of 

 Zanes, were pecuhar to Sparta. This city, according to 

 him, was built by the Cuthite Opliitae, or Hivites, fome of 

 whom fettled in that part of Canaan, called Galilee. As 

 Ophitx, they worflfippcd the fun under the figure of a fer- 

 perit, and they were fuppofed to be Helladae, or offspring 

 of the fun. The ferpeu: tliey ilyled fan, or fhan ; but as 

 the Hebrew /Z'<;« ilgnified alio a tooth, the Grecians, inilead 

 of faying that the Sparti had their origin from the ferpent 

 deity, the fun, made them lake their rile from the teeth of 

 a ferpent. 



BETH-SHEMESH, the houfe of the fun, or, offervice, 

 a Levitical city in the tribe of Dan, or of Judah, for it is 

 alTigned to the one and to the other ; diftant, according to 

 Eulebius, 1 o miles from Elcutheropolis, in the way to Ni- 

 copolis, or Emmaus. iSani. vi. 12. Jofh. xiv. 41. i Kings 

 iv. 5. — Alfo, a city of the tribe of Iffachar. Jofh. xix. 22. 

 — Alfo, a city of the tribe of Naphtali. Jofh. xix. 38. 



Ju''g''- 33- 



BETH-SUR, or Beth-zur, thi- houfe of the rod, or, 

 of the land, a city with a flrong fortrcfs, feated on a high 

 rock, in the tribe of Judah (Joih. xv. 38.) diilant, accord- 

 ing to Eufebius, 20 miles from Jerulalcm, on the road to 

 Hebron. It was fortified by Rehoboam, to keep the 

 Danites in awe. (2 Chron. xi. 7.) When it was befiegtd by 

 Lyfias, under Aiitiochus, the fon of Antiochus Epi- 

 phanes, with an army of 6c,ooo foot, and 5000 horfe, Ju- 

 das Maccabseus came with io,oco men to its fuccour, and 

 obliged Lyfias to raife the fiege, and defeated his army. 

 B. C. 165. 1 Maccab. iv. 28. vi. 7. Bryant derives the 

 name of this city from beth, temple, and fur, a name given 

 to the fun, under which appellation lie had temples and 

 worfhip. 



BETH-TAPPUA, the apple or orchard houfe, a city of 

 Judah (Jofh. xv. 53.) faid, by Eufebius, to be the lafl city 

 of Paleflinc in the way to Egypt; 14 mihs from Raphia. 



BETHUL, orBETHUEL, a city of Galilee, belonging 

 to the tribe of Simeon, (Jofli. xix. 4.) probably the fame with 

 Bethel'ia, reprefented by Sozomcn in Iiis hiflory, as belong- 

 ing to the inhabitants of Gaza, well-peopled, and adorned 

 with feveral temples remarkable for their flruCture and an- 

 tiquity ; particularly a pantheon, or temple, dedicated to 

 all the gods, feated on an eminence made of earth, which 

 commanded the whole city. Jerom, fp^aking of Bethelia, 

 fays, that from thence to Pelufium was a fhort journey of 

 five days. Among the bifhops of Paletline, we find one of 

 Btthelia. Reland, l.i 0.35. p. 208. This was probably 

 the fame with Belhulia, celebrated on account of its fiege by 

 Holoferncs, at which he vs-as killed by Judith. Judith, 

 vi. 7. 



BETHUNE, 



