bech (aigialos): The part of the shore washed by the tide on which the waves dash (Mt 13:2,48; Jn 21:4; Acts 21:5; 27:39,40).
be'-k'-n. The translation of the Hebrew toren, which usually means "mast" (compare Isa 33:23; Ezek 27:5), but in Isa 30:17 being used in parallelism with "ensign" the meaning may be "signal-staff" (Isa 30:17 the American Revised Version, margin "pole").
be-a-li'-a (be`alyah, "Yahweh is Lord," compare HPN , 144, 287): Bealiah, formerly a friend of Saul, joined David at Ziklag (1 Ch 12:5).
be'-a-loth (be`aloth; Baloth): An unidentified city of Judah in the Negeb (Josh 15:24).
bem: The word is used to translate various Old Testament terms:
(1) gebh (1 Ki 6:9), tsela`, "a rib" (1 Ki 7:3), qurah (2 Ch 3:7; 34:11; Song 1:17), all refer to constructional beams used in buildings for roofing and upper floors, main beams being carried on pillars generally of wood. The last term is used in 2 Ki 6:2,5 ("as one was felling a beam") of trees which were being cut into logs. A related form is qarah (used of the Creator, Ps 104:3; of building, Neh 2:8; 3:3,6). Yet another term, kaphim, is used in Hab 2:11: "The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it"--a protest against sin made by inanimate things. The Douay version, in translating, "the timber that is between the joints of the building," suggests the use of bond timbers in buildings, similar to that used at one time in English brickwork. It probably refers to its use in mud brick buildings, although bond timbers might also be used in badly built stone walls. The Arabs of the present day use steel joints to strengthen angles of buildings.
(2) Beam, in weaving, represents two words, 'eregh (Jdg 16:14, the beam of a loom to which Samson's hair was fastened; used in Job 7:6 of a weaver's shuttle), and manor (1 Sam 17:7; 2 Sam 21:19; 1 Ch 11:23; 20:5), of a spear-staff.
(3) In the New Testament Jesus uses the word dokos, "a rafter," in bidding the censorious person first cast the "beam" out of his own eye before attempting to remove the "mote" from another's eye (Mt 7:3; Lk 6:41,42).
See ARCHITECTURE ;HOUSE .
Arch. C. Dickie
be'-an.
See BAEAN .
benz (pol; Arabic ful): A very common product of Palestine; a valuable and very ancient article of diet. The Bible references are probably to the Faba vulgaris (N.D. Leguminosae) or horsebean. This is sown in the autumn; is in full flower--filling the air with sweet perfume--in the early spring; and is harvested just after the barley and wheat. The bundles of black bean stalks, plucked up by the roots and piled up beside the newly winnowed barley, form a characteristic feature on many village threshing-floors. Beans are threshed and winnowed like the cereals. Beans are eaten entire, with the pod, in the unripe state, but to a greater extent the hard beans are cooked with oil and meat.
In Ezek 4:9, beans are mentioned with other articles as an unusual source of bread and in 2 Sam 17:28 David receives from certain staunch friends of his at Mahanaim a present, which included "beans, and lentils, and parched pulse."
E. W. G. Masterman
bar (dobh; compare Arabic dubb): In 1 Sam 17:34-37, David tells Saul how as a shepherd boy he had overcome a lion and a bear. In 2 Ki 2:24 it is related that two she bears came out of the wood and tore forty-two of the children who had been mocking Elisha. All the other references to bears are figurative; compare 2 Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12; 28:15; Isa 11:7; 59:11; Lam 3:10; Dan 7:5; Hos 13:8; Am 5:19; Rev 13:2. The Syrian bear, sometimes named as a distinct species, Ursus Syriacus, is better to be regarded as merely a local variety of the European and Asiatic brown bear, Ursus arctos. It still exists in small numbers in Lebanon and is fairly common in Anti-Lebanon and Hermon. It does not seem to occur now in Palestine proper, but may well have done so in Bible times. It inhabits caves in the high and rugged mountains and issues mainly at night to feed on roots and vegetables. It is fond of the chummuc or chick-pea which is sometimes planted in the upland meadows, and the fields have to be well guarded. The figurative re ferences to the bear take account of its ferocious nature, especially in the case of the she bear robbed of her whelps (2 Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12; Hos 13:8). It is with this character of the bear in mind that Isaiah says (11:7), "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together."
Alfred Y. Day
bar. A great northern constellation.
See ASTRONOMY , sec. II, 13.
bar, born (vb.), (yaladh): Occurs frequently in its literal sense, alluding to motherhood (Gen 16:11; 17:17,19,21; 18:13; 22:23; 30:3; Lev 12:5; Jdg 13:3; 5:7; Ruth 1:12; 1 Ki 3:21; Jer 29:6); in the New Testament gennao, in the same sense (Lk 1:13).
Figurative: It is often used with reference to the beginning of the spiritual life or regeneration (Jn 1:13; 3:3-8; 1 Jn 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18 the King James Version).
See REGENERATION .
bar, born (nasa'; lambano, anaphero, bastazo): In English Versions of the Bible the physical sense is familiar, of supporting or carrying any weight or burden. The translation of the Revised Version (British and American) is to be preferred in Ps 75:3 ("have set up"); Lam 3:28 ("hath laid it upon him"); Zeph 1:11 ("were laden with silver"); Lk 18:7 ("he is longsuffering over them"); Jn 12:6 ("took away what was put therein"); Acts 27:15 ("could not face the wind").
Figurative: The words are used in the figurative sense of enduring or taking the consequences of, be it for oneself or as representative for others: one's own iniquity (Lev 5:17 and often); chastisement (Job 34:31); reproach (Ps 69:7; 89:50); or the sins of others (Isa 53:4,11,12; Mt 8:17; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 2:24). In Isa 46:1-7 a striking contrast is presented between the idols of Babylon whom their worshippers had carried (borne) about and which would be borne away by the conquerors, and Yahweh who had ca rried (borne) Israel from the beginning. "Jacob and Israel .... borne by me from their birth .... and I will bear; yea, I will carry." "They bear it upon the shoulder," etc.
M. O. Evans
berd:
(1) Western Semites in general, according to the monuments, wore full round beards, to which they evidently devoted great care. The nomads of the desert, in distinction from the settled Semites, wore a clipped and pointed beard (see Jer 9:26: "all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness"; and compare 25:23; 49:32, etc.).
(2) Long beards are found on Assyrian and Babylonian monuments and sculptures as a mark of the highest aristocracy (compare Egyptian monuments, especially representations by W. Max Muller, Asien und Europa, 140). It is not clear that it was ever so with the Jews. Yet it is significant that the Hebrew "elder" (zaqen) seems to have received his name from his long beard (compare bene barbatus).
(3) The view of some that it was customary among the Hebrews to shave the upper lip is considered by the best authorities as without foundation. The mustache (Hebrew sapham, "beard"), according to 2 Sam 19:24, received regular "trimming" (thus English Versions of the Bible after the Vulgate, but the Hebrew is generic, not specific: "He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard").
(4) In one case (1 Sam 21:13,14) the neglect of the beard is set down as a sign of madness: "(He) let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish, .... Lo, ye see the man is mad."
(5) It was common. Semitic custom to cut both hair and beard as a token of grief or distress. Isa 15:2, describing the heathen who have "gone up to the high places to weep," says "Moab waileth over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off." Jeremiah (41:5), describing the grief of the men of Samaria for their slain governor, Gedaliah, says, "There came men from .... Samaria (his sorrowing subjects) even four score men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent," etc. And Amos, in his prophecy of the vision of the "basket of summer fruit" (8:1 ff), makes Yahweh say to His people: "I will turn your feasts into mourning; .... I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head" (8:10). On the other hand it was even more significant of great distress or fear to leave the beard untrimmed, as did Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, when he went to meet King David, in the crisis of his guilty failure to go up with the king according to his expectation: "He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace." (Compare 1 Sam 21:13,14; 2 Sam 19:24.)
(6) Absalom's hair was cut only once a year, it would seem (2 Sam 14:26; compare rules for priests, Levites, etc., Ezek 44:20). But men then generally wore their hair longer than is customary or seemly with us (of Song 5:2,11, "His locks are bushy, and black as a raven"). Later, in New Testament times, it was a disgrace for a man to wear long hair (1 Cor 11:6-15). To mutilate the beard of another was considered a great indignity (see 2 Sam 10:4; compare Isa 50:6, "plucked off the hair"). The shaving of the head of a captive slave-girl who was to be married to her captor marked her change of condition and prospects (Dt 21:12; W. R. Smith, Kinship, 209).
LITERATURE.
Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, II, 324, 349; Herod. i.195; ii.36; iii.12; Josephus, Antiquities, VIII, viii, 3; XVI, viii, 1; W. R. Smith, Kinship, 209; RS, 324; Wellhausen, Skizzen, III, 167,
George B. Eager
best: This word occurs often in both Old and New Testaments and denotes generally a mammal (though sometimes a reptile) in distinction to a man, a bird, or a fish. In this distinction the English is fairly in accord with the Hebrew and Greek originals. The commonest Hebrew words behemah and chai have their counterpart in the Arabic as do three others less often used, be`ir (Gen 45:17; Ex 22:5; Nu 20:8 the King James Version), nephesh (Lev 24:18), and Tebhach (Prov 9:2). Behemah and A rabic bahimah are from a root signifying vagueness or dumbness and so denote primarily a dumb beast. Chai and Arabic chaiwan are from the root chayah (Arabic chaya), "to live," and denote primarily living creatures. Be`ir, "cattle," and its root-verb, ba`ar, "to graze," are identical with the Arabic ba`ir and ba`ara, but with a curious difference in meaning. Ba`ir is a common word for camel among the Bedouin and the root-verb, ba`ara, means "to drop dung," ba`rah being a common word for the dung of camels, goats, and sheep. Nephesh corresponds in every way with the Arabic nephs, "breath," "soul" or "self" Tebhach from Tabhach, "to slaughter," is equivalent to the Arabic dhibch from dhabacha, with the same meaning. Both therion ("wild beast"), and zoon ("living thing"), occur often in the Apocalypse. They are found also in a few other places, as mammals (Heb 13:11) or figuratively (Tit 1:12). Therion is used also of the viper which fastened on Paul's hand, and this has parallels in classic al Greek. Beasts of burden and beasts used for food were and are an important form of property, hence, ktenos ("possession"), the word used for the good Samaritan's beast (Lk 10:34) and for the beasts with which Lysias provided Paul for his journey to Caesarea (Acts 23:24).
For "swift beast," kirkaroth, "dromedary" (Isa 66:20 the King James Version), see CAMEL . For "swift beast," rekhesh, see HORSE (Mic 1:13 the King James Version; 1 Ki 4:28 the King James Version, margin; compare Est 8:10,14).
See also WILD BEAST .
Alfred Ely Day
best'-fit.
See GAMES .
bet'-ing.
See PUNISHMENTS .
be-at'-i-tudes:
The word "beatitude" is not found in the English Bible, but the Latin beatitudo, from which it is derived, occurs in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) version of Rom 4:6 where, with reference to Ps 32:1,2, David is said to pronounce the "beatitude" of the man whose transgressions are forgiven. In the Latin church beatitudo was used not only as an abstract term denoting blessedness, but in the secondary, concrete sense of a particular declaration of blessedness and especially of such a declaration coming from the lips of Jesus Christ. Beatitudes in this derivative meaning of the word occur frequently in the Old Testament, particularly in the Psalms (32:1,2; 41:1; 65:4, etc.), and Jesus on various occasions threw His utterances into this form (Mt 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; 24:46, with the Lukan parallels; Jn 13:17; 20:29). But apart from individual sayings of this type the name Beatitudes, ever since the days of Ambrose, has been attached specifically to those words of blessing with which, according to both Matthew and Luke, Jesus began that great discourse which is known as the Sermon on the Mount.
When we compare these Beatitudes as we find them in Mt 5:3-12 and Lk 6:20-23 (24-26), we are immediately struck by the resemblances and differences between them. To the ordinary reader, most familiar with Matthew's version, it is the differences that first present themselves; and he will be apt to account for the discrepancy of the two reports, as Augustine did, by assigning them to two distinct occasions in the Lord's ministry. A careful comparative study of the two narratives, however, with some attention to the introductory circumstances in each case, to the whole progress of the discourses themselves, and to the parabolic sayings with which they conclude, makes this view improbable, and points rather to the conclusion that what we have to do with is two varying versions given by the Evangelists of the material drawn from an underlying source consisting of Logia of Jesus. The differences, it must be admitted, are very marked. (a) Matthew has 8 Beatitudes; Luke has 4, with 4 following Woes. (b) In Matthew the sayings, except the last, are in the 3rd person; in Luke they are in the 2nd. (c) In Matthew the blessings, except the last, are attached to spiritual qualities; in Luke to external conditions of poverty and suffering. Assuming that both Evangelists derived their reports from some common Logian source, the question arises as to which of them has adhered more closely to the original. The question is difficult, and still gives rise to quite contrary opinions. One set of scholars decides in favor of Matt hew, and accounts for Luke's deviation from the Matthean version by ascribing to him, on very insufficient grounds, an ascetic bias by which he was led to impart a materialistic tone to the utterances of Jesus. Another set inclines to theory that Luke's version is the more literal of the two, while Matthew's partakes of the nature of a paraphrase. In support of this second view it may be pointed out that Luke is usually more careful than Matthew to place the sayings of Jesus in their original setting and to preserve them in their primitive form, and further that owing to the natural tendency of the sacred writers to expand and interpret rather than to abbreviate an inspired utterance, the shorter form of a saying is more likely to be the original one. It may be noted, further, that in Mt 5:11,12 the Beatitude takes the direct form, which suggests that this may have been the form Matthew found in his source in the case of the others also. On the whole, then, probabilities appear to favor the view that Luke's version is the more literal one. It does not follow, however, that the difference between the two reports amounts to any real inconsistency. In Luke emphasis is laid on the fact that Jesus is addressing His disciples (6:20), so that it was not the poor as such whom He blessed, but His own disciples although they were poor. It was not poverty, hunger, sorrow or suffering in themselves to which He promised great rewards, but those experiences as coming to spiritual men and thus transformed into springs of spiritual blessing. And so when Matthew, setting down the Lord's words with a view to their universal application rather than with reference to the particular circumstances in which they were uttered, changes "the poor" into "the poor in spirit," and those that "hunger" into those that "hunger and thirst after righteousness," he is giving the real purport of the words of Jesus and recording them in the form in which by all men and through all coming time they may be read without any chance of misunderstanding.
As regards the Beatitudes of the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, which are given by Matthew only, they may have been spoken by Jesus at the same time as the rest and have been intended by Him in their association with the other four to fill out a conception of the ideal character of the members of the Kingdom of God. In view, however, of their omission from Luke's list, it is impossible to affirm this with certainty. That they are all authentic utterances of Jesus Himself there is no reason to doubt. But they may have been originally scattered through the discourse itself, each in its own proper place. Thus the Beatitude of the meek would go fitly with Lk 6:38 ff, that of the merciful with 6:43 ff, that of the pure in heart with 6:27 ff, that of the peacemakers with 6:23 ff. Or they may even have been uttered on other occasions than that of the Sermon on the Mount and have been gathered together by Matthew and placed at the head of the Sermon as forming along with the other four a suitable introduction to our Lord's great discourse on the laws and principles of the Kingdom of God.
3. Number, Arrangement, Structure:
With regard to the number of the Beatitudes in Matthew's fuller version, some have counted 7 only, making the list end with Mt 5:9. But though the blessing pronounced on the persecuted in 5:10-12 differs from the preceding Beatitudes, both in departing from the aphoristic form and in attaching the blessing to an outward condition and not to a disposition of the heart, the parallel in Lk (6:22 f) justifies the view that this also is to be added to the list, thus making 8 Beatitudes in all. On the arrangement of the group much has been written, most of it fanciful and unconvincing. The first four have been described as negative and passive, the second four as positive and active. The first four, again, have been represented as pertaining to the desire for salvation, the second four as relating to its actual possession. Some writers have endeavored to trace in the group as a whole the steadily ascending stages in the development of the Christian character. The truth in this last suggestion lies in the reminder it brings that the Beatitudes are not to be thought of as setting forth separate types of Christian character, but as enumerating qualities and experiences that are combined in the ideal character as conceived by Christ--and as exemplified, it may be added, in His own life and person.
In respect of their structure, the Beatitudes are all alike in associating the blessing with a promise--a promise which is sometimes represented as having an immediate realization (Mt 5:3,10), but in most cases has a future or even (compare Mt 5:12) an eschatological outlook. The declaration of blessedness, therefore, is based not only on the possession of the quality or experience described, but on the present or future rewards in which it issues. The poor in spirit are called blessed not merely because they are poor in spirit, but because the kingdom of heaven is theirs; the mourners because they shall be comforted; those that hunger and thirst after righteousness because they shall be filled; those who are persecuted because a great reward is laid up for them in heaven. The Beatitudes have often been criticized as holding up an ideal of which limitation, privation and self-renunciation are the essence, and which lacks those positive elements that are indispensable to any complete conception of blessedness. But when it is recognized that the blessing in every case rests on the associated promise, the criticism falls to the ground. Christ does demand of His followers a renunciation of many things that seem desirable to the natural heart, and a readiness to endure many other things from which men naturally shrink. But just as in His own case the great self-emptying was followed by the glorious exaltation (Phil 2:6 ff), so in the case of His disciples spiritual poverty and the bearing of the cross carry with them the inheritance of the earth and a great reward in heaven.
LITERATURE.
Votaw in HDB, V, 14 ff; Adeney in Expositor, 5th series, II, 365 ff; Stanton, The Gospels as Historical Documents, II, 106 ff, 327 f; Gore, Sermon on the Mount, 15 ff; Dykes, Manifesto of the King, 25-200.
J. C. Lambert
bu'-ti-fool, gat.
See TEMPLE .
bu'-ti: The space allotted to this topic allows liberty only for the statement of two problems to students of the Bible. They should give distinct attention to the interblending of aesthetics with ethics in the Scripture. They should observe the extent and meaning of aesthetics in Nature.
That the Bible is an ethical book is evident. Righteousness in all the relations of man as a moral being is the key to its inspiration, the guiding light to correct understanding of its utterance. But it is everywhere inspired and writ in an atmosphere of aesthetics. Study will bring out this fact from Genesis to Revelation. The first pair make their appearance in a garden where grew "every tree that is pleasant to the sight" (Gen 2:9), and the last vision for the race is an abode in a city whose gates are of pearl and streets of gold (Rev 21:21). Such is the imagery that from beginning to end is pictured as the home of ethics--at first in its untried innocence and at last in its stalwart righteousness. The problem will be to observe the intermingling of these two elements--the beautiful and the good--in the whole Scripture range. A few texts will set before us this kinship and then the Bible student can detect it as he reads.
"One thing have I asked of Yahweh, that will I seek after:
That I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of Yahweh,
And to inquire in his temple" (Ps 27:4).
"For all the gods of the peoples are idols;
But Yahweh made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him:
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary" (Ps 96:5,6).
If we catch the spirit set forth in such and similar Psalms, we can use it as a magnetic needle to detect its like wherever we shall read: and we shall find that like in abundance. It is only necessary to turn to the directions given for making the Ark of the Covenant and its encircling tabernacle, and the decorations of the priests that were to minister in the worship of Yahweh in the ceremonies described, as given in Ex 25 ff, to see that every resource of Israel was brought to bear to render ark and tabernacle and their service beautiful. One will find in a concordance half a column of references under the word "Ark" and a column and a half under the word "Tabernacle." By looking up these references one can realize how much care was spent to give and preserve to these aids to worship the attractiveness of beauty.
In 1 Ch 15 and 16 we have an account of David's bringing in the Ark of the Covenant into his own city to rest in a tent he had provided for it. On this occasion a demonstration was made with all the aesthetics of which the music of that day was capable. "And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy." And David himself gave to the celebration the aesthetics of one of the noblest of his psalms (1 Ch 16:8-36).
It is almost idle to refer to Solomon and his temple (1 Ki 6 ff; 2 Ch 3 ff). It is a common understanding that the civilization of Solomon's day was drawn upon to its utmost in every department of aesthetics, in the building of that house for Yahweh and in the appointments for the worship there to be conducted. Beauty of form and color and harmony of sound were then and there integrated--made one--with worship in holiness. The propriety of that association has been seen and felt through the ages.
There is beauty in speech. It is a fact that the supreme classics in the literature of the tongues of two of the dominant nations of the earth, the English and the German, are translations of the Bible. There is no explanation of such fact except that the original justified the translations. You can read indifferently from one translation to the other and catch the same aesthetic gleam. Nobility and poetry of thought lay in what was to be translated. Here is proof that cannot be gainsaid that the Scripture authors sought the aid of aesthetics as garb for the ethics they taught. So they wrote in poetry. So they used allegory, illustration, figure, metaphor that would charm and hold. The parables of Jesus are examples of this method of clothing thought. They do their ethical work because they have swept into it figure and imagery from familiar aesthetic perceptions. "The sower went forth to sow" (Mt 13:3). That is a glad sight--always has been and always will be. That is why a picture of "The Sower" hangs on the walls of a Christian home. Just the painting--and every beholder remembers the parable and cannot forget its ethics. The intensity of thought concentrated upon ethics in the New Testament has drawn away attention from the partnership between these two principles in religion. But it is there, and we shall see it when once we look for it.
It is something to which we do not wake up till late in life--to wit, the measurelessness of the provision in Nature for beauty. Common consent awards beauty to the rainbow.
Reflect that every drop of water in the ocean, or in the hydrated rocks, or in the vapor floating over Saturn, has in it the possibility of rainbow coloring. In fact all matter has color of which the rainbow is only specimen. Any element incandescent has a spectrum partially coincident with that of water and ranging above and below it in the infinite capacity it has to start ether undulations. As apparently the larger part of the matter of the universe is incandescent, we can see that the field for expression in color is infinite. No one but the infinite God can see it all.
If we come down to this plain, plodding earth, cultivation of aesthetic sense will bring out beauty everywhere, from the grandeur of mountain scenery to aesthetic curves and colors revealed only by the microscope. We say the butterfly is beautiful. But the larva from which it is derived often carries as much beauty in mottling of color and of the fineness of finish of spine and mandible. Looking across the scale in this way the evidence of theism from beauty itself becomes convincing. Beauty becomes a messenger of and from God--as Iris was to the Greek and the rainbow to the Hebrew (Eccl 3:11).
This from Amiel's Journal Intime, I, 233, sets forth the radical, inexpugnable position of beauty in Nature and in philosophy thereof correctly interpretative: "To the materialist philosopher the beautiful is a mere accident, and therefore rare. To the spiritualist philosopher the beautiful is the rule, the law, the universal foundation of things, to which every form returns as soon as the force of accident is withdrawn."
As we accustom ourselves to make larger and larger synthesis in the department of aesthetics, what diapason of theistic message may we not hear? Beauty wherever and however expressed is a medium of revelation. It is a bush ever burning, never consumed. Before it "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." That beauty should be--to that intent, for that end, from everlasting hath wrought the Ancient of Days.
C. Caverno
bu'-ti, bandz (no`am, and chobhelim): The names given in Zec 11:7,14 to two symbolical staves, the first signifying Yahweh's covenant of grace with the peoples, and the second representing the brotherhood of Judah and Israel. The breaking of the two staves is symbolic of the breaking of Yahweh's covenant and of the union between Judah and Israel.
be'-ba-i, beb'-a-i (bebhay; Septuagint Bebai, "fatherly"):
(1) Descendants of B: returned with Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezr 8:11 called Babi; 1 Esdras 8:37); one of these is Zechariah, the son of Bebai (Ezr 8:11, Zaeharias; 1 Esdras 8:37). 623 returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezr 2:11; 1 Esdras 5:13; Neh 7:16 gives the number 628); some of these had married "strange wives" (Ezr 10:28; 1 Esdras 9:29).
(2) A chief of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Neh 10:15).
(3) An unknown town (Judith 15:4). Omitted in Codex Vaticanus and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.)
be-kos' (hina, "in order that"): "The multitude rebuked them, because (AV; the Revised Version (British and American) "that") they should hold their peace" (Mt 20:31).
be'-ker (bekher, "the firstborn"; compare HPN , 88):
(1) Son of Benjamin (Gen 46:21; 1 Ch 7:6,8).
(2) Son of Ephraim whose family is called Becherites (the King James Version "Bachrites"), Nu 26:35 (1 Ch 7:20 called Bered). Compare BERED .
be-kor'-ath.
See BECORATH .
bek, bek'-'-n (neuma): This word from neuo, "to nod," "beckon," "make a sign" by moving the head or eyes (Lk 5:7; Jn 13:24; Acts 21:40; 24:10), occurs only in 2 Macc 8:18, "Almighty God who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world," the Revised Version (British and American), "able at a beck." So Shak, "troops of soldiers at their beck"; "nod" is now generally used.
be-kum':
(1) Greek ginomai, used in New Testament for a change of state, corresponding to Hebrew hayah of Old Testament. Compare Mt 18:3 with Dt 27:9.
(2) For what is fitting, suitable, proper, in New Testament: "prepei" (Mt 3:15; Eph 5:3; 1 Tim 2:10); in Old Testament, na'awah, na'ah, Ps 93:5: "Holiness becometh thy house." in this sense, the adverb "becomingly" must be interpreted: "Walk becomingly toward them that are without" (1 Thess 4:12), i.e. in a way that is consistent with your profession.
be-ko'-rath (bekhorath, "the first birth"; the King James Version Bechorath): A forefather of Saul of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Sam 9:1).
bek'-ti-leth (to pedion Baikteilaith): A plain which is defined as "near the mountain which is at the left hand of the upper Cilicia" (Judith 2:21). The name in Syriac is Beth QeTilath, "house of slaughter." So far there is no clue to its identification.
For the very poor of the East, in ancient times as now, the "bed" was and is, as a rule, the bare ground; and the bedclothes, the gown, simlah, or "outer garment," worn during the day ("For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep?" (Ex 22:27); compare Dt 24:13, "Thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment").
When one was on a journey, or watching his flock by night as a shepherd, such a "bed" was the most natural, and often a stone would serve as a pillow. (See Gen 28:11, where Jacob "took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.")
An advance on this custom, which came in due course of time, or under change of circumstances, was the use of a mat on the floor as a bed, with or without covering. At first it was literally laid on the floor, which was generally of one common level, in some convenient place near the wall; but later it was put on an elevation, either a raised part of the floor on one side, or a bedstead, which gave rise to the expression "going up to the bed" (compare Gen 49:33 English Versions of the Bible, "He gathered up his feet into the bed," and Ps 132:3, "go up into my bed").
1. Old Testament Terms for Bed, and Sleeping Customs of the Hebrews:
With a later development and civilization, "beds" came to be built upon supports and constructed in different forms, which fact is reflected in the variety of names given the "bed" in the Hebrew and related languages.
(1) The following Hebrew words are used in the Bible for "bed," and, though it is impossible at this remove of time and place and custom to differentiate them sharply, they will repay study: miTTah (Gen 48:2, "And Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed"; Ex 8:3, "frogs .... shall come into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed"); mishkabh, compare (Gen 49:4, Jacob to Reuben: "Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it"); `eres (Prov 7:16, the "strange woman" says: " I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry"; compare Ps 41:3, "Thou makest all his bed in his sickness"); matstsa` (once only, Isa 28:20, "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it"); and yetsua` (Job 17:13, "I have spread my couch in the darkness"; 1 Ch 5:1, "He defiled his father's couch"; compare Gen 49:4 where the same "father's bed" is mishkabh; Ps 63:6, "when I remember thee upon my bed"; Ps 132:3, "nor go up into my bed").
(2) It is a far cry from the simple sleeping customs of Dt 24:13 to the luxurious arts and customs of the post-exilic days, when beds of fine wood and ivory are found in use among the Hebrews, as well as pillows of the most costly materials elaborately embroidered (see Judith 10:21; Est 1:6; compare Song 3:10); but it all came about as a natural, as well as artificial development, with changed conditions and contacts and increasing civilization and luxury. As marking the several stages of that development, we find pictures of the poor, first sleeping upon the ground without mat or mattress, then in a single sleeping-room for the whole family, often without a separate bed, then with "beds" that were simply wadded quilts, or thin mattresses, and mats for keeping them off the ground; then with still better "beds" laid upon light portable, wooden frames, or upon more elevated bedsteads (compare Ps 132:3 and Mk 4:21 the Revised Version (British and American) "under the bed"). The degree of richness depended, of course, upon time and place, in a measure, but more upon the wealth and station of the family and the style of the house or tent in which they lived, as it does even with the Bedouin of today. The prophet Amos gives a vivid and significant picture of the luxury of certain children of Israel, "that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed" (Am 3:12); and of certain children of luxury "that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock .... that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" (Am 6:4-6; compare Rev 18:10-13).
(3) We find that the poor, while sleeping for the most part in their ordinary clothing, often, in cold weather, made their beds of the skins of animals, old cloaks, or rugs, as they do still in the East. The "beds" and "bedding" now in ordinary use among Orientals are much the same, we may be sure, as they were in olden times. "Bedsteads" of any pretention were and are rare among the common people; but the richness of "beds" and "bedsteads" among Asiatics of wealth and rank was quite equal to that of the Greeks and Romans (compare Prov 7:16,17, "I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon"); Song 1:16,17: "The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are firs .... also our couch is green." Compare the "palanquin" of Solomon, "of the wood of Lebanon," "the pillars thereof of silver," "the bottom of gold," and "the seat of purple" (3:9,10).
(4) As soon as any family could afford it, a special bedroom would be set apart, and the whole family would sleep in it (see Lk 11:5-8, "My children are with me in bed"). When the house had two stories the upper story was used for sleeping, or, during very hot weather, preferably the roof, or the room on the roof. See HOUSE . When morning came the "bed," a wadded quilt or mattress, used with or without covering according to the season, was rolled up, aired and sunned, and then put aside on the raised platform, or packed away in a chest or closet.
The words mishkabh and miTTah came to have a figurative meaning signifying the final resting-place; and `eres used of the "bedstead" of the King of Og (Dt 3:11) is thought by some to mean his sarcophagus (Benzinger, Hebrew Arch., 123; Nowack, I, 143). Gen 47:31, "And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head" is not rightly rendered (see STAFF , and Crit. Commentary in the place cited.).
2. New Testament Terms for Bed, Their Meaning, etc.:
(1) We find several Greek words, kline, krabbatos, and koitte, used in the New Testament somewhat indiscriminately and rendered English Versions of the Bible by "bed," "couch," etc.; but, as with the Hebrew words noted, there is little to indicate just exactly what they severally stand for, or how they are related to the Hebrew terms rendered "bed" or "couch" in the Old Testament. Of one thing we can be sure, reasoning from what we know of "the unchanging East," the "beds" and sleeping customs of the Hebrews in Christ's time were in the main about what they were in later Old Testament times.
(2) An interesting case for study is that of the man "sick of the palsy" whom they brought to Jesus "lying on a bed," and who when healed "took up the bed, and went forth before them all" (Mt 9:2,6; Mk 2:4,12; Lk 5:18,19; compare Jn 5:8-12). Here the "bed" on which the sick of the palsy lay was let down from the housetop "through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus" (Lk 5:18,19); and when the man was healed Jesus commanded him, as Luke says, to "take up (his) couch and go unto (his) house ," and he "took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God" (Lk 5:24,25). It seems, therefore, that this "bed" was a "pallet" and "couch" combined, a thin mattress upon a light portable frame, such as we have already seen was in use among the ancients. Another kindred case was that of the sick man at the pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:2 ff) whom Jesus healed and commanded to "take up his bed and walk," and he "took up his bed and walked"; only in this case the "bed" is a "pallet" without the frame, it would seem.
(3) Jesus in His teaching (Mk 4:21; compare Lk 8:16) asks, in language which is significant in this connection: "Is the lamp brought to be put under .... the bed?" (Lk 8:16: "No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bell"). Here, clearly, "the bed" is the "bedstead," bedclothes, draperies and all, under which "the lamp" would be obscured and hindered in its function of "giving light to all in the room." Again (Lk 17:34) Jesus says, "In that night there shall be two men on one bed," which is incidental evidence that the "beds" of that day were not all "pallets" or "couches" for one only (compare Lk 11:7, "My children are with me in bed"; Song 1:16; 3:10; Prov 7:16,18).
(4) For figurative use in the prophets (e.g. Ezek 23:17) and in the New Testament (e.g. "Let the bed be undefiled," Heb 13:4), see commentaries in the place cited
George B. Eager
be'-dad (bedhadh, "alone"): Father of Hadad, king of Edom "before there reigned any king over the children of Israel" (Gen 36:35; 1 Ch 1:46).
be'-dan (bedhan, "son of judgment" (?)):
(1) One of the leaders in Israel who with Jerubbaal, Jephthah and Samuel is mentioned as a deliverer of the nation (1 Sam 12:11). The text is questioned because the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic read "Barak" instead.
(2) A son of Ulam of the house of Manasseh (1 Ch 7:17).
bed'-cham-ber.
See BED .
be-de'-ya (bedheydh, "servant of Yah"): A son of Bani who had married a "strange wife" (Ezr 10:35).
bed'-stead.
See BED .
be (debhorah; compare Arabic dabr, "a swarm of bees," also Arabic debbur, "a wasp," said to be a corruption of zunbur, "a wasp"; all are apparently from the Hebrew dabhar, "to speak," "arrange," "lead," "follow," or from Arabic dabara, "follow" (compare Arabic dabbara, "arrange"), though the connection in meaning is not apparent): Honey is mentioned many times in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, but the word "bee" occurs only four times, and only one of the four times in connection with honey in the story of Samson (Jdg 14:8). Both wild and domesticated bees are found today in Palestine, but it is not clear that bees were kept in Bible times, although it would seem very probable. The frequently recurring phrase, "a land flowing with milk and honey," certainly suggests that the honey as well as the milk is a domestic product. The hives now in use are very primitive and wasteful as compared with hives that are made in Europe and America. Sometimes a large water jar is used. More frequently a cylinder about 3 or 4 ft. long and 6 inches in diameter is constructed of mulberry withes plaited together and plastered with mud or cow dung. A number of these cylinders are placed horizontally, being piled up together under some rude structure which serves as a protection from the direct rays of the sun. In the passage already cited it is related that Samson found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion which he had killed on his previous visit. We are not told how much time had intervened, but it does not take long in the dry climate of Palestine for scavenging beasts and insects to strip the flesh from the bones and make the skeleton a possible home for a swarm of bees. The other three passages refer to the offensive power of bees. In Dt 1:44, in the speech of Moses he says, "The Amorites chased you, as bees do"; in Ps 118:12, the psalmist says, "They compassed me about like bees"; in Isa 7:18, the bee is the type of the chastisement that the Lord will bring from the land of Assyria.
Alfred Ely Day
bef.
See CATTLE .
be-e-li'-a-da (be`elyadha`, "the Lord knows"; ELIADA, which see; compare HPN , 144, 192, note 1, 202):A son of David (1 Ch 14:7).
be-el'-sa-rus, be-el-sa'-rus (Beelsaros): One who accompanied Zerubbabel in the return from the captivity (1 Esdras 5:8), called Bilshan in Ezr 2:2 and Neh 7:7.
be-el-teth'-mus (Beeltethmos; Balthemus): One of the officers of King Artaxerxes in Palestine (1 Esdras 2:16,25). According to Professor Sayce, the name by etymology means "lord of official intelligence" or "postmaster." Rendered "chancellor" in Ezr 4:8 and "story-writer" in 1 Esdras 2:17.
be-el'-ze-bub (in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) is an error (after the Vulgate) for Beelzebul (Revised Version margin) Beelzeboul; Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Beezeboul): In the time of Christ this was the current name for the chief or prince of demons, and was identified with SATAN (which see) and the DEVIL (which see). The Jews committed the unpardonable sin of ascribing Christ's work of casting out demons to Beelzebul, thus ascribing to the worst source the supreme manifestation of goodness (Mt 10:25; 12:24,27; Mk 3:22; Lk 11:15,18,19). There can be little doubt that it is the same name as BAALZEBUB (which see). It is a well-known phenomenon in the history of religions that the gods of one nation become the devils of its neighbors and enemies. When the Aryans divided into Indians and Iranians, the Devas remained gods for the Indians, but became devils (daevas) for the Iranians, while the Ahuras remained gods for the Iranians and became devils (asuras) for the Indians. Why Baalzebub became Beelzebul, why the b changed into l, is a matter of conjecture. It may have been an accident of popular pronunciation, or a conscious perversion (Beelzebul in Syriac = "lord of dung"), or Old Testament zebhubh may have been a perversion, accidental or intentional of zebhul (= "house"), so that Baalzebul meant "lord of the house." These are the chief theories offered (Cheyne in EB; Barton in Hastings, ERE).
T. Rees
be'-er (be'er; phrear; Latin puteus = "well"):
(1) A station on the march of the Israelites to the North of the Arnon (Nu 21:16). Here it was that they sang round the well this song:
`Spring up O well; greet it with song,
Well, that the princes have dug,
The nobles of the people have bored,
With the scepter--with their staves' (Nu 21:16 ff).
The place is not identified.
(2) The town to which Jotham fled from his brother Abimelech after declaring his parable from Mt. Gerizim (Jdg 9:21). This may be identical with BEEROTH, which see.
be-er-e'-lim (be'er 'elim; phrear tou Aileim, literally "well of Elim"): Probably lay to the North of Moab, answering to Eglaim in the South (Isa 15:8). It may possibly be identical with BEER (1); but there is no certainty.
be-er-la-hi'-roi, be-er-la-hi-ro'-i (be'er lachai ro'i, "well of the Living One that seeth me"): "A fountain of water in the wilderness," "the fountain in the way to Shur" (Gen 16:7-14). It was the scene of Hagar's theophany, and here Isaac dwelt for some time (Gen 16:7 f; 24:62; 25:11). The site is in The Negeb between Kadesh and Bered (Gen 16:14). Rowland identifies the well with the modern `Ain Moilaihhi, circa 50 miles South of Beersheba and 12 miles West of `Ain Kadis. Cheyne thinks that Hagar's native country, to which she was fleeing and from which she took a wife for Ishmael, was not Egypt (mitsrayim), but a north Arabian district called by the Assyrians Mucri (Encyclopedia Biblica).
S. F. Hunter
be-e'-ra, be'-er-a (be'era', "expounder"): A descendant of Asher (1 Ch 7:37).
be-e'-ra, be'-er-a (be'erah; "expounder"): A prince of the house of Reuben whom Tiglath-pileser carried away captive (1 Ch 5:6). Compare 2 Ki 15:29; 16:7.
be-e'-ri (be'eri, "expounder"):
(1) Father of Judith, one of Esau's wives (Gen 26:34).
(2) The father of the prophet Hosea (Hos 1:1).
be-e'-roth, be'-er-oth (be'eroth; Beroth): One of the cities of the Canaanites whose inhabitants succeeded in deceiving Israel, and in making a covenant with them (Josh 9:3 ff). Apparently they were Hivites (Josh 9:7). The occasion on which the Beerothites fled to Gittaim where they preserved their communal identity is not indicated. The town was reckoned to Benjamin (2 Sam 4:2 f). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it under Gibeon, 7 Roman miles from Jerusalem on the way to Nicopolis (Amwas). If we follow the old road by way of Gibeon (el-Jib) and Bethhoron, Beeroth would lie probably to the Northwest of el-Jib. The traditional identification is with el-Bireh, about 8 miles from Jerusalem on the great north road. If the order in which the towns are mentioned (Josh 9:17; 18:25) is any guide as to position, el-Bireh is too far to the Northwest. The identification is precarious. To Beeroth belonged the murderers of Ish-bosheth (2 Sam 4:2), and Naharai, Joab's armor-bearer (2 Sam 23:37; 1 Ch 11:39). It was reoccupied after the Exile (Ezr 2:25; Neh 7:29).
W. Ewing
ben'-e-ja'-a-kan (be'eroth bene ya`aqan; the Revised Version, margin "the wells of the children of Jaakan"): A desert camp of the Israelites mentioned before Moserah (Dt 10:6). In Nu 33:31,32 the name is given simply "Bene-jaakan," and the situation after Moseroth.
See WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL .
be-e'-roth-it, be'-er-oth-it (be'erothi; 2 Sam 4:5,9; 2 Sam 23:37; shortened form, 1 Ch 11:39).
See BEEROTH .
be-er-she'-ba (be'er shebha`; Bersabee): Allotted originally to Simeon (Josh 19:2), one of "the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah" (Josh 15:28).
The most probable meaning of Beersheba is the "well of seven." "Seven wells" is improbable on etymological grounds; the numeral should in that case be first. In Gen 21:31 Abraham and Abimelech took an oath of witness that the former had dug the well and seven ewe lambs were offered in sacrifice, "Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them." Here the name is ascribed to the Hebrew root shabha`, "to swear," but this same root is connected with the idea of seven, seven victims being offered and to take an oath, meaning "to come under the influence of seven."
Another account is given (Gen 26:23-33), where Isaac takes an oath and just afterward, "the same day Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged (dug), and said unto him, We have found water. And he called it Shibah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day."
Beersheba was a sacred shrine. "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God" Gen (21:33). Theophanies occurred there to Hagar (21:17), to Isaac (26:24), to Jacob (46:2), and to Elijah (1 Ki 19:5). By Amos (5:5) it is classed with Bethel and Gilgal as one of the rival shrines to the pure worship of Yahweh, and in another place (8:14) he writes "They shall fall, and never rise up again," who sware, "As the way (i.e. cult) of Beersheba liveth." The two unworthy sons of Samuel were Judges in Beersheba (1 Sam 8:2) and Zibiah, mother of King Jehoash, was born there (2 Ki 12:1; 2 Ch 24:1).
Geographically Beersheba marked the southern limit of Judah, though theoretically this extended to the "river of Egypt" (Gen 15:18)--the modern Wady el`Avish--60 miles farther south. It was the extreme border of the cultivated land. From Dan to Beersheba (2 Sam 17:11, etc.) or from Beersheba to Dan (1 Ch 21:2; 2 Ch 30:5) were the proverbial expressions, though necessarily altered through the changed conditions in later years to "from Geba to Beer-sheba" (2 Ki 23:8) or "from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim" (2 Ch 19:4).
Today Beersheba is Bir es-Seba` in the Wady es Seba`, 28 miles Southwest of Hebron on "the southern border of a vast rolling plain broken by the torrent beds of Wady Khalil and Wady Seba" (Robinson). The plain is treeless but is covered by verdure in the spring; it is dry and monotonous most of the year. Within the last few years this long-deserted spot--a wide stretch of shapeless ruins, the haunt of the lawless Bedouin--has been re-occupied; the Turks have stationed there an enlightened Kaimerkhan (subgovernor); government offices and shops have been built; wells have been cleared, and there is now an abundant water supply pumped even to the separate houses. Robinson (BW, XVII, 247 ff) has described how he found seven ancient wells there--probably still more will yet be found. The whole neighborhood is strewn with the ruins of the Byzantine city which once flourished there; it was an episcopal see. It is probable that the city of Old Testament times stood where Tell es Seba' now is, some 2 1/2 miles to the East; from the summit a commanding view can be obtained (PEF, III, 394, Sheet XXIV).
E. W. G. Masterman
be-esh'-te-ra (Josh 21:27).
See ASHTAROTH .
be'-t'-l (the Revised Version (British and American) CRICKET; chargol; See LOCUST ): This name occurs only in Lev 11:22 as one of four winged Jumping insects (sherets ha-`oph) which may be eaten. It certainly is not a beetle and is probably not a cricket. Probably all four are names of locusts, of which more than 30 species have been described from Syria and Palestine, and for which there are at least 8 Arabic names in use, though with little distinction of species. Closely allied to chargol are the Arabic charjalet, a troop of horses or a flight of locusts, from charjal, "to gallop," and harjawan, "a wingless locust."
Alfred Ely Day
bevs (Lev 22:21 the King James Version).
See CATTLE .
be-for': The translation of a great variety of Hebrew and Greek words. "Haran died before (the English Revised Version "in the presence of," literally "before the face of") his father Terah" (Gen 11:28). To be "before" God is to enjoy His favor (Ps 31:22). "The Syrians before" (Isa 9:12 the Revised Version, margin "on the east," as "behind," owing to the position of Canaan, relative to Syria, implies the west).
1. No Law Concerning Beggars or Begging in Israel:
It is significant that the Mosaic law contains no enactment concerning beggars, or begging, though it makes ample provision for the relief and care of "the poor in the land." Biblical Hebrew seems to have no term for professional begging, the nearest approach to it being the expressions "to ask (or seek) bread" and "to wander." This omission certainly is not accidental; it comports with the very nature of the Mosaic law, the spirit of which is breathed in this, among other kindred provisions, that a poor Hebrew who even sold himself for debt to his wealthy brother was allowed to serve him only until the Jubilee (See JUBILEE ), and his master was forbidden to treat him as a sl ave (Lev 25:39). These laws, as far as actually practiced, have always virtually done away with beggars and begging among the Jews.
2. Begging Not Unknown to the Ancient Jews:
Begging, however, came to be known to the Jews in the course of time with the development of the larger cities, either as occurring among themselves, or among neighboring or intermingling peoples, as may be inferred from Ps 59:15; compare 109:10, where Yahweh is besought that the children of the wicked may be cursed with beggary, in contra-distinction to the children of the righteous, who have never had to ask bread (Ps 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed asking (English Versions, "begging") bread." For the Hebrew expression corresponding to "begging" see Ps 59:15, "They shall wander up and down for food"; and compare Ps 119:10, "Let me not wander," etc.
3. Begging and Alms-taking Denounced in Jewish Literature:
The first clear denunciation of beggary and almstaking in Jewish literature is found in Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 40:28-30, where the Hebrew for "begging" is to "wander," ete, as in Ps 59:15, according to the edition of Cowley and Neubauer; Oxford, 1897. There as well as in Tobit, and in the New Testament, where beggars are specifically mentioned, the word eleemosune has assumed the special sense of alms given to the begging poor (compare Tobit 4:7,16,17; 12:8-11; Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 3:14,30; 7:10; 16:14; Mt 6:2-4; 20:30-34; Mk 10:46-52; Lk 11:41; 12:33; Jn 9:1-41; Acts 9:36; 10:2,4,31; 24:17).
4. Professional Beggars a Despised Class:
As to professional beggars, originally, certainly, and for a long time, they were a despised class among the Hebrews; and the Jewish communities are forbidden to support them from the general charity fund (BB, 9a; Yoreh De`ah, 250, 3). But the spirit of the law is evinced again in that it is likewise forbidden to drive a beggar away without an alms (ha-Yadh ha-Chazaqah, in the place cited 7 7).
Begging was well known and beggars formed a considerable class in the gospel age. Proof of this is found in the references to almsgiving in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5 through 7 and parallels), and in the accounts of beggars in connection with public places, e.g. the entrance to Jericho. (Mt 20:30 and parallels), which was a gateway to pilgrims going up to Jerusalem to the great festivals and in the neighborhood of rich men's houses (Lk 16:20), and especially the gates of the Temple at Jerusalem (Acts 3:2). This prevalence of begging was due largely to the want of any adequate system of ministering relief, to the lack of any true medical science and the resulting ignorance of remedies for common diseases like ophthalmia, for instance, and to the impoverishment of the land under the excessive taxation of the Roman government (Hausrath, History of New Testament Times, I, 188 (Eng. translation Williams and Norgate), compare Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus,II , 178). That begging was looked down upon is incidentally evidenced by the remark of the unjust steward, "To beg I am ashamed" (Lk 16:3); and that, when associated with indolence, it was strongly condemned by public opinion appears from Sirach (40:28-30).
The words used for "beg," "beggar" of English Versions of the Bible in the New Testament differ radically in idea: in those formed from aiteo (Mk 10:46; Lk 16:3; 18:35; Jn 9:8 the Revised Version (British and American)) the root idea is that of "asking," while ptochos (Lk 16:20,22) suggests the cringing or crouching of a beggar. But see Mt 5:3 where the word for "humble" is ptochos.
A marked change has come over Jewish life in modern times, in this as well as in other respect. Since the 17th century the Jewish poor in many parts of the world have made it a practice, especially on Fridays and on the eves of certain festivals, to go systematically from house to house asking alms. In parts of Europe today it is a full-grown abuse: crowds of Jewish beggars push their way and ply their trade about the synagogue doors (Abrahams, EB, article "Alms," 310). So the Jewish beggar, in spite of the spirit of the law and ancient Jewish custom, has, under modern conditions too well known to require explanation here, become a troublesome figure and problem in modern Jewish society. For such beggars and begging, see Jew Encyclopedia, articles "Schnorrers," "Alms," etc., and for another kind of begging among modern Jews, and collections for poverty-stricken Jewish settlers in Palestine, see the articles "Chalukah," "Charity," etc.
LITERATURE.
Saalschiutz, Arch. der Hebraer, II, chapter xviii (Konigsberg, 1855-56); Riehm Handworterbuch zu den Buchern des A T, under the word "Almosen "; compare Jew Encyclopedia,HDB , and Encyclopedia B, arts, "Alms"; and Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, chapters xvii, xviii (Philadelphia, 1896); Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs; Day, The Social Life of the Hebrews.
George B. Eager
beg'-er-li (ptochos): The word has the thought of "to crouch" or "cringe," such as is common with professional beggars. It is used in Mt 5:3 and Gal 4:9, and in both cases means complete spiritual destitution. As used in Galatians it expresses the contrast between their present condition and the former estate, toward which he says they are again tending. Paul has in mind both the Jewish and heathen systems of religion with all their outward show. He therefore here emphasizes the immeasurable superiority of the riches and liberty in Christ. He further expresses this same thought of the law in Rom 8:3 and Heb 7:18. In view of the wretchedness of the condition indicated by the word "beggarly," he states his astonishment that they should so little appreciate the liberty and riches which they now enjoy as even to think of going back to the former condition.
Jacob W. Kapp
be-gin': To make the first movement toward a given end (chalal; archomai). Those who interpret it in many passages pleonastically mean by this, that in such passages as "began to teach" or "began to speak," nothing more is intended than to express vividly and graphically the thought of the dependent infinitive. Mt 4:17; Lk 3:23; Acts 1:1 are so understood. For contrary opinion, see Thayer's Lexicon and Winer's Grammar of New Testament Greek.
The noun, arche, "beginning," in the writings of John, is used sometimes in an abstract sense, to designate a previous stage (Jn 1:1,2; 8:25; 1 Jn 1:1; 3:8) and, sometimes, the Source or First Cause (Rev 3:14; 21:6; 22:13). Often used also, not for the absolute beginning, but, relatively, for the starting-point of some important movement (1 Jn 2:7,24; Acts 11:15; Phil 4:15).
H.E. Jacobs
be-gin'-ing (re'-shith; arche): The natural meaning of the word is with reference to time. The primitive Greek root means "to be long," "to draw out." Thus, it is used to refer to some point of time long drawn out, or long past (Gen 1:1). It is used also to express the inauguration of a particular event (Ex 12:2). The principal interest in the word centers in the use of it in Jn 1:1. It must be interpreted here by that which follows in the statement as to the relation of the Logos to the Eternal God and the use of the word "was." It is true that the word arche cannot be separated from the idea of time, but when time began He already was, and therefore He was from eternity.
Figurative: in a figurative sense it is used of that which is most excellent, the chief part (Prov 1:7); of the most eminent person (Col 1:18); the author (Rev 3:14).
Jacob W. Kapp
be-got'-'-n (yaladh; "to bear," "bring forth," "beget"; denotes the physical relation of either parent to a child, Gen 3:16; 4:18): Used metaphorically of God's relation to Israel (Dt 32:18) and to the Messianic king (Ps 2:7); (gennao, "to beget," or "bear"): generally used of a father (Mt 1:1-16); more rarely of a mother (Lk 1:13,57); used metaphorically of causing or engendering moral and spiritual relations and states (1 Cor 4:15; Philem 1:10); of the new birth of the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:3 ff). Men who obey and love God as sons are begotten of Him (Jn 1:13; 1 Jn 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18; compare 1 Pet 1:23). Used especially of God's act in making Christ His Son: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" (Ps 2:7) quoted in Acts 13:33 in reference to His resurrection (compare Rom 1:4). The same passage is cited (Heb 1:5) as proving Christ's filial dignity, transcending the angels in that "he hath inherited a more excellent name than they," i.e. the name of son; and again (Heb 5:5) of God conferring upon Christ the glory of the priestly office.
Commentators differ as to whether the act of begetting the Son in these two passages is (a) the eternal generation, or (b) the incarnation in time, or (c) the resurrection and ascension. The immediate context of Heb 1:5 (see Heb 1:3) seems to favor the last view (Westcott). The first view would not be foreign to the author's thought: with Heb 5:5 compare Heb 6:20, "a high priest forever" (Alford). The author of Heb thinks of the eternal and essential sonship of Christ as realized in history in His ascension to the "right hand of the Majesty" (Heb 1:3). And what is emphatic is the fact and status of sonship, rather than the time of begetting.
T. Rees
be-gil': In 2 Pet 2:14 the King James Version (compare Jas 1:14) the word deleazo, is translated "beguile," and means particularly to "entice," "catch by bait." Doubtless Peter got this idea from his old business of fishing, baiting the hook to beguile the fish. In Rom 7:11; 16:18; 1 Cor 3:18 the word is exapatao, and means "to cheat" or "to thoroughly deceive." The thought is to be so completely deceived as to accept falsehood for the truth, believing it to be the truth. In Col 2:4,18 the King James Version; Jas 1:22 the word is paralogizomai, and means "to miscalculate," "to be imposed upon." It refers particularly to being beguiled by mere probability.
Jacob W. Kapp
be-haf': "On the part of" (Ex 27:21, i.e. so far as it affects them); "on the side of" (Job 36:2). For huper, "over," in the sense of furnishing assistance, as in 2 Cor 5:20, "in the interest of Christ" (verse 21); "for our good," "in his cause" (Phil 1:29); also, often in 2 Cor, in general sense of "concerning" (5:12; 7:4; 8:24; 9:2; 12:5). Huper does not of itself indicate substitution, although one who shelters ("is over") another, suffers "in his stead" (the King James Version 2 Cor 5:20), as well as "in his behalf."
be-hav'-yer (Ta`am, "taste," "flavor," hence, "intellectual taste," i.e. judgment, reason, understanding): Of significance as referring to David's feigning madness before Aehish, king of Gath, being "sore afraid." Gesenius renders it "changed his understanding," i.e. his mental behavior and outward manner (1 Sam 21:13, and title to Ps 34).
Twice used in the New Testament (the King James Version) of the well-ordered life of the Christian (kosmios, "well-arranged," "modest," i.e. living with decorum: 1 Tim 3:2), defining the blameless life expected of a minister (overseer), "A bishop must be. .... of good behavior," the Revised Version (British and American) "orderly" (katastema, "demeanor," "deportment"), including, according to Dean Alford, "gesture and habit" as the outward expression of a reverent spirit (1 Pet 3:1,2). "Aged women .... in behavior as becometh holiness" (Tit 2:3; the Revised Version (British and American) "reverent in demeanor").
Dwight M. Pratt
be-hed'-ing.
See PUNISHMENTS .
be'-he-moth, be-he'-moth (behemoth: Job 40:15): Apparently the plural of behemah, "a beast," used of domestic or wild animals. The same form, behemoth, occurs in other passages, e.g. Dt 28:26; 32:24; Isa 18:6; Hab 2:17, where it is not rendered "behemoth" but "beasts." According to some, the word behemoth, occurring in Job 40:15, is not a Hebrew word, the plural of behemah, but a word of Egyptian origin signifying "water ox." This etymology is denied by Cheyne and others. The word has by various writers been understood to mean rhinoceros and elephant, but the description (Job 40:15-24) applies on the whole very well to the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus arnphibius) which inhabits the Nile and other rivers of Africa. Especially applicable are the references to its great size, its eating grass, the difficulty with which weapons penetrate its hide, and its frequenting of streams.
"He lieth under the lotus-trees,
In the covert of the reed, and the fen.
The lotus-trees cover him with their shade;
The willows of the brook compass him about."
The remains of a fossil hippopotamus of apparently the same species are found over most of Europe, so that it may have inhabited Palestine in early historical times, although we have no record of it. There is a smaller living species in west Africa, and there are several other fossil species in Europe and India. The remains of Hippopotamus minutus have been found in enormous quantities in caves in Malta and Sicily.
For an elaborate explanation of behemoth and leviathan (which see) as mythical creatures, see Cheyne,EB , under the word
Alfred Ely Day
be-hold'-ing: Many Hebrew and Greek words are so rendered in English Versions of the Bible, but epopteusantes, "your good works, which they behold" (1 Pet 2:12); "beholding your chaste behavior" (1 Pet 3:2), and epoptai, "We were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Pet 1:16) are peculiar to Peter. The fact that this word is used only by Peter and is used in both epistles is an argument for identity of authorship. The word epoptes denotes one who had been initiated into the innermost secrets of his faith and who enjoyed the highest religious privileges; but now in contradiction to the secrecy of all pagan "mysteries" (Eleusinian, etc.) the apostles would share with all the faithful every spiritual vision which they enjoyed ("we made known unto you").
In 2 Cor 3:18, for katoptrizomenoi, the English Revised Version gives "reflecting (as a mirror) the glory of the Lord," the American Standard Revised Version "beholding (as in mirror," etc.). Katoptron was a mirror of polished metal. We cannot clearly and fully behold the outshining of spiritual grandeur in Christ Jesus, but in the gospel God accommodates and adjusts the vision as we are able to bear it, and the glory beheld becomes glory imparted to (and reflected by) the beholder.
John's Gospel gives us theaomai ("to look closely at"), and theoreo ("to discern"). "We beheld (etheasametha) his glory" (Jn 1:14), "that they may behold (theorosin) my glory" (Jn 17:24). In classic literature, the former word is closely associated with theatrical spectacles, and the latter with athletic games, and they both convey the idea of unceasing interest, deepening in this connection into love and joy.
M. O. Evans
be-hoov': Used in the New Testament for two Greek words dei (Lk 24:26; Acts 17:3) and opheilo (Heb 2:17); the former referring to a physical, and the latter to a moral, necessity (Bengelon, 1 Cor 11:10). The former means "must," that is, it is required by the order which God has ordained; the latter, "ought," that is, it is required as a debt.
ba'-root'.
See BERYTUS .
be'-ka (beqa`, "half"): Half a shekel, the amount contributed by each male of the Israelites for the use of the Sanctuary (Ex 38:26). Its value varied according to the standard used, but on the ordinary, or Phoenician, standard it would represent about 122 grams.
See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES .
bel, bal (bel): Appellative name of a Bah god (compare BAAL ), in the Old Testament and Apocrypha identified with Marduk or Merodach, the tutelary deity of Babylon (compare Isa 46:1; Jer 51:44; Baruch 6:41).
See BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA ,RELIGION OF .
bel, bal, drag'-un (Greek words: drakon, "dragon," "serpent"; ektos, "except"; horasis "vision," "prophecy"; ophis, "serpent"; sphragisamenos, "having sealed"; choris, "except," Hebrew or Aramaic words: chatham, "to seal"; zepha', "pitch"; za`apha', "storm," "wind"; nachash, "snake"; tannin, "serpent," "sea monster"):
II. NAME OF BEL AND THE DRAGON
1. The Bel Story: the God of Bel
2. The Dragon Story; Meaning of "Dragon"; Serpent-Worship in Babylon
V. ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: PRINCIPAL OPINIONS
Little in this work that is distinctly Jewish. God is great, absolute and ever-living; angels intervene for special ends; the absurdity of idol-worship
VII. AUTHOR, PLACE AND DATE OF COMPOSITION
Probably not in Babylon; perhaps the Hebrew text originated in Palestine about 146 BC or later. The Septuagint version produced in Egypt about 100 BC, which may be the date and language of the Book. Theta (Theodotion's version) was produced probably at Ephesus about 180 AD
VIII. CANONICITY AND AUTHENTICITY
Accepted as canonical by the Jews of Egypt but rejected by the Jews of Palestine Accepted as part of the Bible by Greek and Latin church Fathers, by the Council of Trent and therefore by the Roman church; denied by Protestants to be canonical
LITERATURE
Bel and the Dragon is the third of the three Apocryphal additions to Daniel, The SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN and SUSANNA (which see) being the other two. In the Greek and Latin versions (see below, "IV . Textual Authorities") these "additions" form an integral part of the canonical Book of Daniel, and they are recognized as such and therefore as themselves canonical by the Council of Trent. But the Song of the Three Children is the only piece having a necessary connection with the Hebrew canonical Book of Daniel; in the Greek and Latin texts it follows Dan 3:24. The other two are appended and appear to have an origin independent of the book to which they are appended and also of each other, though in all three as also in the Hebrew Book of Daniel the name and fame of Daniel stand out prominently.
II. Name of Bel and the Dragon.
Since in the Greek and Latin recensions or versions Bel and the Dragon forms a portion of the Book of Dan it does not bear a special name. But in the only two known manuscripts of the Septuagint in Syro-Hexaplar (see below, "IV . Textual Authorities") these words stand at the head of the "addition" now under consideration: "From (or "a part of") the prophecy of Habakkuk son of Joshua of the tribe of Levi." That the Biblical writing prophet of that name is meant is beyond question. In Theta (Theodotian) this fact is distinctly stated (see Bel and the Dragon verse 33); and it is equally beyond question that these tales could never have come from the prophet so called (see below "VIII . Canonicity and Authenticity").
In codices Alexandrinus and Vaticanus of Theodotian (Theta) the title is: Horasis 12, i.e. Dan 12, canonical Daniel being comprised in 11 chapters. In the Vulgate, Bel and the Dragon forms chapter 14, but, as in the case of the earlier chapters, it has no heading.
In the Syriac Peshitta (W) the story of Bel and the Dragon is preceded by "Bel the idol," and that of the Dragon by "Then follows the Dragon." Bel and the Dragon is the title in all Protestant versions of the Apocrypha, which rigidly keep the latter separate from the books of the Hebrew canon.
The stories of Bel and of the Dragon have a separate origin and existed apart: they are brought together because they both agree in holding up idolatry to ridicule and in encouraging Jewish believers to be true to their religion. The glorification of Daniel is also another point in which both agree, though while the Daniel of the Bel and the Dragon story appears as a shrewd Judge corresponding to the etymology of that name, he of the Dragon story is but a fearless puritan who will die rather than be faithless to his religion.
It is evident, however that the editor of the "additions" has fused both stories into one, making the Dragon story depend on that which precedes (See Bel and of the Dragon verses 23 f). It seems very likely that, in a Nestorian list mentioned by Churton (Uncanonical and Apocryphal Scriptures, 391), Bel and the Dragon is comprised under the title, The Little Daniel.
The two stories as told in common by Septuagint and Theodotion may be thus summarized:
1. The Story of Bel: the God of Bel:
There is in Babylon an image of Bel which Daniel refuses to worship, though no form of worship is mentioned except that of supplying the god with food. The king (Cyrus according to Theodotion) remonstrates with the delinquent Hebrew, pointing Out to him the immense amount of food consumed daily by Bel, who thus proves himself to be a living god. Daniel, doubting the king's statement as to the food, asks to be allowed to test the alleged fact. His request being granted, he is shown by expressed desire th e lectisternia, the sacred tables being covered by food which the god is to consume during the night. The doors are all sealed by arrangement, and after the priests have departed Daniel has the temple floor strewn with light ashes. When the morning breaks it is found that the doors are still sealed, but the food has disappeared. Upon examination the tracks of bare feet are found on the ash-strewn floor, showing that the priests have entered the temple by a secret way and removed the food. Angered by the trick played on him the king has the priests put to death and the image destroyed.
The word Bel, a short form of Baal, occurs in the Old Testament in Isa 46:1; Jer 50:2; 51:44, where it stands for Merodach or Marduk, chief of the Babylonian deities. Originally however it denotes any one of the Babylonian local deities, and especially the principal deity worshipped at Nippur (for similar use of the Hebrew "Baal" see the article on this word). In Theodotion Cyrus appears as an abettor of Bel-worship, which is quite in accordance with the practice of the early Persian kings to show favor to the worship of the countries they conquered. See Century Bible, "Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther," 40.
2. The Dragon Story; Meaning of "Dragon"; Serpent-Worship in Babylon:
There is in Babylon a great live dragon worshipped by a large number of the inhabitants, who lavishly feed it. In the present case the god is or is represented by a living creature which can be fed, and, indeed, needs feeding. Daniel refuses to bow down before the dragon and makes an offer to the king to kill it. Believing the god well able to care for himself, the king accepts Daniel's challenge. Daniel makes a mixture of which pitch forms the principal ingredient and thrusts it down the dragon's throat, so that "it bursts asunder and dies." The people are infuriated at the death of their god and demand that the king shall have the god-murderer put to death, a demand to which the royal master yields by having Daniel cast into a den of lions, as was done to other culprits found guilty of capital charges. But though the prophet remained in the company of 7 lions for 6 days he suffered no injury. On the last day when Daniel, without food, was naturally hungry, a miracle was performed by way of supplying him with food. Habakkuk (see above, "II . Name"), when cooking food for his reapers, heard an angel's voice commanding him to carry the food he had prepared to Daniel in the lions' den in Babylon. Upon his replying that he did not know where the den, or even Babylon, was, the angel laid hold of his hair and by it carried the prophet to the very part of the den where Daniel was. Having handed the latter the meal intended for the reapers, he was safely brought back by the angel to his own home. It would seem that Habakkuk was protected from the lions as well as Daniel. Seeing all this the king worshipped God, set Daniel free, and in his stead east his accusers into the lions' den, where they were instantly devoured,
Zockler in his commentary (p. 215) speaks of the "fluidity" of the Dragon myth, and he has been followed by Marshall and Daubney. But what in reality does the Greek word drakon, rendered "dragon," mean? In the Septuagint the word is used generally (15 times) to translate the Hebrew tannin which denotes a serpent or sea monster. It is this word (tannin) which in the Aramaic version of the Dragon story translates the Greek drakon. Now in Ex 4:3 and 7:9 the Hebrew tannin and nachash ("serpent") seem identified as are the Greek drakon and ophis in Rev 12:9. We may therefore take drakon in the present story to stand for a serpent. We know that in Babylon the god Nina was worshipped in the form of a serpent (see Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, 281 f), and it is more probable that it is the worship of this god or of some other serpent deity that is here meant, than that there is any allusion to the Babylonian story according to which Marduk the supreme deity of Babylon engaged in a conflict with Tiamat the monster--foe to light and order. (1) The dragon of the present story is a god and not as Tiamat, a kind of devil, and a male, not a female. (2) The dragon in the present story is a serpent, which is not true of Tiamat. (3) Apsu (male) and Tiamat (female) are Babylonian deities who give birth to the gods of heaven; these gods subsequently led by their mother Tiamat engaged in a fierce contest with Marduk.
Since Gunkel published his book, Schopfung und Chaos (1895), it has been the fashion to see reflections of the Marduk-Tiamat conflict throughout the Old Testament. But recent investigations tend to show that Babylonian mythology has not dominated Hebrew thought to the extent that was formerly thought, and with this statement Gunkel himself now agrees, as the last edition of his commentary on Genesis proves.
There exist in Greek two forms of the text (see below). (a) The Septuagint text has been preserved in but one original MS, the codex Christianus (from the Chigi family who owned it, published in Rome in 1772). This belongs to about the 9th century. This text has been printed also in Cozza's Sacrorum Bibliorum vestustissima fragmenta Graeca et Latina, part iii, Romae, 1877, and in Swete's edition of the Septuagint side by side with Theodotion. In Tischendorf's Septuagint it occurs at the close of the ordinary text of the Septuagint. (b) Of Theta (the text of Theodotion) we have the following important manuscripts: Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, Q (codex Marchalianus), Gamma (verses 1,2-4 only) and Delta (from verse 21 to verse 41).
There exists in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, a manuscript of the 8th century of the Syro-Hexaplar version made by Paul of Tella in 617 AD at Alexandria from col vi (Septuagint) of Origen's Hexapla. This most valuable manuscript has been edited and published by Ceriani.
Of this we have but one manuscript (see above under "Manuscripts") and until its publication at Rome in 1772 what is now known as Theta was believed to be the real Septuagint version, notwithstanding hints to the contrary by early Christian writers.
(b) Theta, or the Version of Theodotion:
This version appears to be a revision of the Septuagint, with the help, perhaps, as in the case of the canonical Daniel, of a Hebrew (or Aramaic) original, now lost. It is much less pedantic than Aquila's Greek translation which preceded it, and its Greek is better. It is also a better translation than the Septuagint; yet it has many transliterations of Hebrew words instead of translations. This version of Daniel displaced that of the Septuagint at a very early time, for though Origen gave place to the Septuagint in his Hexapla, in his writings he almost always cites from Theta. In his preface to Daniel Jerome points to the fact that in his own time the church had rejected the Septuagint in favor of Theodotion, mentioning the defectiveness of the former as the ground. Even Irenaeus (died 202) and Porphyry (died 305) preferred Theodotion to the Septuagint. Field was the first to point out that it is the work of Theodotion (not the Septuagint) that we have in 1 Esdras, etc.
In addition to the Syro-Hexaplar version (see above, under "Manuscript") the Peshitta version must be noted. It follows Theodotion closely, and is printed in Walton's Polyglot (in one recension only of Bel and the Dragon) and in a revised text edited by Lagarde in 1861; not as R. H. Charles (Enc Brit, VII, 807) erroneously says in The Book of Tobit by Neubauer.
(a) The old Latin version, which rests on Theodotion, fragments of which occur in Sabatier's work, Bibliorum sacrorum Latinae versiones antiquae (1743, etc., II). (b) The Vulgate, which follows Jerome's translation, is also based on Theodotion, and follows it closely.
For the Aramaic version published by M. Caster and claimed to be the text of the book as first written, see below, "V. Original Language."
V. The Original Language: Principal Opinions.
It has been until recent years most generally maintained that Bel and the Dragon was composed and first edited in the Greek language. So Eichhorn, de Wette, Schrader, Fritzsche, Schurer and Konig. In favor of this the following reasons have been given: (1) No Semitic original with reasonable claims has been discovered. Origen, Eusebius and Jerome distinctly say that no Hebrew (or Aramaic) form of this tract existed or was known in their time. (2) The Hebraisms with which this work undoubtedly abounds are no more numerous or more crucial than can be found in works by Jewish authors which are known to have been composed in the Greek language, such as the continual recurrence of kai (= "and"), kai eipe ("and he said"), etc.
On the other hand, the opinion has been growing among recent scholars that this work was written first of all either in Hebrew or Aramaic Some of the grounds are the following: (1) It is known that Theodotion in making his translation of other parts of the Old Testament (Daniel) endeavored to correct the Septuagint with the aid of the Massoretic Text. A comparison of the Septuagint and of Theodotion of Bel and the Dragon reveal differences of a similar character. How can we account for them unless we assume that Theodotion had before him a Semitic original? A very weak argument, however, for the translator might have corrected on a priori principles, using his own Judgment; or there might well have been in his time different recensions of the Septuagint. Westcott (DB, I, 397a; 2nd edition, 714a) holds that some of Theodotion's changes are due to a desire to give consistency to the facts. (2) Much has been made of the Semiticisms in the work, and it must be admitted that they are numerous and striking. But are these Hebraisms or Aramaisms? The commonest and most undoubted Semiticism is the repeated use of kai and kai egeneto with the force of the waw-consecutive and only to be explained and understood in the light of that construction. But the waw-consecutive exists only in classical Hebrew; Aramaic and post-Biblical. Hebrew, including late parts of the Old Testament (parts of Ecclesiastes, etc.), know nothing of it. It must be assumed then that if the Semiticisms of this work imply a Semitic original, that original was Hebrew, not Aramaic
The following Hebraisms found in the Septuagint and in Theodotion may briefly be noted: (1) The use of the Greek kai with all the varied meanings of the waw-consecutive. (see below, under "VI . Teaching"). The beginning of a sentence with kai en ("and there was") Bel and the Dragon (verses 1,3 in the Septuagint; 2 f, etc., in Theodotion) agrees with the Hebrew waw-consecutive construction, but makes poor Greek. In verse 15 kai egeneto can be understood only in the light of the Hebrew for which it stands. (2) The syntactical feature called parataxy (coordination) presents itself throughout the Greek of this piece, and it has been reproduced in the English translations (the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American)) as any English reader can see. In the classical languages it is hypotaxy that prevails. If, as seems likely, those responsible for Septuagint and Theodotion followed a Hebrew original, they failed to make sufficient allowance for the peculiar force of the waw-consecutive idiom, for this does not involve hypotaxy to an y considerable extent. (3) The constant occurrence of Kurios ("Lord") without the article implies the Hebrew Yahweh; and the phrase the "Lord God" is also Hebrew. (4) There are difficulties and differences best explained by assuming a Hebrew origin. The Greek word sphragisamenos has no sense in verse 14 (Septuagint) for, retaining it, we should read of a sealing of the temple (of Bel) and also of a sealing with signet rings of the doors. The Hebrew word "shut" (catham) is written much like that for "seal" (chatham), and was probably, as Marshal suggests, mistaken for the latter. The temple was "shut" and the doors "sealed." In verse 10 the Septuagint (choris) and Theodotion (ektos) have 2 words of similar sense, which are best explained as independent renderings of one Hebrew word.
Marshall, identifying this dragon story with the Babylonian creation-myth of Marduk and Tiamat, thinks that instead of "pitch" used in making the obolus with which Daniel destroyed the dragon, the original Aramaic document has "storm wind," the two words being in Aramaic written much alike (za`apha' = "storm wind," and zepha' = pitch). But the fact is quite overlooked that the obolus contained not only pitch, but also "fat" and "hair" (see Bel and the Dragon, verse 27). Besides, in the Aramaic version, published by Gaster, to which Marshall attaches great importance as at least a real source, we have four ingredients, namely, pitch (zepetha'), fat, flax (kittan) and hair. Dr. Marshall's suggestion involves therefore not only the confusion of two words spelled differently in Aramaic, but the substitution of 3 or 4 terms for one in the original draft. Moreover, in Bel and the Dragon the several ingredients are made up into a cake with which the dragon was gorged. Dr. Marshall's view assumes also an Aramaic original which is a gainst the evidence. But the suggestion would not have been made but for a desire to assimilate the dragon story to the Babylonian creation-myth, though in motive and details both differ so essentially.
In favor of a Semitic original many writers have cited the fact that forms of the story have been found in Hebrew and Aramaic in the 13th century. Raymund Martini in his Pugio Fidei (written against the Jews) quotes Bel and the Dragon from a Hebrew Midrash on Genesis which Neubauer discovered and which is almost verbatim identical with the unique manuscript containing Midrash Rabba de Rabba (see Neubauer, Tobit, viii, and Franz Delitzsch, de Habacuci, 82). Still other Hebrew forms of these stories have been found. All the "additions" to Daniel "occur in Hebrew in the remains of Yosippon," the "Hebrew Josephus," as he has been called. He wrote in the 10th century.
But most important of all is the discovery by Dr. M. Gaster of the dragon story in Aramaic, imbedded in the Chronicles of Yerahmeel, a work of the 10th century. Dr. Gaster maintains that in this Aramaic fragment we have a portion of the original Bel and the Dragon (see PSBA , 1894, 280 ff (Introduction), 312 (Text) and 1895 (for notes and translation)). The present writer does not think Dr. Gaster has made out his case. (1) If such an Aramaic original did really exist at any time we should have learned something definite about it from early writers, Jewish and Christian. (2) Dr. Gaster has discovered an Aramaic form of only two of the three "additions," those of the Song of the Three Children and of the dragon story. What of the rest of the Aramaic document? (3) It has already been pointed out that the waw-consecutive constructions implied in the Greek texts go back to a Hebrew, not an Aramaic original. (4) The Aramaic text of the Dragon story not seldom differs both from the Septuagint and Theodotion as in the following and many other cases: The two Greek versions have in Bel and the Dragon, verse 24 "The king (said)," which the Aramaic omits: in verse 35 the Aramaic after "And Habakkuk said" adds "to the angel," which the Septuagint and Theodotion are without. (5) The compiler of the Yerahmeel Chronicle says distinctly that he had taken the Song of the Three Children and the dragon story from the writings of Theodotion (see PSBA , 1895, 283), he having, it is quite evident, himself put them into Aramaic. Dr. Gaster lays stress on the words of the compiler, that what he gives in Aramaic is that which "Theodotion found" (loc. cit.). But the reference can be only to the Septuagint which this translator made the basis of his own version; it is far too much to assume that the Chronicler means an Aramaic form of the stories.
The two stories teach the doctrine of the oneness and absoluteness of Yahwe, called throughout Kurios ("Lord"), a literal rendering of the Hebrew word 'adhonai ("Lord") which the Jews substituted for Yahwe in reading the Hebrew as do now-a-day Jews. In the Greek and Latin versions it is the word read (the Qere perpetuum), not that written Kethibh), which is translated. It would have been more consonant with universal practice if the proper name Yahweh had been transliterated as proper names usually are.
But very little is said of the character of Yahweh. He is great and the only (true) God in Bel and the Dragon (verse 41), the living God in contrast with Bel (verse 57). Of the nature of His demands on His worshippers, ritualistic and ethical, nothing is said. There is no reference to any distinctly Jewish beliefs or practices; nothing about the torah or about any Divine revelation to men, about sacrifice or the temple or even a priesthood, except that in the Septuagint (not in Theodotion) Daniel the prophet is spoken of as a priest--strong evidence of the low place assigned by the writer to the external side of the religion he professed. We do however find mention of an angel, a sort of deus ex machina in the Dragon story (verses 34 ff); compare Dan 6:22.
The incident of the transportation of Habakkuk to Babylon shows that the writer had strong faith in supernatural intervention on behalf of the pious. Apart from this incident the two stories steer fairly clear of anything that is supernatural. But Bel and the Dragon verses 33-39 are a late interpolation.
VII. Author, Place and Date of Composition.
Nothing whatever is known of the author of the book and nothing definite or certain of the place or date of composition. It has been commonly felt, as by Bissell, etc., that it reflects a Babylonian origin. Clay (see Bel and the Dragon, verse 7) abounded in Babylon (but surely not only in Babylon); bronze (Bel and the Dragon, verse 7) was often used in that country for the manufacturing of images, and the lion, it is known, was native to the country (but that was the case also in Palestine in Biblical, and even post-Biblical times). None of the arguments for a Babylonian origin have much weight, and there are contrary arguments of considerable force.
The anachronisms and inconsistencies are more easily explained on the assumption of a non-Babylonian origin. Besides, the Judaism of Babylon was of a very strict and regulation kind, great attention being given to the law and to matters of ritual. There is nothing in Bel and the Dragon regarding these points (see above under "Teaching").
If we assume a Hebrew original, as there are good grounds for doing, it is quite possible that these legends were written in Palestine at a time when the Jewish religion was severely persecuted: perhaps when Antiochus VII (Sidetes, 139-128 BC) reconquered Judah for Syria and sorely oppressed the subject people. Yet nothing very dogmatic can be said as to this. We cannot infer much from the style of the Hebrew (or Aramaic?), since no Semitic original has come down to us. It is quite clear that these "additions" imply the existence of the canonical Book of Dan and belong to a subsequent date, for they contain later developments of traditions respecting Daniel. The canonical Book of Daniel is dated by modern scholars about 160 BC, so that a date about 136 BC (see above) could not be far amiss.
If, on the other hand, we take for granted that the Septuagint is the original text of the book, the date of that recension is the date of the work itself. It seems probable that this recension of Daniel was made in Egypt about 150 BC (see 1 Macc 1:54; 2:59), and we have evidence that up to that date the "three additions" formed no part of the book, though they exist in all Greek and Syriac manuscripts of Daniel, which have come down to us. Probably the "additions" existed as separate compositions for some time before they were joined to Daniel proper, but it is hardly too much to assume that they were united no later than 100 BC. Yet the data for reaching a conclusion are very slight. It may be added that the Greek of the Septuagint is distinctly Alexandrian in its character, as Westcott, Bissell and others have pointed out. Theodotion's version is supposed to have been made at Ephesus toward the end of the 2nd century AD.
VIII. Canonicity and Authenticity.
The Alexandrian Jews, recognizing the Septuagint as their Bible, accepted the whole of the Apocrypha as canonical. The Palestine Jews, on the other hand, limited their canonical Scriptures to the Hebrew Old Testament. There is, of course, some uncertainty (largely no doubt because it was originally a translation from the Hebrew) as to whether the Septuagint at the first included the Apocrypha in its whole extent or not, but all the evidence points to the fact that it did, though individual books like Dan existed apart before they formed a portion of the Greek or Egyptian canon.
In the early Christian church all the three "additions" are quoted as integral parts of Dan by Greek and by Latin Fathers, as e.g. by Irenaeus (IV, 5, 2 f); Tertullian (De idololatria c.18); Cyprian (Ad fortunatum, c.11).
By a decree of the Council of Trent these "additions" were for the Roman church made as much a part of the Bible canon as the Hebrew Book of Daniel. Protestant churches have as a rule excluded the whole of the Apocrypha from their Bibles, regarding its books as either "Deutero-canonical" or "non-canonical." In consequence of this attitude among Protestants the Apocrypha has until lately been greatly neglected by Protestant writers. But a great change is setting in, and some of the best commentaries by Protestant scholars produced in recent years deal with the Apocrypha and its teaching.
Julius Africanus (flourished about first half of 3rd century AD) was the first to impugn the truth of the stories embodied in the "additions" to Daniel. This he did in a letter to Origen to which the recipient vigorously replied.
The improbabilities and contradictions of these three pieces have often been pointed out from the time of Julius Africanus down to the present day. The following points may be set down as specimens: (1) Daniel is called a priest in the Septuagint (Bel and the Dragon, verse 1), and yet he is identified with the prophet of that name. (2) Habakkuk the prophet (he is so called in Theodotion (see Bel and the Dragon, verse 33), and no other can be intended) is made to be a contemporary of Daniel and also of the Persian king Cyrus (see Bel and the Dragon, verses 1 and 33 in the English Bible). Now Cyrus conquered Babylon in 538 BC, the principal Jews in Babylon returning to Palestine the following year. The events narrated in Bel and the Dragon could not have occurred during the time Cyrus was king of Babylon, but the Septuagint speaks of "the king" without naming him. (3) It was not Cyrus but Xerxes who destroyed the image of Bel, this being in 475 BC (see Herodotus i.183; Strabo xvi.1; Arrian, Exped. Alex., vii.1). (4) It is further objected that dragon-worship in Babylon, such as is implied in the dragon story, is contrary to fact. Star-worship, it has been said, did exist, but not animal-worship. So Eichhorn and Fritzsche. But there is every reason for believing that the worship of living animals as representing deity, and especially of the living serpent, existed in Babylon as among other nations of antiquity, including the Greeks and Romans (see Herzog, 1st edition, article "Drache zu Babylon," by J. G. Muller). It has already been pointed out (see list of meanings) that the word "dragon" denotes a serpent.
LITERATURE.
Eichhorn, Einleitung in die apoc. Schriften des Alten Testaments (1795), 431 ff (remarkable for its time: compares the Septuagint and Theodotion); W. H. Daubney, The Three Additions to Daniel (Cambridge, 1906; contains much matter though rather uncritically treated); the commentaries of Fritzsche (Vol I: still very rich in material; it forms part of the Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch); Bissell (in Lange's series, but not a translation); Ball Speaker's Commentary (this is the best English commentary on the Apocrypha. See also Schurer, Geschichte3,III , 333, and his article inRE 3, I, 639; and the articles by Kamphausen inEB , I, 1014; Toy, in Jewish Encyclopedia,II , 650; R. H. Charles, Encyclopedia Brittanica, VII, 807, and especially that by J. Turner Marshall in HDB, I, 267. Fritzsche Libri Veteris Testamenti Graece (1871), and Swete, The Old Testament in Greek, III, 1894, and later editions, give the Septuagint and Theodotion on parallel pages. In the edition of the Septuagint edited by Tischendorf, the Septuagint is given in the text and Theodotion in an appendix.
T. Witton Davies
be'-la.
See ZOAR .
be'-la (bela`, "destruction"; the King James Version Belah, Gen 46:21):
(1) Bela, the son of Beor, was the first king of Edom previous to the kingdom of Israel and reigned in the city of Dinhabah (Gen 36:32 f; 1 Ch 1:43 f). Septuagint Codex Alexandrinus, Balak.
(2) Bela, the firstborn son of Benjamin (Gen 46:21; 1 Ch 7:6 f; 1 Ch 8:1). He was the head of the family of the Belaites (Nu 26:38), the father of Addar (called Ard, Nu 26:40), Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan (compare Shephupham, Nu 26:39), Huram (1 Ch 8:3-5; Nu 26:40).
(3) Bela, a son of Azaz, of the tribe of Reuben, was a man of great power and wealth. His possessions reached from Nebo to the Euphrates (1 Ch 5:8 ff).
A. L. Breslich
be'-la-its (bal`i, "belonging to Bela"): The descendants of Bela (Nu 26:38). Compare BELA (2).
belsh: The primary idea of this word is "to gush forth" as a fountain. As used in Ps 59:7 the thought is that these enemies had so cherished these evil thoughts and bitter wrath that now the heart is a very fountain of evil, and has taught the tongue how to give utterance thereto. But the previous verse shows that the Psalmist also had in mind the howling and barking of the dogs about the city. The imprecations of his enemies are like the snarling, howling, barking of dogs which in an eastern city makes the night hideous with the noise, and is continued until the daybreak.
Jacob W. Kapp
bel'-e-mus (Belemos; Balsamus): An officer of King Artaxerxes in Palestine associated with Beeltethmus in hindering the rebuilding of the temple (1 Esdras 2:16): called Bishlam in Ezr 4:7.
be'-li-al, bel'-yal (beliya`al; Beliar): This name, occurring very frequently in the Old Testament, has the sense of "worthlessness" (compare 2 Sam 23:6 margin); accordingly in such phrases as "sons of Belial" (Jdg 20:13; 1 Sam 10:27, etc.), "men of Belial" (1 Sam 30:22; 1 Ki 21:13, etc.), which the English Revised Version usually retains, the American Standard Revised Version more correctly renders, "base fellows" (so "daughter of Belial" 1 Sam 1:16, "wicked woman"). There is here no suggestion a proper name. Afterward, however, "Belial" became a proper name for Satan, or for Antichrist (thus frequently in the Jewish Apocalyptic writings, e.g. in XII the Priestly Code (P), Book Jubilees, Asc Isa, Sib Or). In this sense Paul used the word in 2 Cor 6:15, "What concord hath Christ with Belial?" (Beliar). Bousset thinks that Paul's "man of sin" in 2 Thess 2:3, where some authorities read "man of lawlessness," is a translation of this term. The sense at least is similar.
See ANTICHRIST ;MAN OF SIN .
James Orr
be-li': Is the translation of kachash, "to be untrue" (Jer 5:12), "They have belied the Lord" (the American Standard Revised Version "denied Yahweh"), here used as synonym of "give the lie to."
In The Wisdom of Solomon 1:11 "belle" translates katapseudomai (the kata prefix referring to the kata in katalalia in the same verse), "A mouth that belieth destroyeth a soul."
be-lef'.
See FAITH .
be-lev'-ers (in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of Acts 5:14, for posteuontes, the Revised Version, margin "believing"; in the King James Version of 1 Tim 4:12 for hoi pistoi, the Revised Version (British and American) "them that believe"): Equivalent phrases, they (he, she) that believe (for hoi pepisteukotes; hoi, pisteuontes; (adj.), pistos, etc.) occur frequently as a regular description of those who professed their faith in Christ, and attached themselves to the Christian church. The one essential condition of admission into the Christian community was, that men should believe in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). The actual experiences of the men thus denoted varied with all the possible degrees and modifications of FAITH (which see). Believers are nowhere in the New Testament distinguished as a subordinate class from the "Christians who know" as in the Gnostic antithesis of pistikoi and gnostikoi, "believers" and "knowers."
T. Rees
(metsilloth, pa`amon): The former of these terms occurs only once (Zec 14:20) where it is thus translated. It is derived from a verb meaning "to tingle" or "dirl" (1 Sam 3:11), and there is, therefore, no objection etymologically to rendering the noun by "bells." But the little bell attached to the harness of horses would hardly be a suitable place for a fairly long inscription, and as buckles shaped exactly like cymbals (see MUSIC ) were used as ornaments for horses, "cymbals" is probably a better rendering.
The other Hebrew word for bell is found only in Ex 28:33 f; 39:25,26, where "bells of gold" are directed to be attached to the hem of Aaron's official robe, that the people may hear him when he enters and quits the sanctuary. Bells were not employed by the Hebrews to summon the congregation to worship, nor do Mohammedans so use them at the present day. The church bell is a peculiarly Christian institution, said to have been introduced by Bishop Paulinus of Nola in Campania, who lived about the end of the 4th century. Little bells, however, like those attached to the hem of Aaron's robe, frequently form part of the harness of horses, or are fastened to the necks of the he-goats or wethers that lead the flock in eastern lands.
James Millar
bel'-oz, bel'-us: The word occurs once only in English Versions of the Bible, in Jer 6:29, where the prophet is predicting the coming of the destroyer (verse 26), "a great nation" from "the north country" (verse 22), down upon Israel, because "all of them deal corruptly" (verse 28). "The bellows blow fiercely; the leads is of the fire." Here the imagery is drawn from the refiner's art, and the "bellows" are those used to make the refiner's fires burn fiercely.
See CRAFTS ,II , 10.
bel'-i: gachon = "the external abdomen" (Gen 3:14; Lev 11:42). qobhah = "the abdominal cavity" (Nu 25:8 the American Standard Revised Version "body"). beTen = "the internal abdomen," "the womb" (1 Ki 7:20; Job 15:2,35 the King James Version; Job 20:15,23; 40:16; Ps 17,14; Prov 13:25; 18:20; Jer 1:5; Ezek 3:3); also figuratively "the internal regions," "the body of anything" (Jon 2:2). me`eh = "intestines," "abdomen" (Dan 2:32; Jon 1:17; 2:1,2). In the New Testament koilia = "a cavity," espec ially the abdominal (Mt 12:40; 15:17; Mk 7:19); the seat of appetite and of the carnal affections (Rom 16:18; 1 Cor 6:13; Phil 3:19; Rev 10:9,10); the innermost of the soul (the American Revised Version, margin Jn 7:38).
Frank E. Hirsch
bel'-ma-im, the King James Version Belmen (Belmaim, Judith 7:3; Bailmain, 4:4): A place in the neighborhood of Dothan (Judith 7:3), to which warning was sent to prepare for the invasion of Holofernes (Judith 4:4). It probably answers to the modern Bir Bil`ameh (Ibleam), a ruined site about half a mile South of Jenin.
bel'-men, bel'-mon.
See BELMAIM .
bel'-o-man-si.
See AUGURY ,IV , 2.
be-luv'-ed, be-luv'-d' (agapetos): A term of affectionate endearment common to both Testaments; in the Old Testament found, 26 out of 42 times, in Solomon's Song of Love. Limited chiefly to two Heb words and their derivatives: 'ahebh, "to breathe" or "long for," hence, to love, corresponding to the New Testament, agapao, "to prefer," i.e. a love based on respect and benevolent regard; dodh, "love," chiefly love between the sexes, based on sense and emotion, akin to phileo (Latin amare). Used occasionally, in their nobler sense, interchangeably, e.g. the former of a husband's love for his wife (Dt 21:15,16); twice of a lover (Song 1:14,16), thus lifting the affection of the Song of Solomon out of mere amorousness into the realm of the spiritual and possibly Messianic. Both words used of God's love for His chosen: e.g. Solomon, "beloved of his God" (Neh 13:26); Benjamin "beloved of Yahweh" (Dt 33:12); so even of wayward Israel (Jer 11:15).
In the New Testament "beloved" used exclusively of Divine and Christian love, an affection begotten in the community of the new spiritual life in Christ, e.g. "beloved in the Lord" (Rom 16:8). The beauty, unity, endearment of this love is historically unique, being peculiarly Christian. "Brethren" in Christ are "beloved" (1 Thess 1:4; 1 Cor 15:58; Jas 1:16; 2:5). Many individuals are specified by name: Timothy (2 Tim 1:2); Philemon (Philem 1:1); Amplias, Urbane, Stachys, Persis (Rom 16:8,9,12), etc. The aged John is the conspicuous New Testament illustration of the depth and tenderness of Christian love. In his epistles alone he addresses his disciples 12 times as "beloved." Paul terms "God's elect" "holy and beloved" (Col 3:12).
The term rises to still Diviner significance as an epithet of Christ, whom Paul, grateful for His "freely bestowed" grace, terms "the Beloved." This is the word used repeatedly to express God the Father's infinite affection for Jesus His "beloved Son" (Mt 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mk 1:11; 9:7; Lk 3:22; 20:13).
Agapetos rendered as above 47 times is 9 times "dearly beloved" (the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly omits "dearly") and 3 times "well beloved" (the Revised Version (British and American) omits "well"). The former rendering found only once in the Old Testament (yedhidhuth, "something beloved"), portraying God's tender love for His people: "dearly beloved of my soul" (Jer 12:7). Thrice is Daniel spoken of as "greatly beloved" of Gabriel and of God (hamudhoth, "precious," i.e. delight = beloved; Dan 9:23; 10:11,19). Through the apostles the word has become familiar in pastoral and sermonic address. Few New Testament words better illustrate the power and impress of the Christian spirit on succeeding centuries than this.
Dwight M. Pratt
bel-shaz'-ar (belsha'tstsar; Baltasar, Babylonian Bel-shar-usur): According to Dan 5:30, he was the Chaldean king under whom Babylon was taken by Darius the Mede. The Babylonian monuments speak a number of times of a Bel-shar-usur who was the "firstborn son, the offspring of the heart of" Nabunaid, the last king of the Babylonian empire, that had been founded by Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, at the time of the death of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, in 626 BC. There is no doubt that this Belshazzar is the same as the Belshazzar of Dnl. It is not necessary to suppose that Belshazzar was at any time king of the Babylonian empire in the sense that Nebuchadnezzar and Nabunaid were. It is probable, as M. Pognon argues, that a son of Nabunaid, called Nabunaid after his father, was king of Babylon, or Babylonian king, in Harran (Haran), while his father was overlord in Babylon. This second Nabunaid is called "the son of the offspring of the heart" of Nabunaid his father. It is possible that this second Nabundid was the king who was killed by Cyrus, when he crossed the Tigris above Arbela in the 9th year of Nabunaid his father, and put to death the king of the country (see the Nabunaid-Cyrus Chronicle col. ii, 17); since according to the Eshki-Harran inscription, Nabunaid the Second died in the 9th year of Nabunaid the First. Belshazzar may have been the son of the king who is said in the same chronicle to have commanded the Babylonian army in Accad from the 6th to the 11th year of Nabunaid I; or, possibly longer, for the annals before the 6th and after the 11th year are broken and for the most part illegible. This same son of the king is most probably mentioned again in the same chronicle as having died in the night in which Babylon was captured by Gobryas of Gutium. As Nabunaid II, though reigning at Hatran under the overlordship of his father, is called king of Babylon on the same inscription on which his father is called by the same title; so Belshazzar may have been called king of Babylon, although he was only crown prince. It is probable also, that as Nabunaid I had made one of his sons king of Harran, so he had made another king of Chaldea. This would account for Belshazzar's being called in Dan 5:30 the Chaldean king, although, to be sure, this word Chaldean may describe his race rather than his kingdom. The 3rd year of Belshazzar spoken of in Dan 8:1, would then refer to his 3rd year as subking of the Chaldeans under his father Nabunaid, king of Babylon, just as Cambyses was later subking of Babylon, while his fathe r Cyrus was king of the lands. From the Book of Daniel we might infer that this subkingdom embraced Chaldea and Susiana, and possibly the province of Babylon; and from the Nabunaid-Cyrus Chronicle that it extended over Accad as well. That the city of Babylon alone was sometimes at least governed by an official called king is highly probable, since the father of Nergal-har-ucur is certainly, and the father of Nabunaid I is probably, called king of Babylon, in both of which cases, the city, or at most the province, of Babylon must have been meant, since we know to a certainty all of the kings who had been ruling over the empire of Babylon since 626 BC, when Nabopolassar became king, and the names of neither of these fathers of kings is found among them.
In addition to Nabunaid II, Belshazzar seems to have had another brother named Nebuchadnezzar, since the two Babylonian rebels against Darius Hystaspis both assumed the name of Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabunaid (see the Behistun Inscription, I, 85, 89, 95). He had a sister also named Ina-esagilaremat, and a second named probably Ukabu'shai'-na.
Belshazzar had his own house in Babylon, where he seems to have been engaged in the woolen or clothing trade. He owned also estates from which he made large gifts to the gods. His father joins his name with his own in some of his prayers to the gods, and apparently appointed him commander of the army of Accad, whose especial duty it was to defend the city of Babylon against the attacks of the armies of Media and Persia.
It would appear from the Nabunaid-Cyrus Chronicle, that Belshazzar was de facto king of the Babylonian empire, all that was left of it, from the 4th to the 8th month of the 17th year of the reign of his father Nabunaid, and that he died on the night in which Babylon was taken by Gobryas of Gutium (that is, probably, Darius the Mede (see DARIUS )).
The objection to the historical character of the narrative of Daniel, based upon the fact that Belshazzar in 5:11,18 is said to have been the son of Nebuchadnezzar whereas the monuments state that he was the son of Nabunaid, is fully met by supposing that one of them was his real and the other his adoptive father; or by supposing that the queen-mother and Daniel referred to the greatest of his predecessors as his father, just as Omri is called by the Assyrians the father of Jehu, and as the claimants to the Medo-Pers throne are called on the Behistun Inscription the sons of Cyaxares, and as at present the reigning sheikhs of northern Arabia are all called the sons of Rashid, although in reality they are not his sons.
LITERATURE.
The best sources of information as to the life and times of Belshazzar for English readers are: The Records of the Past; Pinches, The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records of Assyria and Babylonia; Sayce. The Higher Criticism and the Monuments; and W. W. Wright's two great works, Daniel and His Prophecies and Daniel and His Critics.
R. Dick Wilson
bel-te-shaz'-ar (belTsha'tstsar Babylonian BalaT-sharucur "protect his life"; Dan 4:8): The Bah name given to Daniel (Dan 1:7; 2:26; 5:12). Not to be confounded with Belshazzar.
be'-lus.
See BABEL .
ben (ben, "son"): A Levite appointed to assist as musician in the temple service (1 Ch 15:18). The text seems to be doubtful, since the name is omitted in 1 Ch 15:20 and not mentioned at all in the Septuagint.
Ben (prefix) (singular ben, "son of"; plural bene, "sons of" = Aramaic bar): This word is used in the singular or plural to express relationship of almost any kind: (1) to a person; as such it is found as part of many compound names like Benjamin, Benhur, etc. (compare Bar); (2) to a clan; in this connection it is found in the plural only: "children of Israel," "children of Ammon," etc.; (3) to a town; perhaps as place of birth ("son of Jabesh"; 2 Ki 15:10 ff); (4) to occupation, state of life, age, character, quality even of things; (5) peculiarly employed in the sense of "scholar disciple" ("son of prophet"), or in phrases like "son of death," etc.; (6) in poetry, "sons of flame" for "sparks" (Job 5:7 margin), etc. The frequent metaphorical use of the word indicates that it was rarely used to express the relation of father to son like the Arabic Ibn. Compare HPN , 64 ff.
A. L. Breslich
ben-a-bin'-a-dab, ben-ab-i-na'-dab (ben 'abhinadhabh, "son of Abinadab"): One of the "captains" of Solomon who provided for the king and his household, each for a month in the year (1 Ki 4:11). His district was the region of Dor. In the King James Version he is called "the son of Abinadab." His wife was Tappath, the daughter of Solomon.
ben-am'-i (ben `ammi, "son of my kinsman," Gen 19:38): The progenitor of the Ammonites was a son of Lot's younger daughter, born after the destruction of Sodom. The account of his birth as well as that of Moab was commonly regarded as an expression of Israel's intense hatred and contempt toward these two nations. However, this idea is rather unwarranted, in view of the fact that the origin of the tribe of Judah (which is held in especial honor by J) is accounted for in a similiar way (Gen 38). Gunkel (Schopfung und Chaos, 190) suggests that the narrative (Gen 19:30-38) was originally a Moabitic account tracing the common origin of Moab and Ammon to Lot. It presupposes a universal catastrophe--such as the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim suggests--in which all the human race, save Lot and his two daughters, perished. In order to avert the extinction of the race, his daughters resorted to incestuous practices. In this case we have here a Moabite parallel to the Deluge story (Skinner, Genesis, 313-14). While the common origin of the two brother tribes is undoubtedly a fact (Jdg 10:6; 11:15,18,25; Dt 2:19; 2 Ch 20, etc.), the folk-etymology of their names is rather suspicious. The name Ben-Ammi is probably derived from the deity "Emu," which is the name for Nergal among the shuchites on the West of the Euphrates a land which corresponds to the position of the Bene-`Ammo, "children of his people" (Nu 22:5). The chief god of the Kataban Arabs was called Ammi (Hom., ZDMG, V, 95, 525, note 1). In cuneiform inscriptions this name appears as part of the title of the Ammonite rulers (HDB). Neubauer (Studia Biblica, 1-26) suggests that the name Balaam is a compound of Bel plus Am, that is, "Am is Lord." For other compounds with Ammi see Gray,HPN , 41-60.
S. Cohon
ben-de'-ker (ben-deqer, "son of Deker," the King James Version "son of Dekar"): The word is derived from a Hebrew root meaning "to pierce." Compare HPN , 69. One of the 12 officers who provided victuals for King Solomon and his household (1 Ki 4:9).
ben-ge'-ber (ben-gebher, "son of Geber"; the King James Version son of Geber; the word is derived from a Hebrew root meaning "to be strong." Compare HPN , 66, 69): One of the twelve commissariat officers in the service of Solomon (1 Ki 4:13).
ben-ha'-il (ben-chayil, "son of strength"; compare HPN , 65, 231): One of the princes who was sent by Jehoshaphat "to teach in the cities of Judah" (2 Ch 17:7).
ben-ha'-nan (ben-chanan, "son of grace"): A son of Shimon of the house of Judah (1 Ch 4:20).
ben-he'-sed (ben-checedh, "son of Hesed"; the King James Version son of Hesed; the word is derived from a Hebrew root meaning "to be kind"): A commissariat officer in the service of Solomon (1 Ki 4:10).
ben-hur' (ben-chur, "son of Hur"; the King James Version son of Hur; from a Hebrew root meaning "to be white." Compare HPN , 69, note 3): One of the twelve commissariat officers in the service of Solomon (1 Ki 4:8).
ben-ja'-a-kan.
See BENE-JAAKAN .
ben-o'-ni (ben-'oni; huios odunes mou, "son of my sorrow"): The name given by the dying Rachel to her new-born son; changed by his father Jacob to BENJAMIN (Gen 35:18) which see.
ben-zo'-heth (ben-zoheth, "son of Zoheth," from a Hebrew root meaning "to be strong(?)"): A son of Ishi of the house of Judah (1 Ch 4:20).
be-na'-ya, be-ni'-a (benayah, benayahu, "Yahweh has built." Compare HPN , 182, 265, 268):
(1) Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada of Kabzeel (compare Josh 15:21), was a man of "mighty deeds" and was more honorable than any of the mighty men of David except the three chiefs. Therefore David made him his chief counselor (2 Sam 23:23 m; compare 1 Ch 27:34 where the order of names seems to be reversed) and set him over the Cherethites (compare Carites, 2 Ki 11:4 ff and margin) and Pelethites and he was made the 3rd captain of the host and chief over the course of the 3rd month (1 Ch 27:5 f; 2 Sam 8:18; 20:23; 1 Ch 18:17; 2 Sam 23:20 ff; 11:22 ff). Being a true friend of David (compare 2 Sam 15:18) he did not take part in the usurpation of Adonijah (1 Ki 1:8,10,26), and was therefore with others chosen by the king to proclaim Solomon king over Israel (1 Ki 1:32 ff) and later by Solomon to execute Adonijah (1 Ki 2:25), Joab (1 Ki 2:29 ff), and Shimei (1 Ki 2:46). In recognition of his services Solomon appointed him over the host in Joab's place (1 Ki 2:35; 4:4).
(2) Benaiah, a Pirathonite (compare Jdg 12:13,15), was one of David's 30 mighty men (2 Sam 23:30; 1 Ch 11:31). He was captain over the course of the 11th month numbering 24,000 (1 Ch 27:14).
(3) A ruler of the house of Simeon (1 Ch 4:36).
(4) A Levite of second degree appointed as singer (1 Ch 15:18) with "psalteries Set to Alamoth" (1 Ch 15:20; 16:5).
(5) A priest appointed "to blow the trumpet before the ark of God" (1 Ch 15:24; 16:6).
(6) The father of Jehoiada (1 Ch 27:34), but see (1) above.
(7) An ancestor of Jahaziel of the house of Asaph (2 Ch 20:14).
(8) An overseer in the service of Hezekiah (2 Ch 31:13).
(9, 10, 11, 12) Four different men of Israel who had taken "strange wives" (Ezr 10:25,30,35,43).
(13) The father of Pelatiah who was seen by Ezekiel in his vision (Ezek 11:1,13).
A. L. Breslich
(qeresh): Found only in English Versions of the Bible in Ezek 27:6, in the prophet's "lamentation over Tyre": "They have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim," where the word evidently stands for the "benches" of the boat whose "mast" (verse 5) and "oars" (verse 6) have just been described, in the vivid figs. of speech in which the city itself is pictured as a merchantship. Compare verse 8, "Thy wise men,O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots."
See SEAT .
ben-e-be'-rak (bene beraq; Banebarak): A town in the territory of Dan (Josh 19:45), represented by the modern village Ibn Ibraq, about an hour Southeast of Jaffa.
ben-e-ja'-a-kan, be-ne-ja'-a-kan (bene ya`aqan: Nu 33:31,32).
See BEEROTH BENE-JAAKAN .
be-neth': The adverb for "under" (kato). In Jn 8:23, the words "ye are from beneath," suggest hell in contrast to heaven. But the succeeding clause, "ye are of this world," gives the key for the interpretation. Earth, not hell, is expressed, although "that more awful meaning surely is not excluded" (Alford).
ben-e-dik'-shun: From the earliest times the records bear testimony that pronouncing the benediction or giving the blessing was a common practice. In the temple service, this duty was assigned to the Aaronites and was made an impressive part of the service. The form of the benediction used is given in Nu 6:22-27. References to this practice may be found in Lev 9:22; Dt 10:8; 2 Ch 30:27. After a time, minute directions were given concerning it and careful preparation was made for this part of the service. All Aaronites, of proper age, were entitled to perform this service, except those who by previous conduct or on account of physical defect were disqualified. One who had killed another, whether intentionally or otherwise, or who had violated the marriage vows, had given himself excessively to wine drinking or other excesses, or indeed had been guilty of unrighteous conduct or life, was not only prohibited from pronouncing the blessing, but was required to withdraw before this part of the service was performed. If one was blind even of one eye, or had a defect in his hands or speech, or was a hunchback, he was also excluded. Before the priest could engage in this service he was required to wash his hands. Then, with uplifted hands, while the people stood, he uttered the words of blessing. The main idea was that thus the name of Yahweh was put on the people. Later it came to be regarded as having some special blessing in and of itself, a result against which the more spiritual of the priests protested.
It was common not only to pronounce the benediction in the public worship but also in the family. We have such instances in Gen 9:26,27; 27:27-30. This practice prevailed also on many other occasions not only in Israel, but among the heathen as well. We may readily see, therefore, that from the very beginning of the Christian church the use of the benediction was common. In the course of time an extensive liturgy developed on this subject and it may be said that there are now three distinct ideas in the church as to the benediction. That section of the church which regards the minister as clothed with sacerdotal powers, holds that the blessings pronounced are actually conferred in the act of the utterance of the words, because of the powers conferred upon him when he was set aside for the sacred office. On the other hand it is held that it is merely a prayer that God may bestow certain blessings on the people. From this position others dissent, and teach that it is the declaration of the special privileges and relations in which those stand who have entered into covenant fellowship with Christ; that the blessings now declared are theirs by fight of that relation, and are conferred upon them by the Holy Spirit. The Greek and Roman Catholic churches take the first portion, and therefore we find among them much of detail and minutiae as to the manner in which it should be pronounced. In the Greek church the priest raises his hand with the thumb touching the third finger, signifying the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father alone; or according to others to form the sacred name IHS. In the Roman church the form is, the thumb, first and second fingers are to be open, to symbolize the Trinity. In this church too, the benediction is pronounced in a multitude of cases and in each case the thing so blessed by the priest is made sacred. Crosses, church vessels, houses, paschal eggs, churchyards, are thus blessed. Every parish has a collection of these forms of blessing in what is known as the "Benedictionale." The authority for this is based on some documents claiming to reach back to early church history, but as they belong to the forged decretal class, the position of the Roman church on this subject is untenable.
Apostolic benedictions, as we find them in the epistles, present considerable variety. One of the striking features is that in a number of cases there is the omission of the Holy Ghost. The best explanation seems to be that the Father and the Son effect the redemption of the world and the Holy Ghost applies the blessing so wrought out. "Grace, mercy and peace" may then be said to be sent from the Father and the Son through the Holy Ghost to be the possession of all who have come into the kingdom. The third person of the Trinity, being thus in the act of applying the blessing, is not mentioned. The fact that in other cases Father, Son and Holy Ghost are mentioned, proves that the writers knew the character and office of the Holy Ghost. The most common form used today is that in 2 Cor 13:14. Occasionally some changes are introduced by ministers, but it would seem best to adhere strictly to the Scriptural forms.
See BLESSING ;SALUTATION .
Jacob W. Kapp
ben-e-fak'-ter (Greek euergetes, Lk 22:25): There is here a probable allusion to two kings of Egypt (Ptolemy III and VII), who had the surname "Euergetes," of whom the period of the first was 247-242 BC, and of the second, 147-117 BC. Jesus draws the contrast between worldly kingdoms, in which the title "benefactor" is given those who rule with all the splendor of earthly display and luxury, and His kingdom, in which it belongs only to those whose work is that of humble, obscure and often menial service.
ben'-e-fit (gemul = "a deed," 2 Ch 32:25); yaTabh = (causat.) "to make well," "to do good" (Jer 18:10). The plural of gemul, is found is found in Ps 103:2. Ps 68:19 (the King James Version) should be translated "Blessed be the Lord. Day by day he sustains us; God is our salvation." charis = "gift"; "grace" (2 Cor 1:15, "a second benefit": that is, two visits in the same journey). euergesia = "good deed done" (1 Tim 6:2: "because they that partake of the benefit (of their service) are believing and beloved"); agathos = "good" (Philemon 1:14, the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "goodness").
Frank E. Hirsch
be-nev'-o-lens: the King James Version translation of phrase in Textus Receptus of the New Testament of 1 Cor 7:3, rejected by the Revised Version (British and American) which following Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek translates Greek opheile, "due." This reference to the marriage relation is explained in 7:4. Compare Ex 21:10.
ben-ha'-dad (ben-hadhadh; Septuagint huios Hader):
The Name
1. The Kingdom of Syria Founded
1. Hadad-'idri of the Monuments
4. Biblical History Confirmed by the Monuments
7. Panic of Syrians at Samaria
3. Downfall of Damascus before Ramman-Nirari III
The Name:
The name of three kings of Syria mentioned in the historical books. Hadad is the Syrian god of storms, and is apparently identical with Rimmon (2 Ki 5:18), the Assyrian Rammanu, "the Thunderer," whose temple was in Damascus. The name Benhadad, "son of Hadad," accords with the custom which obtained in Semitic mythology of calling a king or a nation the son of the national god, as we have Mesha`, son of Chemosh, and the Moabites, children of Chemosh. Benhadad seems to have become a general designation for the kings of Syria (Am 1:4; Jer 49:27).
1. The Kingdom of Syria Founded:
Benhadad I was the son of Tabrimmon, who is called (1 Ki 15:18) "the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus." Hezion has been with some plausibility identified with Rezon (1 Ki 11:23,25) who founded the kingdom of Damascus and imparted to Syria that temper of hostility to Israel which became hereditary. Meanwhile the Arameans had shaken themselves free from the rule of the Hittites, and with Damascus for a center had planted strong settlements in the plains westward from the Euphrates. By the time that Benhadad entered into this succession, Syria was the strongest power in this region of Western Asia, and ready to take advantage of every opportunity of increasing her dominions.
Such an opportunity presented itself in the appeal of Asa, king of Judah, for help against Baasha king of Israel. The two Hebrew kingdoms had been at feud ever since their disruption. Baasha had pushed his frontier southward to Ramah, within 5 miles of Jerusalem, and this commanding eminence he proceeded to fortify. The danger of a hostile fortress overlooking his capital, and the humiliation of his rival's presence so near, were more than Asa could bear. It was at this juncture that he bethought him of Benhadad. Taking all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasury of the house of the Lord, and the treasury of the king's house, he sent them to Benhadad with a request for an alliance begging him at the same time to break off the league he had with Baasha and thus enable Asa to dislodge his enemy. Benhadad saw an opening for the aggrandizement of his kingdom and broke off the alliance he had had with Jeroboam and Baasha. By an invasion of Northern Israel he obliged Baasha to withdraw from Ramah and confine himself to the neighborhood of his own capital (1 Ki 15:16 ff). Judah obtained relief, but the price paid for it was too great. Asa had surrendered his treasures, and very likely some of his independence.
For his shortsightedness in laying himself under obligation to Benhadad and relying upon the help of Syria rather than upon the Lord his God, Asa was rebuked by the prophet Hanani (2 Ch 16:1 ff). Benhadad had extended his territories by the transaction and seems to have exercised henceforward some sort of sovereignty over both the Hebrew kingdoms.
LITERATURE.
McCurdy HPM, I, 256; H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, 186.
1. Hadad-'idri of the Monuments:
Benhadad II was in all probability the son of Benhadad I. He is the Hadad-ezer, or Hadad-'idri, of the monuments. He comes first upon the scene of the Biblical history invading the land of Israel with a large host, in which were 32 tributary kings, and horses and chariots. He had penetrated as far as Samaria, the newly built city of Omri, now the capital of his son Ahab. Benhadad and his Syrian host had laid siege to Samaria and Ahab had been summoned to surrender. Ahab was disposed to come to terms, but the intolerable proposals made by Benhadad drove him to resistance. Encouraged by the elders of the people, and acting on the counsel of a prophet, Ahab made a sortie and falling upon the carousing Syrians put them so completely to rout that Benhadad himself only escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
2. Expeditions against Israel:
Next year the Syrians resolved to retrieve their defeat saying of the Israelites, "Their God is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they." Ahab had been warned to expect the return of the Syrians and was prepared for the fresh attack. For seven days the two armies faced each other, the Israelites "like two little flocks of kids" before a host that filled the country. On the seventh day they joined battle near to Aphek, and the Syrians met again an overwhelming defeat. Yahweh was proved to be God both of the plains and of the hills. Benhadad was taken prisoner, and appealing to the clemency of the victor, he persuaded Ahab to spare his life.
A treaty was agreed upon between the two monarchs under which Ahab's people were to have bazaars of their own in Damascus, as it would appear Benhadad I had had for his subjects before in Samaria (1 Ki 20:1-34). The treaty was denounced by a prophet, and Ahab was warned that this man whom God had devoted to destruction would be the destruction of himself and his people. Under the treaty, however, there were three years without war between Syria and Israel.
4. Biblical History Confirmed by the Monuments:
The treaty and the resulting period of peace receive striking confirmation from the monuments. From the monolith inscription of Shalmaneser II we learn that this Assyrian king in the 6th year of his reign (854 BC) had crossed the Tigris and made his way across the Euphrates on boats of sheepskin into Syria to Chalman (Aleppo). At Karkar he encountered the combined forces of Damascus, Hamath, Israel and the states which had united to oppose his progress westward. Achabbu Sir-'lai, Ahab of Israel Damascus are Dad'idri Hadadezer (Benhadad II) of Damascus are named in the inscription with chariots, horsemen and infantry, making common cause against Shalmaneser and fighting on the same side. It was Benhadad, as we gather, that bore the brunt of the assault, but the result of the battle was the complete rout of the allies with the loss of 14,000 men. That the assistance of Israel on the occasion was the outcome of the treaty between Ahab and Benhadad, and that the combination against Shalmaneser took place dur ing the three years of peace, are in the highest degree probable.
The disaster to the allies, however, seems to have broken up the confederacy. When the king of Syria is next mentioned in Biblical history, it is defending the city of Ramoth-Gilead against the attack made upon it by Ahab, who is found now in alliance with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, attempting unsuccessfully and with fatal results to himself, to recover this city of Israel from the weakened power of Damascus. At Ramoth-Gilead Benhadad is not said to have 32 tributary kings in his train, but 32 military commanders who have taken their place (1 Ki 22:2,29-31).
The peace between Israel and Syria having been broken, there was frequent, if not continuous, war between the kingdoms, in which the prophet Elisha is a prominent figure. He healed of his leprosy Naaman, Benhadad's commander-in-chief. He disclosed to the king of Israel the places wherever Benhadad pitched his camp. He smote with blindness a great host whom Benhadad had sent with horses and chariots to seize him at Dothan, and led them into Samaria where he saw them treated kindly and sent back to their master (2 Ki 6:8-23).
7. Panic of Syrians at Samaria:
Some time after Benhadad again assembled all his host and laid siege to Samaria. So great was the famine that women ate their own children. The king of Israel sent one of his men to put Elisha to death, but Elisha closed his house against him and announced that on the morrow there would be great plenty in the city. And so it happened. Certain lepers, despairing of relief, had gone into the Syrian camp and learned that the Syrians had abandoned their camp in a panic, believing that the king of Israel had hired the kings of the Mucri and the northern Hittites to raise the siege (2 Ki 6:24 through 7:20; compare Burney's note, 7:6).
Still another notice of Benhadad II is found in the Annals of Shalmaneser, who records that in the 11th year of his reign he defeated a combination of 12 kings of the Hittites with Benhadad at their head, and slew 10,000 men. Of this. there is no record in Biblical history, but it must have been shortly before the tragedy which ended the career of the Syrian king. Benhadad had fallen sick and sent his commander-in-chief, Hazael, to inquire as to the issue of his sickness of the prophet Elisha, who was visiting Damascus. Elisha foretold the king's death, and wept as he read to Hazael the cruel purpose which the Syrian commander was even then maturing. Hazael professed to be incredulous, but he departed from Elisha and the very next day in cold blood put his master to death and ascended the throne (2 Ki 8:7-15). Thus ingloriously ended the reign of one of the most powerful of the Syrian kings.
LITERATURE.
McCurdy, HPM, I, 267 ff; Schrader, COT, I, 179 if; Winckler, Geschichte Israels, Theil I, 133-55.
Benhadad III was the son of the usurper Hazael, and though not in the dynastic succesion, assumed on the dent h of his father the dynastic name. He was contemporary with Amaziah, king of Judah; Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel; and Ramman-Nirari III, king of Assyria. The fortunes of Israel had fallen low in the days of Jehoahaz, and Hazael and Benhadad III were the instruments of Yahweh's displeasure with the nation. At this time Jehoahaz had no more than 53 horsemen and 10 chariots and 10,000 footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust in threshing (2 Ki 13:7). It was when the fortunes of Israel were at the lowest ebb by reason of the oppression of the king of Syria--by this time Benhadad--that help came to them and Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so that Israel went out from under the hands of the Syrians, "and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents (in their homes) as beforetime" (2 Ki 13:5).
The "saviour" of the Biblical narrative is the one allusion in Scripture to the king of Assyria of that day, Ramman-Nirari III, whose inscriptions record his victorious expedition to the West. "From the Euphrates to the land of the Hittites," runs an inscription, "the west country in its entire compass, Tyre, Zidon, the land Omri, Edom, Philistia as far as the Great Sea of the sunsetting, I subjected to my yoke; payment of tribute I imposed upon them. Against Syria of Damascus I marched; Mari, the king of Syria, in Damascus his royal city I besieged." He then proceeds to tell of the subjugation of the monarch and of the spoils obtained from his capital. That Mari which means in Aramaic "lord," is Benhadad III, the son of Hazael, is now generally believed.
3. Downfall of Damascus before Ramman-Nirari III:
With the capture of Damascus and the collapse of the Syrian power under Marl (Benhadad III), an era of recuperation and prosperity became possible to Israel and Judah. So it came to pass that "Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz by war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered the cities of Israel" (2 Ki 13:25).
4. Breathing Space for Israel:
Israel was able to breathe freely for a time and Jeroboam II restored the Northern Kingdom to its former extent and glory. But the flame of war which had been sent into the house of Hazael and which devoured the palaces of Benhadad (Am 1:4 ff) was only waiting the time when the Assyrians would be free to renew their expeditions to the West and carry Samaria and Israel "into captivity beyond Damascus" (Am 5:27).
LITERATURE.
McCurdy, HPM, I, 291 ff; Schrader, COT, I, 202-ff.
T. Nicol.
be-ni'-nu (beninu, "our son"): A Levite who with Nehemiah sealed the covenant (Neh 10:13).
ben'-ja-min (binyamin, or binyamin; Beniaein, Beniamin):
The youngest of Jacob's sons. His mother Rachel died in giving him birth. As she felt death approaching she called him Benoni, "son of my sorrow." Fearing, probably, that this might bode evil for the child--for names have always preserved a peculiar significance in the East--Jacob called him Benjamin, "son of the fight hand" (Gen 35:17 ff). He alone of Jacob's sons was born in Palestine, between Bethel and Ephrath. Later in the chapter, in the general enumeration of the children born in Paddan-ar am, the writer fails to except Benjamin (Gen 35:24). Joseph was his full brother. In the history where Benjamin appears as an object of solicitude to his father and brothers, we must not forget that he was already a grown man. At the time of the descent of Israel to Egypt Joseph was about 40 years of age. Benjamin was not much younger, and was himself the father of a family. The phrase in Gen 44:20, "a little one," only describes in oriental fashion one much younger than the speaker. And as the youngest of the family no doubt he was made much of. Remorse over their heartless treatment of his brother Joseph may have made the other brothers especially tender toward Benjamin. The conduct of his brethren all through the trying experiences in Egypt places them in a more attractive light than we should have expected; and it must have been a gratification to their father (Gen 42 ff). Ten sons of Benjamin are named at the time of their settlement in Egypt (Gen 46:21).
At the Exodus the number of men of war in the tribe is given as 35,400. At the second census it is 45,600 (Nu 1:37; 26:41). Their place in the host was with the standard of the camp of Ephraim on the west of the tabernacle, their prince being Abidan the son of Gideoni (Nu 2:22 f). Benjamin was represented among the spies by Palti the son of Raphu; and at the division of the land the prince of Benjamin was Elidad the son of Chislon (Nu 13:9; 34:21).
The boundaries of the lot that fell to Benjamin are pretty clearly indicated (Josh 18:11 ff). It lay between Ephraim on the North and Judah on the South. The northern frontier started from the Jordan over against Jericho, and ran to the north of that town up through the mountain westward past Bethaven, taking in Bethel. It then went down by Ataroth-addar to Beth-horon the nether. From this point the western frontier ran southward to Kiriath-jearim. The southern boundary ran from Kiriath-jearim eas tward to the fountain of the waters of Netophah, swept round by the south of Jerrus and passed down through the wilderness northern by shore of the Dead Sea at the mouth of the Jordan. The river formed the eastern boundary. The lot was comparatively small. This, according to Josephus, was owing to "the goodness of the land" (Ant., V, i, 22); a description that would apply mainly to the plans of Jericho. The uplands are stony, mountainous, and poor in water; but there is much good land on the western slopes.
It will be seen from the above that Benjamin held the main avenues of approach to the highlands from both East and West: that by which Joshua led Israel past Ai from Gilgal, and the longer and easier ascents from the West, notably that along which the tides of battle so often rolled, the Valley of Aijalon, by way of the Beth-horons. Benjamin also sat astride the great highway connecting North and South, which ran along the ridge of the western range, in the district where it was easiest of defense. It was a position calling for occupation by a brave and warlike tribe such as Benjamin proved to be. His warriors were skillful archers and slingers, and they seem to have cultivated the use of both hands, which gave them a great advantage in battle (Jdg 20:16; 1 Ch 8:40; 12:2, etc.). These characteristics are reflected in the Blessing of Jacob (Gen 49:27). The second deliverer of Israel in the period of the Judges was Ehud, the left-handed Benjamite (Jdg 3:15).
The Benjamites fought against Sisera under Deborah and Barak (Jdg 5:14). The story told in Jdg 20:21 presents many difficulties which cannot be discussed here. It is valuable as preserving certain features of life in these lawless times when there was no details in Israel. Whatever may be said of the details, it certainly reflects the memory of some atrocity in which the Benjamites were involved and for which they suffered terrible punishment. The election of Saul as first king over united Israel naturally lent a certain prestige to the tribe. After the death of Saul they formed the backbone of Ish-bosheth's party, and most unwillingly conceded precedence to Judah in the person of David (2 Sam 2:15,25; 3:17 ff). It was a Benjamite who heaped curses upon David in the hour of his deep humiliation (2 Sam 16:5); and the jealousy of Benjamin led to the revolt on David's return, which was so effectually stamped out by Joab (2 Sam 19 f). Part of the tribe, probably the larger part, went against Judah at the disruption of the kingdom, taking Bethel with them. 1 Ki 12:20 says that none followed the house of David but the house of Judah only. But the next verse tells us that Rehoboam gathered the men of Judah and Benjamin to fight against Jeroboam. It seems probable that as Jerusalem had now become the royal city of the house of David, the adjoining parts of Benjamin proved loyal, while the more distant joined the Northern Kingdom. After the downfall of Samaria Judah assumed control of practically the whole territory of Benjamin (2 Ki 23:15,19, etc.). Nehemiah gives the Valley of Hinnom as the south boundary of Benjamin in his time (Neh 11:30), while westward it extended to include Lod and Ono. Saul of Tarsus was a member of this tribe (Phil 3:5).
(4) A great-grandson of Benjamin, son of Jacob (1 Ch 7:10).
(5) One of those who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10:32, and probably also Neh 3:23; 12:34).
W. Ewing
See JERUSALEM .
ben'-ja-mit: One belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, such as Ehud (Jdg 3:15), Saul (1 Sam 9:1,2), Sheba (2 Sam 20:1), Shimei (1 Ki 2:8), etc.
be'-no (beno, "his son"): The son of Jaaziah of the house of Levi (1 Ch 24:26,27).
be'-on (Nu 32:3).
See BAAL-MEON .
be'-or (be`or, "destroyer"(?)):
(1) Father of Bela, the first king of Edom (Gen 36:32; 1 Ch 1:43).
(2) The father of the seer Balaam (Nu 22:5; 24:3,15; 31:8; Dt 23:4; Josh 13:22; 24:9, omitted in Septuagint; Mic 6:5; 2 Pet 2:15, the King James Version and the Revised Version, margin "Bosor").
be'-ra (bera`, "gift"(?); compare HPN , 74 note): King of Sodom (Gen 14:2) who in the battle of Siddim was subdued by Chedorlaomer.
be-ra'-ka (berakhah, "blessing," the King James Version Berachah): A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Ch 12:3).
be-ra'-ka, ber'-a-ka (the King James Version Berachah; `emeq berkhah; koilas eulogias): After the victory of Jehoshaphat and his people over Moab and Ammon, "On the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Yahweh: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah (i.e. of blessing) unto this day" (2 Ch 20:26). In the Wady `Arrub there is a ruin called Breikut and the valley in its proximity receives the same name. This is on the main road from Hebron to Jerusalem and not far from Tekoa; it suits the narrative well (see PEF ,III , 352).
E. W. G. Masterman
ber-a-ki'-a.
See BERECHIAH .
be-ri'-a (bera'yah, "Yah hath created"): A son of Shimei of the house of Benjamin (1 Ch 8:21).
be-re'-a.
See BEROEA .
be-rev', be-rev'-er, be-reft': Bereave is frequently used in the Old Testament in the (now almost obsolete) meaning of "to deprive," "to take away," especially with reference to loss of children. The Hebrew word used here is shakhol, "to be childless," or in the Piel "to make childless" (compare Gen 42:36 et al.). In the King James Version Eccl 4:8 (from the Hebrew chacer, "to lack") we read "and bereave my soul of good" (the Revised Version (British and American) "deprive"), and in Ezek 36:14 (from Hebrew kashal, "to stumble"), "neither bereave thy nations any more" (the Revised Version, margin "cause to stumble").
Bereaver, otherwise very rare, is found the Revised Version (British and American) Ezek 36:13 (from Hebrew shakhol "to be childless"), "a bereaver of thy nation" (the King James Version "hast bereaved").
Bereft is found in 1 Tim 6:5 (from the Greek apostereo, "to rob") "bereft of the truth" (the King James Version "destitute"). The expression bereavement (the Revised Version (British and American) Isa 49:20) in the phrase "the children of thy bereft" means "the children born to thee in the time when God had afflicted thee."
A. L. Breslich
ber-e-ki'-a (berekhyah, berekhyahu, "Yahweh blesses," HPN, 216, 287):
(1) A descendant of David (1 Ch 3:20).
(2) The father of Asaph, the singer (1 Ch 6:39 the King James Version "Berachiah"; 1 Ch 15:17).
(3) A former inhabitant of Jerusalem, a Levee (1 Ch 9:16).
(4) A doorkeeper 'for the ark at David's time (1 Ch 15:23).
(5) One of the heads of the children of Ephraim (2 Ch 28:12).
(6) The father of Meshullam the builder (Neh 3:4,30; 6:18).
(7) The father of the prophet Zechariah (Zec 11:7).
A. L. Breslich
be'-red (beredh, "hail," from a Hebrew root meaning "to be cold"): The son of Shuthelah of the house of Ephraim (1 Ch 7:20). Compare BECHER .
be'-red (beredh; Barad): A place in the Negeb mentioned in the story of Hagar (Gen 16:14). The well Beer-lahai-roi was "between Kadesh and Bered." The Onkelos Targum renders it Chaghra', which is the usual equivalent of Shur, while the Jerusalem Targum renders it Chalutsah, which is also Shur (Ex 15:22). Chalutsah is clearly the city of Elusu mentioned by Ptolemy and from the 4th to the 7th centuries by various ecclesiastical writers. It was an important town on the road from Palestine to Kadesh and Mount Sinai. This is without doubt the very large and important ruin Kh. Khalasa, some 70 miles South of Jerusalem on the road from Beersheba and Rehoboth. "These ruins cover an area of 15 to 20 acres, throughout which the foundations and enclosures of houses are distinctly to be traced. .... We judged that here there must have been a city with room enough for a population of 15,000 to 20,000 souls" (Robinson, BR, I, 201).
E. W. G. Masterman
ber'-e-nes.
See BERNICE .
be'-ri (beri, "wisdom"): A descendant of Asher (1 Ch 7:36).
be-ri'-a, be-ri'-its (beri`ah, "in shouting," probably derived from a Hebrew root meaning "to make noise," or "in evil," from another Hebrew root):
(1) A son of Asher and father of Heber and Malchiel (Gen 46:17; 1 Ch 7:30,31; the head of the family of the Beriites, Nu 26:44 ff).
(2) A son of Ephraim, called Beriah by his father because "it went evil with his house" (1 Ch 7:23).
(3) A descendant of Benjamin (1 Ch 8:13,16).
(4) A Levite in the line of Gershon (1 Ch 23:10 f).
be'-rits (berim; according to Klostermann and others, bikhrim): The word is found only once in the Old Testament (2 Sam 20:14). The passage seems to be doubtful. The suggestion of Klostermann does not improve matters any; the other proposed reading, bachrim (Vulgate, viri electi), "choice young men," is to be preferred.
be'-rith (berith, "covenant").
See BAAL-BERITH .
ber-ni'-se (Bernike "victorious"): One of the shameless women of the Bible, mentioned in Acts 25:13,23; 26:30. She was the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1,6,11,21) who ruled from 38-45 AD. Her whole life from the Jewish standpoint was incestuous. Its story is told by Josephus (Ant XIX, v, 1; XX, vii, 1-3), also by Juvenal (6, 156). Her first husband was her own uncle, Herod of Calchis. After his death she consorted with her own brother Agrippa II, with whom she listened to the impassioned defense of Paul at Caesarea before Felix. For a while she was married to King Ptolemy or Polemo of Sicily, who for her sake embraced Judaism, by the rite of circumcision. But she left him soon to return to Agrippa. Later on she figures shamefully in the lives of Vespasian and Titus, father and son. If heredity stands for anything, its lessons are forcibly taught in the history of the Herodian family.
Henry E. Dosker
be-ro'-dak-bal'-a-dan.
See MERODACH-BALADAN .
be-re'-a (Beroia or Berroia): #(1) A town of southwestern Macedonia, in the district of Emathia. It lay at the foot of Mt. Bermius, on a tributary of the Haliacmon, and seems to have been an ancient town, though the date of its foundation is uncertain. A passage in Thucydides (i.61) relating to the year 432 BC probably refers to another place of the same name, but an inscription (Inscr Graec, II, 5, 296i) proves its existence at the end of the 4th century BC, and it is twice mentioned by Polybius (xxvii.8; xxviii.8). After the battle of Pydba in 168 BC Berea was the first city to surrender to Rome and fell in the third of the four regions into which Macedonia was divided (Livy xliv.45; xlv.29). Paul and Silas came to Berea from Thessalonica which they had been forced by an uproar to leave, and preached in the synagogue to the Jews, many of whom believed after a candid examination of the apostolic message in the light of their Scriptures (Acts 17:10,11). A number of "Gr women of honorable estate and of men" also believed, but the advent of a body of hostile Jews from Thessalonica created a disturbance in consequence of which Paul had to leave the city, though Silas and Timothy stayed there for a few days longer (Acts 17:12-15). Perhaps the Sopater of Berea who accompanied Paul to Asia on his last journey to Jerusalem was one of his converts on this visit (Acts 20:4). Berea, which was one of the most populous cities of Macedonia early became a bishopric under the metropolitan of Thessalonica and was itself made a metropolis by Andronicus II (1283-1328): there is a tradition that the first bishop of the church was Onesimus. It played a prominent part in the struggles between the Greeks and the Bulgarians and Serbs, and was finally conquered by the Turks in 1373-74. The town, which still bears among the Greeks its ancient name (pronounced Verria) though called by the Turks Karaferia, possesses but few remains of antiquity with the exception of numerous inscriptions (Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, III, 290 if; Cousinery, Voyage dans la Macedoine, I, 57 ff; Dimitsas, Makedonia in Greek, 57 ff).
Marcus N. Tod
(2) The place where Menelaus the ex-high priest was executed by order of Antiochus Eupator, the victim, according to local custom, being cast from a tower 50 cubits high into a bed of ashes (2 Macc 13:3 ff). It was the ancient city of Chalab, lying about midway between Antioch and Hierapolis. Seleucus Nicator gave it the name Berea. It was a city of importance under the Moslems in the Middle Ages, when the old name again asserted itself, and remains to the present time.
The name "Aleppo" came to us through the Venetian traders in the days before the great overland route to India via Aleppo lost its importance through the discovery of the passage round the Cape. Aleppo is now a city of nearly 130,000 inhabitants. The governor exercises authority over a wide district extending from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean.
(3) (Berea); A place mentioned in 1 Macc 9:4. It may be identical with BEEROTH (which see) in Benjamin, a Hivite town, 8 miles North of Jerusalem, or with the modern Birez-Zait, 1 1/2 miles Northwest of Jifneh.
W. Ewing
be'-roth (1 Esdras 5:19).
See BEEROTH .
be-ro'-tha (Ezek 47:16: berothah; Septuagint Codex Vaticanus, Abthera; or BEROTHAH 2 Sam 8:8; berothai, where for mibberothai Septuagint reads ek ton eklekton poleon, "from the select cities"): Probably two forms of the same name. Ezek 47:16 places it on the ideal northern frontier of Israel, between Damascus and Hamath. According to 2 Sam 8:8 it was a city of Hadadezer, king of Zobah. In the parallel passage (1 Ch 18:8) Cun is given in place of Berothai. Its site is unknown. Ewald connected it with Beirut (so also apparently H. P. Smith, ICC, "Samuel," 307), but Ezekiel's description excludes this view. Others have sought it in the Wady Brissa, in the East slope of Lebanon, North of Baalbec. A more plausible conjecture identifies it with Bereitan (Brithen), a village somewhat South of Baalbec (Baedeker, Pal3, 369). Possibly, however, the ideal northern frontier line should be drawn farther south.
C. H. Thomson
be'-roth-it.
See BEEROTHITE .
ber'-is: Occurs in Jas 3:12 (the King James Version) in the phrase "olive berries" (elaiai). The Revised Version (British and American) reads simply "olives."
ber'-il.
ber'-i-tus, be-ri'-tus (Berutos; Arabic: modern Beirut, Beyrout, Beyrouth): An ancient Phoenician city situated on the North side of a promontory jutting out from the base of Lebanon to the West into the Mediterranean and forming a bay on the North connected with the fable of George and the Dragon, and hence called George's Bay. The city is about 25 miles North of Sidon and about 12 South of the famous Lycus or Dog River, at the mouth of which are found the sculptured rocks bearing the monuments of the ancient kings of Egypt, Babylonia and Assyria.
The city has been thought by some to be the Berothai of 2 Sam 8:8 or the Berothah of Ezek 47:16, but the connection in which these cities are mentioned seems to preclude the identification. The town is, however, an ancient one, for it occurs in Tell el-Amarna Letters as Beruti where it is closely connected with Gebal of which it may have been a dependency.
Though not mentioned in Old Testament or New Testament it appears in the history of Herod the Great as an important town where was assembled a court of 150 judges, presided over by Saturninus, a former Roman consul, to try the case which Herod brought against his two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, who were condemned there by the Roman court (Ant., XVI, xi, 2). Beirut was a Roman colony at this time where many veterans settled and it afterward became the seat of a great Roman law school which was attended, in the days of Justinian, by thousands of students. It was utterly destroyed by an earthquake in 551 AD, and for a time was abandoned. Many remains of temples and public buildings of the Roman period remain. It rose to some importance during the Crusades and is at present the chief seaport of Syria, and has the only harbor on the coast. It is a town of about 125,000 inhabitants.
H. Porter
ber-ze'-lus.
See ZORZELLEUS .
be'-si (becay, "downtrodden"): The descendants of Besai (Nethinim) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezr 2:49; Neh 7:52 = Basthai, 1 Esdras 5:31).
be-set' (euperistatos): The most common sense of this word is "to surround." This is the thought in Ps 139:5, and teaches the omnipresence of God. Often wicked men find that the things which they have done so envelope them that they cannot escape ruin (Hos 7:2). The reference in Heb 12:1 is first of all against the sin of apostasy against which repeated warning is given in this book. But the warning is also against any sin that is especially dangerous to us. It, again and again, surrounds us like a besieging army. To surrender would be traitorous and disgraceful, since the Captain of the Lord's host is with us.
Jacob W. Kapp
be-sid': Near to, or close to (Ps 23:2). It is often used to refer to the mental state, to the derangement of the mind (existemi, Mk 3:21; Acts 26:24 the King James Version). Or it may refer to the condition of being out of the ordinary course of the life. A life consecrated to God and spent in the interest of humanity is so designated (2 Cor 5:13). It has the sense also of a state of being out of one's usual mind, but not of mental derangement, occasioned by something that causes amazement or ast onishment (Mk 5:42). Or it may refer to a state in which one is not conscious of present conditions, but is rapt in vision (Acts 10:10).
Besides is used in the sense of in addition to or that which is over and above what has been said or is possessed (Lk 16:26; see the American Revised Version, margin "in"; Philemon 1:19).
Jacob W. Kapp
be-sej'.
See SIEGE .
bes-o-de'-ya, bes-o-di'-a (becodheyah, "in the confidence or counsel of Yah"; compare Jer 23:18,22; and HPN, 207, 221, 286): Father of Meshullam, the builder (Neh 3:6).
be'-zum: Occurs only once in Scripture: "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction" (Isa 14:23). Refers to what was in store for Babylon. The Hebrew word maT'ate', rendered "besom," is close of kin to the one (ti'te'thiha) rendered "sweep." In early English "besom" was synonymous with "broom," and is still so used in some parts of England.
be'-sor, (nachal besor; Codex Alexandrinus, Bechor, Codex Vaticanus, Beana; 1 Sam 30:9,20,21; Josephus, Ant, VI, xiv, 6): A torrent-bed (nachal) mentioned in the account of David's pursuit of the Amalekites. Thought to be Wady Ghazza, which enters the sea Southwest of Gaza.
Of five Hebrew originals the chief is Tobh, "good," expressing quality, character. Variously used of objects pleasing to the senses, feelings, mind, moral sense, e.g. "best of the land" (Gen 47:6); "of sheep" (1 Sam 15:9); of persons "married to whom they think best" (Nu 36:6); of abode, "where it liketh (the Revised Version (British and American) "pleaseth") him best" (Dt 23:16).
In Nu 18:12 the revenues of the priests were to be "holy gifts," e.g. the "best of the oil," etc. (chelebh, "fat"); also 18:29,30,32, the gifts of the heave-offering were to be "of all the best," indicating that the richest elements of life were to go into the support and service of the sanctuary. So "the choice (best) fruits" (zimrah, literally, "the song of the land"), a beautifully poetic expression for the most celebrated fruits (Gen 43:11); equally choice is pazaz, "separate," "the finest (best) gold," hence "purified" (1 Ki 10:18).
Used but twice in the New Testament: (1) of spiritual gifts (kreitton, "better" the Revised Version (British and American) "greater"); 1 Cor 12:31); (2) of raiment (protos, "first"), "best robe" (Lk 15:22), of special significance as expressing the Father's lavish love for the repentant and returning sinner.
Dwight M. Pratt
be-sted' (niqsheh, "caught in a snare," "entrapped"; as Judah hard pressed in their own land by the Assyrians (Isa 8:21 the King James Version)): Found only here. Old English word steden meaning "place," hence, "set," "beset"; usually with "ill," "sorely bested." In the Revised Version (British and American) rendered "sore distressed."
bes-ti-al'-i-ti.
See CRIMES .
be-sto': The seven Hebrew words rendered by this term variously mean "to put" or "place," "to give"; "do," "deposit," as e.g. to locate chariots and horsemen in cities (1 Ki 10:26); or give a blessing (Ex 32:29). Four Greek words so translated signify "to give," "to labor," "to feed," "to place around"; as sunago, "to stow away goods" (Lk 12:17); or psomizo, "give away" (1 Cor 13:3). The term has richest significance in expressing God's abundant gift of grace and love, didomi (2 Cor 8:1 the King James Version; 1 Jn 3:1).
be'-ta (2 Sam 8:8).
See TIBHATH .
bet'-a-ne (Baitane): A place named in Judith 1:9, among those to which the messengers of Nebuchadnezzar were sent. From the order in which they are named we should seek for it South of Jerusalem. It may be identical with Beit `Ainun, about 3 miles North of Hebron.
be'-ten (beTen; Batne): A city of Asher mentioned between Hall and Achshaph (Josh 19:25). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 8 Roman miles East of Ptolemais, giving it the name Bethseten. It may be identical with the modern village el-B`aneh, but no certainty is possible.
bath (b): The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. With the daghesh it is transliterated in this dictionary as "b," and, without the daghesth, as "bh" ( = "v"). It came also to be used for the number two (2) and with the dieresis for 2,000. For name, etc., see ALPHABET ;BAYITH .
beth (in proper names; Greek transliteration in Septuagint, beth, baith, or beth): This is the English transliteration for the Hebrew beth, meaning "house," "tent," "place." It occurs in many compound proper names formed similarly to the method of compounding words in the German language, as shown in the articles immediately following. Thus we have beth `anath or `anoth = "house of replies" (Josh 19:38; Jdg 1:33); beth'el = "house of God" (Gen 12:8; 13:3), etc. We also find the word in hybrid formations, e.g. Bethphage = Bethphage = "fig house" (Mt 21:1).
Frank E. Hirsch
beth-a'-nath (beth`anath; Bainathath): A city in the territory of Naphtali, named with Horem and Bethshemesh (Josh 19:38; Jdg 1:33). It is represented by the modern village Ainatha, about 12 miles Northwest of Cafed. The name signifies the "house" or "temple" of Anath, a goddess of the Canaanites.
beth-a'-noth (beth`anoth; Baithanam, probably "House of Anath"--a god; Josh 15:59): The ruin of Beit `Ainun, 1 1/2 miles Southeast of Halhul, in the neighborhood also of Bethzur and Gedor--places mentioned in association with it as towns in the hill country of Judah--appears to be a probable site. The present surface ruins belong to later ages.
beth-ar'-a-ba (beth ha-`arabhah; Baitharaba, "place of the Arabah"):
(1) One of the 6 cities of Judah "in the wilderness" (Josh 15:61), on the borders of Benjamin and Judah (Josh 15:6; 18:18 Septuagint). "The wilderness of Judah" is the barren land West of the Dead Sea. Beth-arabah is not yet identified.
(2) One of the cities of Benjamin (Josh 18:22). Septuagint (Codex Vaticanus) reads Baithabara, and this may be correct. The names are early confounded.
See BETHABARA .
beth-ar'-bel (beth 'arbe'l): The scene of a terrific disaster inflicted on the inhabitants by Shalman (Hos 10:14). If the place intended was in Palestine, and was not the famous city of that name on the Euphrates, then probably it should be identified either with Irbid (or Irbil) in Galilee, or with Irbid, which corresponds to Arbela of the Eusebius, Onomasticon, East of the Jordan, about 12 miles Southeast of Gadara. If, as Schrader thinks (COT, II, 140), Shalman stands for the Moabite king, Shalamanu, a tributary of Tiglath-pileser, the eastern town would be the more natural identification. Possibly however the reference is to Shalmaneser III or IV. For the Galilean site, see ARBELA ; see alsoDB , under the word
W. Ewing
beth-a'-ven (beth 'awen; Baithon, Baithaun): A place on the northern boundary of the territory of Benjamin (Josh 18:12) East of Bethel, near Ai (Josh 7:2), West of Michmash (1 Sam 13:5; 14:23). Beth-aven, "house of vanity," i.e. "idolatry," may possibly represent an original beth-'on, "house of wealth." Wilson (PEFS, 1869, 126) suggests Khirbet An, West of Michmash. The name is used in mockery for Bethel by Hosea (4:15; 10:5,8, etc.; compare Am 5:5).
beth-az-ma'-veth (Neh 7:28 ).
See AZMAVETH .
beth-ba-al-me'-on (Josh 13:17).
See BAAL-MEON .
beth-ba'-ra (beth barah; Baithera): Perhaps Beth-`abharu, the guttural being lost in copying. It is a ford which the Midianites were expected to pass in fleeing from Gideon. Messengers were therefore sent by Gideon to the Ephraimites bidding them "take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, even (the Revised Version, margin "and also") the Jordan" (Jdg 7:24). "The waters" were the streams emptying themselves into the Jordan: "even the Jordan" is a gloss on "the waters." Between the Jordan and the modern Wady Fari`ah an enemy could be entrapped; it is therefore probable that Beth-barah was on that stream near its entrance into the Jordan.
See BETHABARA .
S. F. Hunter
beth-bir'-i (the King James Version Beth-birei, beth-bir'-e-i) beth bir'i; oikos Braoumseoreim; 1 Ch 4:31 (called in Josh 19:6, Beth-lebaoth, "abode of lions")): A site belonging to Simeon in the Negeb--unidentified.
beth'-kar (beth-kar; Baithchor, Belchor): "And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, Until they came under Beth-car" (1 Sam 7:11). `Ain Karem has been suggested; if Mizpah is nebi Samwil then this identification is probable, as the pursuit would be along the deep Wady beit Hannineh--a natural line of retreat for the Philistines to take.
See BETH-HACCHEREM .
beth-da'-gon (bethdaghon; Bethdagon):
(1) A town in the Shephelah of Judah named with Gederoth, Naamah, and Makkedah (Josh 15:41). It may be represented by the modern Beit Dijan, about 6 miles Southeast of Jaffa. This however is a modern site, and not in the Shephelah. Nearly 2 miles to the south is Khirbet Dajan, a Roman site. The connection in which it occurs leads us to expect a position farther Southeast
(2) A city on the border of Asher (Josh 19:27) which Conder would identify with Tell D'auk, near the mouth of the Belus, in the plan of Acre.
The name seems to have been of frequent occurrence. There is a Beit Dejan about 6 miles East of Nablus, and Josephus speaks of a fortress called Dagon above Jericho (Ant., XII, viii, 1; BJ, I, ii, 3). This would seem to indicate a widespread worship of Dagon. But the name may mean "house of corn."
W. Ewing
beth-dib-la-tha'-im (beth dibhlathayim; oikos Deblaithaim, literally, "house of Diblathaim"): A town in Moab mentioned with Dibon and Nebo (Jer 48:22). It is probably identical with Almondiblathaim (Nu 33:46 f). Mesha claims to have fortified it along with Mehedeba and Ba`al-me`on (see MOABITE STONE ). The place is not yet identified.
beth-e'-den (Am 1:5 King James Version, margin; English Versions of the Bible "house of Eden").
See CHILDREN OF EDEN .
beth-e'-mek (beth ha-'emeq; Bethaemek, "house of the valley"): A town in the territory of Zebulun (Josh 19:27). It has not been identified, but must be sought somewhere East of Acre, not far from Kabul, the ancient Cabul.
beth-e'-zel (beth ha-'etsel; oikos echomenous autes; literally, "adjoining house"): A place named along with other cities in the Philistine plain (Mic 1:11). The site has not been identified. By some it is thought to be the same as Azel of Zec 14:5; but see AZEL .
beth-ga'-der (bethgadher; Baithgedor, or (Codex Vaticanus) Baithgaidon): The name occurs between those of Bethlehem and Kiriath-jearim in 1 Ch 2:51. It is possibly identical with Geder of Josh 12:13.
beth-ga'-mul (beth gamul; oikos Gaimol; Codex Sinaiticus, Gamola): A city in Moab named with Dibon, Kiriathaim and Beth-meon (Jer 48:23). Conder places it at Umm el-Jamal, toward East of the plateau, S. of Medeba (HDB, under the word). Others (Guthe, Kurz. bib. Worterbuch, under the word; Buhl, GAP, 268, etc.) favor Jemeil, a site 6 miles East of Dhiban. Since the town is not mentioned among the cities of Israel Buhl doubts if it should be sought North of the Arnon.
beth-gil'-gal (beth ha-gilgal; Bethaggalgal; the King James Version house of Gilgal): The Gilgal which lay in the plain East of Jericho (Neh 12:29).
See GILGAL .
beth-ha-ke'-rem, beth-hak'-e-rem (the King James Version Beth-haccerem; beth ha-kerem; Bethachcharma (see DB ), "place of the vineyard"):A district (in Neh 3:14) ruled over by one, Malchijah; mentioned in Jer 6:1 as a suitable signal station. From its association with Tekoa (Jer 6:1) and from the statement by Jerome that it was a village which he could see daily from Bethlehem, the Frank mountain (Herodium) has been suggested. It certainly would be a unique place for a beacon. More suitable is the fertile vineyard country around `Ain Karem (the "spring of the vineyard"). On the top of Jebel `Ali, above this village, are some remarkable cairns which, whatever their other uses, would appear to have been once beacons. `Ain Karem appears as Carem in the Septuagint (Josh 15:59).
See BETH-CAR .
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-hag'-an (beth-ha-gan, "house of the garden"). The place where Ahaziah was slain by Jehu (2 Ki 9:27). The words are rendered in English Versions of the Bible "the garden house," but some take them to be a proper name. The location is doubtful.
beth-ha'-nan (1 Ki 4:9).
See ELON .
beth-ha'-ram (beth haram; Baitharan; Codex Alexandrinus, Baitharra; the King James Version wrongly, Beth-Aram): An Amorite city taken and fortified by the Gadites (Josh 13:27; Nu 32:36; in the latter passage the name appears as Beth-haran, probably the original form). It corresponds to Bethramphtha of Josephus (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1), which, according to Eusebius, was the name used by the Syrians. Here was a palace of Herod (Ant., XVII, x, 6; BJ, II, iv, 2). Eusebius, Onomasticon says it was called Livias. Josephus says it was fortified by Herod Antipas, who called it Julias for the wife of Augustus (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 1). The name would be changed to Julias when Livia, by the will of the emperor, was received into the Gens Julia. It is represented by Tell er-Rameh in Wady Chesban, about 6 miles East of Jordan.
W. Ewing
beth-ha'-ran (beth haran): A fenced city East of the Jordan (Nu 32:36) identical with BETH-HARAM, which see.
beth-hog'-la (beth-choghlah; Septuagint Baithaglaam, "house of partridge"): Mentioned in Josh 15:6; 18:19, identified with Ain Haijab ("partridge spring") lying between Jericho and the Jordan, where in 1874 there was still a ruined Greek monastery called Kasr Hajlah, dating from the 12th century. The ruins are now destroyed. In Josh 15:5; 18:19 it is said to be at the mouth of the Jordan on a Tongue (Lisan) of the Salt Sea. But it is now several miles inland, probably because the Jordan has silt edition up a delta to that extent.
See DEAD SEA .
George Frederick Wright
beth-ho'-ron (beth-choron (other Hebrew forms occur); Bethoron, probably the "place of the hollow"; compare Hauran, "the hollow"):
The name of two towns, Beth-horon the Upper (Josh 16:5) and Beth-horon the Lower (Josh 16:3), said to have been built (1 Ch 7:24) by Sheerah, the daughter of Beriah. The border line between Benjamin and Ephraim passed by the Beth-horons (Josh 16:5; 21:22), the cities belonging to the latter tribe and therefore, later on, to the Northern Kingdom. Solomon "built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars" (2 Ch 8:5; 1 Ki 9:17).
From Egyptian sources (Muller, As. und Europa, etc.) it appears that Beth-horon was one of the places conquered by Shishak of Egypt from Rehoboam. Again, many centuries later, Bacchides repaired Beth-horon, "with high walls, with gates and with bars and in them he set a garrison, that they might work malice upon ("vex") Israel" (1 Macc 9:50,51), and at another time the Jews fortified it against Holofernes (Judith 4:4,5).
2. The Modern Beit Ur el foqa and el tachta:
These two towns are now known as Beit Ur el foqa (i.e. "the upper") and Beit Ur el tachta (i.e. "the lower"), two villages crowning hill tops, less than 2 miles apart; the former is some 800 ft. higher than the latter. Today these villages are sunk into insignificance and are off any important lines of communication, but for many centuries the towns occupying their sites dominated one of the most historic roads in history.
3. The Pass of the Beth-horons:
When (Josh 10:10) Joshua discomfited the kings of the Amorites "he slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the `Ascent of Beth-horon.' " When the Philistines were opposing King Saul at Michmash they sent a company of their men to hold "the way of Beth-horon."
This pass ascends from the plain of Ajalon (now Yalo) and climbs in about 3/4 hr. to Beit Ur el tachta (1,210 ft.); it then ascends along the ridge, with valleys lying to north and south, and reaches Beit Ur el foqa (2,022 ft.), and pursuing the same ridge arrives in another 4 1/2 miles at the plateau to the North of el Jib (Gibeon). At intervals along this historic route traces of the ancient Roman paving are visible. It was the great highroad into the heart of the land from the earliest times until about three or four centuries ago. Along this route came Canaanites, Israelites, Philistines, Egyptians, Syrians, Romans, Saracens and Crusaders. Since the days of Joshua (Josh 10:10) it has frequently been the scene of a rout. Here the Syrian general Seron was defeated by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 3:13-24), and six years later Nicanor, retreating from Jerusalem, was here defeated and slain (1 Macc 7:39 ff; Josephus, Ant, XII, x, 5). Along this pass in 66 AD the Roman general Cestius Gallus was driven in headlong flight before the Jews.
Now the changed direction of the highroad to Jerusalem has left the route forsaken and almost forgotten. See PEF ,III , 86, ShXVII .
E. W. G. Masterman
3. Joshua's Command to the Sun and Moon
4. The Astronomical Relations of the Sun and Moon
8. The Chronicle and the Poem Independent Witnesses
10. The Records Are Contemporaneous with the Events
The battle which gave to the Israelites under Joshua the command of southern Palestine has always excited interest because of the astronomical marvel which is recorded to have then taken place.
In invading Palestine the Israelites were not attacking a single coherent state, but a country occupied by different races and divided, like Greece at a later period, into a number of communities, each consisting practically of but a single city and the cultivated country around it. Thus Joshua destroyed the two cities of Jericho and Ai without any interference from the other Amorites. The destruction of Jericho gave him full possession of the fertile valley of the Jordan; the taking of Ai opened his way up to the ridge which forms the backbone of the country, and he was able to lead the people unopposed to the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim for the solemn reading of the Law. But when the Israelites returned from this ceremony a significant division showed itself amongst their enemies. Close to Ai, Joshua's most recent conquest, was Beeroth, a small town inhabited by Hivites; and no doubt because in the natural order of events Beeroth might look to be next attacked, the Hivites determined to make terms with Israel. An embassy was therefore sent from Gibeon, their chief city, and Joshua and the Israelites, believing that it came from a distant land not under the Ban, entered into the proposed alliance.
The effect on the political situation was immediate. The Hivites formed a considerable state, relatively speaking; their cities were well placed on the southern highland, and Gibeon, their capital, was one of the most important fortresses of that district, and only 6 miles distant from Jerusalem, the chief Amorite stronghold. The Amorites recognized at once that, in view of this important defection, it was imperative for them to crush the Gibeonites before the Israelites could unite with them, and this they endeavored to do. The Gibeonites, seeing themselves attacked, sent an urgent message to Joshua, and he at the head of his picked men made a night march up from Gilgal and fell upon the Amorites at Gibeon the next day and put them to flight.
We are not told by which route he marched, but it is significant that the Amorites fled by the way of Beth-horon; that is to say, not toward their own cities, but away from them. A glance at the map shows that this means that Joshua had succeeded in cutting their line of retreat to Jerusalem. He had probably therefore advanced upon Gibeon from the south, instead of by the obvious route past Ai which he had destroyed and Beeroth with which he was in alliance. But, coming up from Gilgal by the ravines in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, he was exposed to a great danger, for the Amorites might have caught him before he had gained a footing on the plateau, and have taken him at a complete disadvantage. It was thus that the eleven tribes suffered such terrible loss at the hands of the Benjamites in this very region during the first inter-tribal war, and probably the military significance of the first repulse from Ai was of the same character; the forces holding the high ground being able to overwhelm their opponent s without any fear of reprisals.
It would seem possible, therefore, that Joshua may have repeated, on a larger scale, the tactics he employed in his successful attack upon Ai. He may have sent one force to draw the Amorites away from Gibeon, and when this was safely done, may have led the rest of his army to seize the road to Jerusalem, and to break up the forces besieging Gibeon. If so, his strategy was successful up to a certain point. He evidently led the Israelites without loss up to Gibeon, crushed the Amorites there, and cut off their retreat toward Jerusalem. He failed in one thing. In spite of the prodigious efforts which he and his men had made, the greater part of the Amorite army succeeded in escaping him and gained a long start in their flight, toward the northwest, through the two Beth-horons.
3. Joshua's Command to the Sun and Moon:
It was at this point that the incident occurred upon which attention has been chiefly fixed. The Book of Jashar (which seems to have been a collection of war songs and other ballads) ascribes to Joshua the command:
`Sun, be thou silent upon (be) Gibeon (compare Revised Version margin);
And thou, Moon, in (be) the valley of Aijalon.
And the Sun was silent,
And the Moon stayed,
Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies'
(Josh 10:12,23).
And the prose narrative continues, "The sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day."
4. The Astronomical Relations of the Sun and Moon:
In these two, the ballad and the prose chronicle, we have several distinct astronomical relations indicated. The sun to Joshua was associated with Gibeon, and the sun can naturally be associated with a locality in either of two positions: it may be overhead to the observer, in which case he would consider it as being above the place where he himself was standing; or on the other hand, he might see the locality on the skyline and the sun rising or setting just behind it. In the present instance there is no ambiguity, for the chronicle distinctly states that the sun was in "the midst of heaven"; literally, in the halving of the heaven, that is to say overhead. This is very important because it assures us that Joshua must have been at Gibeon when he spoke, and that it must have been noonday of summer when the sun in southern Palestine is only about 8 degrees or 12 degrees from the exact zenith. Next, the moon appeared to be associated with the valley of Aijalon; that is, it must have been low down on the horizon in that direction, and since Aijalon is Northwest of Gibeon it must have been about to set, which would imply that it was about half full, in its "third quarter," the sun being, as we have seen, on the meridian. Thirdly, "the sun hasted not to go down," that is to say, it had already attained the meridian, its culmination; and henceforward its motion was downward. The statement that it was noonday is here implicitly repeated, but a further detail is added. The going down of the sun appeared to be slow. This is the work of the afternoon, that is of half the day, but on this occasion the half-day appeared equal in length to an ordinary whole day. There is therefore no question at all of the sun becoming stationary in the sky: the statement does not admit of that, but only of its slower progress.
The idea that the sun was fixed in the sky, in other words, that the earth ceased for a time to rotate on its axis, has arisen from the unfortunate rendering of the Hebrew verb dum, "be silent," by "stand thou still." It is our own word "dumb," both being onomatopoetic words from the sound made when a man firmly closes his lips upon his speech. The primary meaning of the word therefore is "to be silent," but its secondary meaning is "to desist," "to cease," and therefore in some cases "to stand still. "
From what was it then that Joshua wished the sun to cease: from its moving or from its shining? It is not possible to suppose that, engaged as he was in a desperate battle, he was even so much as thinking of the sun's motion at all. But its shining, its scorching heat, must have been most seriously felt by him. At noon, in high summer, the highland of southern Palestine is one of the hottest countries of the world. It is impossible to suppose that Joshua wished the sun to be fixed overhead, where it must have been distressing his men who had already been 17 hours on foot. A very arduous pursuit lay before them and the enemy not only had a long start but must have been fresher than the Israelites. The sun's heat therefore must have been a serious hindrance, and Joshua must have desired it to be tempered. And the Lord hearkened to his voice and gave him this and much more. A great hailstorm swept up from the west, bringing with it a sudden lowering of temperature, and no doubt hiding the sun and putting it to "silence."
6. "Yahweh Fought for Israel":
And "Yahweh fought for Israel," for the storm burst with such violence upon the Amorites as they fled down the steep descent between the Beth-horons, that "they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword" (Josh 10:11). This was the culminating incident of the day, the one which so greatly impressed the sacred historian. "There was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh hearkened unto the voice of a man" (Josh 10:14). It was not the hailstorm in itself nor the veiling of the sun that made the day so remarkable. It was that Joshua had spoken, not in prayer or supplication, but in command, as if all Nature was at his disposal; and the Lord had hearkened and had, as it were, obeyed a human voice: an anticipation of the time when a greater Joshua should command even the winds and the sea, and they should obey Him (Mt 8:23-27).
The explanation of the statement that the sun "hasted not to go down about a whole day" is found in Josh 10:10, in which it is stated that the Lord discomfited the Amorites before Israel, "and he slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah." The Israelites had of course no time-keepers, no clocks or watches, and the only mode of measuring time available to them was the number of miles they marched. Now from Gibeon to Makkedah by the route indicated is some 30 miles, a full day's march for an army. It is possible that, at the end of the campaign, the Israelites on their return found the march from Makkedah to Gibeon heavy work for an entire day. Measured by the only means available to them, that afternoon seemed to be double the ordinary length. The sun had "hasted not to go down about a whole day."
8. The Chronicle and the Poem Independent Witnesses:
Joshua's reference to the moon in connection with the Valley of Aijalon appears at first sight irrelevant, and has frequently been assumed to be merely inserted to complete the parallelism of the poem. But when examined astronomically it becomes clear that it cannot have been inserted haphazard. Joshua must have mentioned the moon because he actually saw it at the moment of speaking. Given that the sun was "in the midst of heaven," above Gibeon, there was only a very restricted arc of the horizon in which the moon could appear as associated with some terrestrial object; and from Gibeon, the Valley of Aijalon does lie within that narrow arc. It follows therefore that unless the position assigned to the moon had been obtained from actual observation at the moment, it would in all probability have been an impossible one. The next point is especially interesting. The ballad does not expressly state whether the sun was upon Gibeon in the sense of being upon it low down on the distant horizon, or upon it, in the sense of being overhead both to Joshua and to that city. But the moon being above the Valley of Aijalon, it becomes clear that the latter is the only possible solution. The sun and moon cannot both have been setting--though this is the idea that has been generally held, it being supposed that the day was far spent and that Joshua desired it to be prolonged--for then sun and moon would have been close together, and the moon would be invisible. The sun cannot have been setting, and the moon rising; for Aijalon is West of Gibeon. Nor can the sun have been rising, and the moon setting, since this would imply that the time of year was either about October 30 of our present calendar, or about February 12. The month of February was already past, since the Israelites had kept the Feast of the Passover. October cannot have come; for, since Beeroth, Gibeon and Jerusalem were so close together, it is certain that the events between the return of the Israelites to Gilgal and the battle of Beth-horon cannot h ave been spread over several months, but must have occupied only a few days. The poem therefore contains implicitly the same fact that is explicitly stated in the prose narrative--that the sun was overhead--but the one statement cannot, in those days, have been inferred from the other.
A third point of interest is that the position of the moon gives an indication of the time of the year. The Valley of Aijalon is 17 degrees North of West of from Gibeon, of which the latitude is 31 degrees 51 minutes North. With these details, and assuming the time to be nearly noon, the date must have been about the 21st day of the 4th month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding to July 22 of our present calendar, with a possible uncertainty of one or two days on either side. The sun's declination would then be about 21 degrees North, so that at noon it was within 11 degrees of the zenith. It had risen almost exactly at 5 AM and would set almost exactly at 7 PM. The moon was now about her third quarter, and in North latitude. about 5 degrees. It had risen about 11 o'clock the previous night, and was now at an altitude of under 7 degrees, and within about half an hour of setting. The conditions are not sufficient to fix the year, since from the nature of the luni-solar cycle there will always be one or two years in each cycle of 19 that will satisfy the conditions of the case, and the date of the Hebrew invasion of Palestine is not known with sufficient certainty to limit the inquiry to any particular cycle.
10. The Records Are Contemporaneous with the Events:
It will be seen however that the astronomical conditions introduced by the mention of the moon are much more stringent than might have been expected. They supply therefore proof of a high order that the astronomical details, both of the poem and prose chronicle, were derived from actual observation at the time and have been preserved to us unaltered. Each, therefore, supplies a strictly contemporaneous and independent record.
This great occurrence appears to be referred to in one other passage of Scripture--the Prayer of Habakkuk. Here again the rendering of the English versions is unfortunate, and the passage should stand:
`The sun and moon ceased (to shine) in their habitation;
At the light of Thine arrows they vanished,
And at the shining of Thy glittering spear.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation,
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger' (Hab 3:11,22).
E. W. Maunder
beth-jesh'-i-moth (beth ha-yeshimoth; Codex Vaticanus, Haisimoth; Codex Alexandrinus, Asimoth, and other variants (see DB , under the word)): Mentioned as the point in the south from which the camp of Israel stretched to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab (Nu 33:49). In Josh 12:3 the way to Beth-jeshimoth is described as South of the Arabah, near the Dead Sea. It was in the lot assigned to Reuben (Josh 13:20), At what times and how long it was actually held by Israel we do not know; but it appears in Ezk 25:9 as belonging to Moab. It may be identical with Khirbet es-Suweimeh, where there are some ruins and a well, about 3 miles East of the mouth of the Jordan.
W. Ewing
beth-le-af'-ra (beth le`aphrah; Septuagint ex oikou kata gelota, "house of dust"): The name of a place found only in Mic 1:10. From the connection in which it is used it was probably in the Philistine plain. There seems to be a play upon the name in the sentence, "at Beth le-`apharah have I rolled myself in the dust," `aphrah meaning "dust," and possibly another on Philistine in rolled, hith-palldshithi (see G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, called Minor, in the place cited.).
beth-le-ba'-oth, beth-leb'-aoth (beth lebha'oth; Baithalbath, "house of lionesses"): A town in the territory of Simeon (Josh 19:6). In 1 Ch 4:31 the name is given as Beth-birei: the Revised Version (British and American) BETH-BIRI (which see).
beth'-le-hem-it (beth ha-lachmi): An inhabitant of Bethlehem, a town in Judah, 5 miles South of Jerusalem. Jesse is so named in 1 Sam 16:18; 17:58, and Elhanan in 2 Sam 21:19. The children of Bethlehem are referred to in Ezr 2:21; Neh 7:26; 1 Esdras 5:17.
beth-lo'-mon (Baithlomon; Codex Vaticanus, Rhagethlomon): The inhabitants of this city are mentioned as returning with Zerubbabel from Babylon (1 Esdras 5:17). It is the city of Bethlehem in Judah, the modern Beit Lachm (Ezr 2:21).
beth-ma'-a-ka.
See ABEL-BETH-MAACAH .
beth-mar'-ka-both (beth ha-markabhoth; Baithmachereb, "the house of chariots"): Mentioned along with Hazar-susah, "the station of horses" (Josh 19:5; 1 Ch 4:31) as cities in the Negeb near Ziklag. It is tempting to connect these stations with "the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen" which Solomon built (1 Ki 9:19; compare 1 Ki 10:26). The site of Beth-marcaboth has not been identified, but Guerin (La Terre Sainte. Jerusalem et le Nord de la Judee, II, 230) suggests Khan Yunas , Southwest of Gaza, as a suitable chariot city.
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-me'-on: A city of Moab (Jer 48:23), identical with BAAL-MEON (which see).
beth-mer'-hak (beth ha-merchaq; en oiko to makran, literally "a place (house) that was far off" (2 Sam 15:17 the Revised Version, margin "the Far House")): A place mentioned in the account of David's flight from Absalom. No town of this name is known on the route which he followed. Some scholars think the name denotes simply the outermost of the houses of the city.
beth-mil'-o.
See JERUSALEM .
beth-nim'-ra (beth nimrah, "house of leopard," Nu 32:36, but in verse 3 it is simply Nimrah): In Josh 13:27 the full name appears. In Isa 15:6 the name appears as Nimrim, identified as Tell Nimrim, between Jericho and the mountains on the east, where there is a fountain of large size. The city was assigned to Gad. In the 4th century AD it was located as five Roman miles North of Livias. Eusebius calls it Bethamnaram (SEP, I, Tell Nimrin).
beth-pa'-let.
See BETH-PELET .
beth-paz'-ez (beth patstsets; Bersaphes, Baithphrasee): A town in the territory of Issachar, named with En-gannim and En-haddah (Josh 19:21). The site has not been discovered; it probably lay near the modern Jenin.
beth-pe'-let (beth-peleT; Baithphaleth, "house of escape"; the King James Version Beth-palet; Josh 15:27, Beth-phelet, the King James Version Neh 11:26): One of "the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the border of Edom in the (Negeb) South" (Josh 15:21,27). Site unknown.
beth-pe'-or (beth pe`or; oikos Phogor; in Joshua (Vaticanus), Baithphogor, or beth-): "Over against Beth-peor" the Israelites were encamped, "beyond the Jordan, in the valley," when Moses uttered the speeches recorded in Dt (Dt 3:29; 4:46). "In the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor" Moses was buried (Dt 34:6). Beth-peor and the slopes of Pisgah (the King James Version "Ashdoth-pisgah") are mentioned in close connection in Josh 13:20. According to Eusebius, Onomasticon, Beth-peor was situated near Mt. Peor (Fogor) opposite Jericho, 6 miles above Livias. Mt. Peor is the "top" or "head" of Peor (Nu 23:28). Some height commanding a view of the plain East of the river in the lower Jordan valley is clearly intended, but thus far no identification is possible. "The slopes of Pisgah" are probably the lower slopes of the mountain toward Wady `Ayun Musa. Somewhere North of this the summit we are in search of may be found. Conder suggested the cliff at Minyeh, South of Wady Jedeideh, and of Pisgah; and would locate Beth-peor at el-Mareighat, "the smeared things," evidently an ancient place of worship, with a stone circle and standing stones, about 4 miles East, on the same ridge. This seems, however, too far South, and more difficult to reach from Shittim than we should gather from Nu 25:1 ff.
W. Ewing
beth-fe'-let.
See BETH-PELET .
beth-ra'-fa (beth rapha'; B, ho Bathraia, Bathrepha): The name occurs only in the genealogical list in 1 Ch 4:12. It does not seem possible now to associate it with any particular place or clan.
beth-re'-hob (beth-rechobh; ho oikos Rhaab) : An Aramean town and district which, along with Zobah and Maacah, assisted Ammon against David (2 Sam 10:6,8, Rehob). It is probably identical with Rehob (Nu 13:21), the northern limit of the spies' journey. Laish-Dan (probably Tell el-Kadi) was situated near it (Jdg 18:28). The site of the town is unknown. It has been conjecturally identified with Hunin, West of Banias, and, more plausibly, with Banias itself (Thomson, The Land and the Book (2), 218; Buhl, Geog., 240; Moore, ICC, Jgs, 399).
C. H. Thomson
beth-she'-an, beth'-shan (beth-shan, or [beth-she'an]; in Apocrypha Baithsan or Bethsa): A city in the territory of Issachar assigned to Manasseh, out of which the Canaanites were not driven (Josh 17:11; Jdg 1:27); in the days of Israel's strength they were put to taskwork (Jdg 1:28). They doubtless were in league with the Philistines who after Israel's defeat on Gilboa exposed the bodies of Saul and his sons on the wall of the city (1 Sam 31:7 ff), whence they were rescued by the men of Jabesh , who remembered the earlier kindness of the king (1 Sam 31:7 ff; 2 Sam 21:12). In 1 Ki 4:12 the name applies to the district in which the city stands. It was called Scythopolis by the Greeks. This may be connected with the invasion of Palestine by the Scythians who, according to George Syncellus, "overran Palestine and took possession of Beisan." This may be the invasion noticed by Herodotus, circa 600 BC (i.104-6). Here Tryphon failed in his first attempt to take Jonathan by treachery (1 Macc 12:40). It fell to John Hyrcanus, but was taken from the Jews by Pompey. It was rebuilt by Gabinius (Ant., XIV, v, 3), and became an important member of the league of the "ten cities" (BJ, III, ix, 7). The impiousness of the inhabitants is painted in dark colors by Josephus (Vita, 6; BJ, II, xviii, 3); and the Mishna speaks of it as a center of idol worship (`Abhodhah Zarah, i.4). Later it was the seat of a bishop.
It is represented by the modern Beisan, in the throat of the Vale of Jezreel where it falls into the Jordan valley, on the southern side of the stream from `Ain Jalud. The ruins of the ancient city are found on the plain, and on the great mound where probably stood the citadel. Between the town and the stretch of marsh land to the South runs the old road from East to West up the Vale of Jezreel, uniting in Esdraelon with the great caravan road from North to South.
W. Ewing
beth-she'-mesh, beth'-shemesh (beth-shemesh; Baithsamus, "house of the sun"): This name for a place doubtless arose in every instance from the presence of a sanctuary of the sun there. In accordance with the meaning and origin of the word, it is quite to be expected that there should be several places of this name in Bible lands, and the expectation is not disappointed. Analysis and comparison of the passages in the Bible where a Beth-shemesh is mentioned show four places of this name.
The first mention of a place by this name is in the description of the border of the territory of Judah (Josh 15:10) which "went down to Beth-Shemesh." This topographical indication "down" puts the place toward the lowlands on the East or West side of Palestine, but does not indicate which. This point is clearly determined by the account of the return of the ark by the Philistine lords from Ekron (1 Sam 6:9-19). They returned the ark to Beth-shemesh, the location of which they indicated by the remark that if their affliction was from Yahweh, the kine would bear the ark "by the way of its own border." The Philistines lay along the western border of Judah and the location of Beth-Shemesh of Judah is thus clearly fixed near the western lowland, close to the border between the territory of Judah and that claimed by the Philistines. This is confirmed by the account of the twelve officers of the commissariat of King Solomon. One of these, the son of Dekar, had a Beth-shemesh in his territory. By excluding the territory assigned to the other eleven officers, the territory of this son of Dekar is found to be in Judah and to lie along the Philistine border (1 Ki 4:9). A Philistine attack upon the border-land of Judah testifies to the same effect (2 Ch 28:18). Finally, the battle between Amaziah of Judah and Jehoash of Israel, who "looked one another in the face" at Beth-shemesh, puts Beth-Shemesh most probably near the border between Judah and Israel, which would locate it near the northern part of the western border of Judah's territo ry. In the assignment of cities to the Levites, Judah gave Beth-shemesh with its suburbs (Josh 21:16). It has been identified with a good degree of certainty with the modern `Ain Shems.
It may be that Ir-shemesh, "city of the sun," and Har-cherec, "mount of the sun," refer to Beth-shemesh of Judah (Josh 15:10; 19:41-43; 1 Ki 4:9; Jdg 1:33,35). But the worship of the sun was so common and cities of this name so many in number that it would be hazardous to conclude with any assurance that because these three names refer to the same region they therefore refer to the same place.
In the description of the tribal limits, it is said of Issachar (Josh 19:22), "And the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh; and the goings out of their border were at the Jordan." The description indicates that Beth-shemesh was in the eastern part of Issachar's territory. The exact location of the city is not known.
A Beth-shemesh is mentioned together with Beth-anath as cities of Naphtali (Josh 19:38). There is no clear indication of the location of this city. Its association with Beth-anath may indicate that they were near each other in the central part of the tribal allotment. As at Gezer, another of the cities of the Levites the Canaanites were not driven out from Beth-shemesh.
4. Beth-shemesh "that is in the Land of Egypt":
A doom is pronounced upon "Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt" (Jer 43:13). The Seventy identify it with Heliopolis. There is some uncertainty about this identification. If Beth-shemesh, "house of the sun," is here a description of Heliopolis, why does it not have the article? If it is a proper name, how does it come that a sanctuary in Egypt is called by a Hebrew name? It may be that the large number of Jews in Egypt with Jeremiah gave this Hebrew name to Heliopolis for use among themselves, Beth-shemesh. being a translation of Egyptian Perra as suggested by Griffith. Otherwise, Beth-shemesh. cannot have been Heliopolis, but must have been some other, at present unknown, place of Semitic worship. This latter view seems to be favored by Jeremiah's double threat: "He shall also break the pillars of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire" (save place). If Beth-shemesh were the "house of the sun," then the balancing of the state ment would be only between "pillars" and "houses," but it seems more naturally to be between Beth-shemesh, a Semitic place of worship "that is in the land of Egypt" on the one hand, and the Egyptian place of worship, "the houses of the gods of Egypt," on the other.
But the Seventy lived in Egypt and in their interpretation of this passage were probably guided by accurate knowledge of facts unknown now, such as surviving names, tradition and even written history. Until there is further light on the subject, it is better to accept their interpretation and identify this Beth-shemesh with Heliopolis.
See ON .
M. G. Kyle
beth-she'-mit beth-shimshi (1 Sam 6:14,28)): An inhabitant of Beth-shemesh in Judah (compare BETH-SHEMESH 1).
beth-shit'-a (beth ha-shiTTah, "house of the acacia"): A place on the route followed by the Midianites in their flight before Gideon (Jdg 7:22). It is probably identical with the modern ShuTTa, a village in the Vale of Jezreel, about 6 miles Northwest of Beisan.
beth-tap'-u-a (beth-tappuach; Beththapphoue, "place of apples" (see howeverAPPLE ));A town in the hill country of Judah (Josh 15:53), probably near Hebron (el Tappuah, 1 Ch 2:43), possibly the same as Tephon (1 Macc 9:50). The village of Tuffuch, 3 1/2 miles Northwest of Hebron, is the probable site; it stands on the edge of a high ridge, surrounded by very fruitful gardens; an ancient highroad runs through the village, and there are many old cisterns and caves. (See PEF ,III , 310, 379, ShXXI . )
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-zak-a-ri'-as Baith-zacharia): Here Judas Maccabeus failed in battle with Antiochus Eupator, and his brother Eleazar fell in conflict with an elephant (1 Macc 6:32 ff; the King James Version "Bathzacharias"). It was a position of great strength, crowning a promontory which juts out between two deep valleys. It still bears the ancient name with little change, Beit Zakaria. It lies about 4 miles Southwest of Bethlehem (BR, III, 283 ff; Ant, XII, ix, 4).
beth'-zur (beth-tsur; Baith-sour, "house of rock"; less probably "house of the god Zur"):
(1) Mentioned (Josh 15:58) as near Halhul and Gedor in the hill country of Judah; fortified by Rehoboam (2 Ch 11:7). In Neh 3:16 mention is made of "Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur." During the Maccabean wars it (Bethsura) came into great importance (1 Macc 4:29,61; 6:7,26,31,49,50; 9:52; 10:14; 11:65; 14:7,33). Josephus describes it as the strongest place in all Judea (Ant., XIII, v, 6). It was inhabited in the days of Eusebius and Jerome.
(2) It is the ruined site Belt Cur, near the main road from Jerusalem to Hebron, and some 4 miles North of the latter. Its importance lay in its natural strength, on a hilltop dominating the highroad, and also in its guarding the one southerly approach for a hostile army by the Vale of Elah to the Judean plateau. The site today is conspicuous from a distance through the presence of a ruined medieval tower. (See PEF ,III , 311, ShXXI ).
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-ab'-a-ra beth`abharah; Bethabara, "house of the ford"): According to the King James Version (following Textus Receptus of the New Testament) the place where John baptized (Jn 1:28). the Revised Version (British and American) (with Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek following Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Ephraemi) reads BETHANY. It is distinguished from the Bethany of Lazarus and his sisters as being "beyond the Jordan." The reading "Bethabara" became current owing to the advocacy of Origen. Various suggestions have been made to explain the readings. G. A. Smith (HGHL) suggests that Bethany ("house of the ship") and Bethabara ("house of the ford") are names for the same place. Bethabara has also been identified with Bethbarah, which, however, was probably not on the Jordan but among the streams flowing into it (Jdg 7:24). It is interesting to note that LXXB reads Baithabara for Massoretic Text Beth-`arabhah, one of the cities of Benjamin (Josh 18:22). If this be correct, the site is in Judea.
Another solution is sought in the idea of a corruption of the original name into Bethany and Bethabara, the name having the consonants n, b and r after Beth. In Josh 13:27 (Septuagint, Codex Vaticanus) we find Baithanabra for Bethnimrah (Massoretic Text), and Sir George Grove in DB (arts. "Bethabara" and "Beth-nimrah") identifies Bethabara and Beth-nimrah. The site of the latter was a few miles above Jericho (see BETH-NIMRAH ), "immediately accessible to Jerusalem and all Judea" (compare Mt 3:5; Mk 1:5, and see article "Bethany" inEB ). This view has much in its favor.
Then, again, as Dr. G. Frederick Wright observes: "The traditional site is at the ford east of Jericho; but as according to Jn 1:29,35,43 it was only one day's journey from Cana of Galilee, while according to Jn 10:40; 11:3,6,27 it was two or three days from Bethany, it must have been well up the river toward Galilee. Conder discovered a well-known ford near Beisan called Abarah, near the mouth of the valley of Jezreel. This is 20 miles from Cana and 60 miles from Bethany, and all the conditions of the place fit in with the history."
See also BETHANY (2).
S. F. Hunter
beth'-a-ni (Bethania):
(1) A village, 15 furlongs from Jerusalem (Jn 11:18), on the road to Jericho, at the Mount of Olives (Mk 11:1; Lk 19:29), where lived "Simon the leper" (Mk 14:3) and Mary, Martha and Lazarus (Jn 11:18 f). This village may justifiably be called the Judean home of Jesus, as He appears to have preferred to lodge there rather than in Jerusalem itself (Mt 21:17; Mk 11:11). Here occurred the incident of the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11) and the feast at the house of Simon (Mt 26:1-13; Mk 14:3-9; Lk 7:36-50; Jn 1:2:1-8). The Ascension as recorded in Lk 24:50-51 is thus described: "He led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven."
Bethany is today el `Azareyeh ("the place of Lazarus"--the L being displaced to form the article). It is a miserably untidy and tumble-down village facing East on the Southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, upon the carriage road to Jericho. A fair number of fig, almond and olive trees surround the houses. The traditional tomb of Lazarus is shown and there are some remains of medieval buildings, besides rock-cut tombs of much earlier date (PEF, III, 27, Sheet XVII).
(2) "Bethany beyond the Jordan" (Jn 1:28; the King James Version Bethabara; Bethabara, a reading against the majority of the manuscripts, supported by Origen on geographical grounds): No such place is known. Grove suggested that the place intended is BETH-NIMRAH (which see), the modern Tell nimrin, a singularly suitable place, but hard to fit in with Jn 1:28; compare 2:1. The traditional site is the ford East of Jericho.
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-a'-ram (beth haram).
See BETH-HARAM .
beth-az'-moth (the King James Version Bethsamos; Baithasmoth (1 Esdras 5:18); corresponds to Beth-azmaveth in Neh 7:28): A town in the territory of Benjamin, and may be identified with the modern el-Hizmeh.
See AZMAVETH .
beth-ba'-si (Baithbasi): The name may mean "place of marshes" = Hebrew beth-betsi. According to G. A. Smith there is a Wady el-Bassah East of Tekoa in the wilderness of Judea. The name means "marsh," which Dr. Smith thinks impossible, and really "an echo of an ancient name." Jonathan and Simon repaired the ruins of the fortified place "in the desert" (1 Macc 9:62,64). Josephus reads Bethalaga, i.e. Beth-hoglah (Ant., XIII, i, 5). Peshitta version reads Beth-Yashan (see JESHANAH ), which Dr. Cheyne thinks is probably correct. Thus the origin of the name and the site of the town are merely conjectural.
S. F. Hunter
beth'-el (beth-'el; Baithel and oikos theou, literally, "house of God"):
(1) A town near the place where Abraham halted and offered sacrifice on his way south from Shechem.
1. Identification and Description:
It lay West of Ai (Gen 12:8). It is named as on the northern border of Benjamin (the southern of Ephraim, Josh 16:2), at the top of the ascent from the Jordan valley by way of Ai (Josh 18:13). It lay South of Shiloh (Jdg 21:19). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 12 Roman miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. It is represented by the modern Beitin, a village of some 400 inhabitants, which stands on a knoll East of the road to Nablus. There are four springs which yield supplies of good water. In ancient times these were supplemented by a reservoir hewn in the rock South of the town. The surrounding country is bleak and barren, the hills being marked by a succession of stony terraces, which may have suggested the form of the ladder in Jacob's famous dream.
The town was originally called Luz (Gen 28:19, etc.). When Jacob came hither on his way to Paddan-aram we are told that he lighted upon "the place" (Gen 28:11. Hebrew). The Hebrew maqom, like the cognate Arabic maqam, denotes a sacred place or sanctuary. The maqom was doubtless that at which Abraham had sacrificed, East of the town. In the morning Jacob set up "for a pillar" the stone which had served as his pillow (Gen 28:18; see PILLAR , matstsebhah), poured oil upon it and called the name of the place Bethel, "house of God"; that is, of God whose epiphany was for him associated with the pillar. This spot became a center of great interest, lending growing importance to the town. In process of time the name Luz disappeared, giving place to that of the adjoining sanctuary, town and sanctuary being identified. Jacob revisited the place on his return from Paddan-aram; here Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under "the oak" (Gen 35:6 f). Probably on rising ground East of Bethel Abraham and Lot stood to view the uninviting highlands and the rich lands of the Jordan valley (Gen 13:9 ff).
Bethel was a royal city of the Canaanites (Josh 12:16). It appears to have been captured by Joshua (8:7), and it was allotted to Benjamin (Josh 18:22). In Jdg 1:22 ff it is represented as held by Canaanites, from whom the house of Joseph took it by treachery (compare 1 Ch 7:28). Hither the ark was brought from Gilgal (Jdg 2:1, Septuagint). Israel came to Bethel to consult the Divine oracle (Jdg 20:18), and it became an important center of worship (1 Sam 10:3). The home of the prophetess Deborah was not far off (Jdg 4:5). Samuel visited Bethel on circuit, judging Israel (1 Sam 7:16).
With the disruption of the kingdom came Bethel's greatest period of splendor and significance. To counteract the influence of Jerusalem as the national religious center Jeroboam embarked on the policy which won for him the unenviable reputation of having "made Israel to sin." Here he erected a temple, set up an image, the golden calf, and established an imposing ritual. It became the royal sanctuary and the religious center of his kingdom (1 Ki 12:29 ff; Am 7:13). He placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made (1 Ki 12:32). To Bethel came the man of God from Judah who pronounced doom against Jeroboam (1 Ki 13), and who, having been seduced from duty by an aged prophet in Bethel, was slain by a lion. According to the prophets Amos and Hosea the splendid idolatries of Bethel were accompanied by terrible moral and religious degradation. Against the place they launched the most scathing denunciations, declaring the vengeance such things must entail (Am 3:14; 4:4; 5:11 m; 9:1; Hos 4:15; 5:8; 10:5,8,23). With the latter the name Bethel gives place in mockery to Beth-aven. Bethel shared in the downfall of Samaria wrought by the Assyrians; and according to an old tradition, Shalmaneser possessed himself of the golden calf (compare Jer 48:13). The priest, sent by the Assyrians to teach the people whom they had settled in the land how to serve Yahweh, dwelt in Bethel (2 Ki 17:28). King Josiah completed the demolition of the sanctuary at Bethel, destroying all the instruments of idolatry, and harr ying the tombs of the idolaters. The monument of the man of God from Judah he allowed to stand (2 Ki 23:4,25). The men of Bethel were among those who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:28; Neh 7:32), and it is mentioned as reoccupied by the Benjamites (Neh 11:31). Zechariah (7:2) records the sending of certain men from Jerusalem in the 4th year of King Darius to inquire regarding particular religious practices. Bethel was one of the towns fortified by Bacchides in the time of the Maccabees (1 Macc 9:50; Ant, XIII, i, 3). It is named again as a small town which, along with Ephraim, was taken by Vespasian as he approached Jerusalem (BJ, IV, ix, 9).
(2) A city in Judah which in 1 Sam 30:27 is called Bethel; in Josh 19:4 Bethul; and in 1 Ch 4:30 Bethuel. The site has not been identified. In Josh 15:30 Septuagint gives Baithel in Judah, where the Hebrew has Kecil--probably a scribal error.
W. Ewing
(har beth-'el; Baithel louza (1 Sam 13:2, the Revised Version (British and American) "the mount of Bethel"; Josh 16:1)): The hill which stretches from the North of the town to Tell `Acur. The road to Shechem lies along the ridge. An army in possession of these heights easily commanded the route from north to south.
beth'-el-it: The term applied to a man who in the days of Ahab rebuilt Jericho (1 Ki 16:34).
See HIEL .
be'-ther (bether): In Song 2:17 mention is made of "the mountains of Bether." It is doubtful if a proper name is intended. The Revised Version, margin has, "perhaps, the spice malobathron." A Bether is prominent in late Jewish history as the place where the Jews resisted Hadrian under Bar Cochba in 135 AD. Its identity with Bittir, 7 miles Southwest of Jerusalem, is attested by an inscription.
be-thez'-da (Bethesda; Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Jn 5:2 (probably beth chicda', "house of mercy"); other forms occur as Bethzatha and Bethsaida):
1. The Conditions of the Narrative: Jn 5:2:
The only data we have is the statement in Jn 5:2-4: "Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered." Many ancient authorities add (as in the Revised Version, margin) "waiting for the moving of the water: for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and troubled the water," etc.
The name does not help as to the site, no such name occurs elsewhere in Jerusalem; the mention of the sheep gate is of little assistance because the word "gate" is supplied, and even were it there, its site is uncertain. Sheep "pool" or "place" is at least as probable; the tradition about the "troubling of the water" (which may be true even if the angelic visitant may be of the nature of folk-lore) can receive no rational explanation except by the well-known phenomenon, by no means uncommon in Syria and always considered the work of a supernatural being, of an intermittent spring. The arrangement of the five porches is similar to that demonstrated by Dr. F. Bliss as having existed in Roman times as the Pool of Siloam; the story implies that the incident occurred outside the city walls, as to carry a bed on the Sabbath would not have been forbidden by Jewish traditional law.
Tradition has varied concerning the site. In the 4th century, and probably down to the Crusades, a pool was pointed out as the true site, a little to the Northwest of the present Stephen's Gate; it was part of a twin pool and over it were erected at two successive periods two Christian churches. Later on this site was entirely lost and from the 13th century the great Birket Israel, just North of the Temple area, was pointed out as the site.
Within the last quarter of a century, however, the older traditional site, now close to the Church of Anne, has been rediscovered, excavated and popularly accepted. This pool is a rock-cut, rain-filled cistern, 55 ft. long X 12 ft. broad, and is approached by a steep and winding flight of steps. The floor of the rediscovered early Christian church roofs over the pool, being supported upon five arches in commemoration of the five porches. At the western end of the church, where probably the font was situated, there was a fresco, now much defaced and fast fading, representing the angel troubling the waters.
Although public opinion supports this site, there is much to be said for the proposal, promulgated by Robinson and supported by Conder and other good authorities, that the pool was at the "Virgin's Fount" (see GIHON ), which is today an intermittent spring whose "troubled" waters are still visited by Jews for purposes of cure. As the only source of "living water" near Jerusalem, it is a likely spot for there to have been a "sheep pool" or "sheep place" for the vast flocks of sheep coming to Jerusalem in connection with the temple ritual. See Biblical World,XXV , 80 ff.
E. W. G. Masterman
be-think' (heshibh 'el lebh, "to lay to heart," hence, "recall to mind"): Anglo-Saxon word used only in seventh petition of Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple. If the people, carried into captivity, because of sin, should "take it to heart," then God (he prayed) would hear and forgive (1 Ki 8:47; 2 Ch 6:37). A choice illustration of the mental and heart process in reflection, repentance and conversion.
beth'-le-hem (bethlechem; Baithleem, or Bethleem, "house of David," or possibly "the house of Lakhmu," an Assyrian deity):
Bethlehem Judah, or EPHRATH or EPHRATHAH (which see) is now Beit Lahm (Arabic = "house of meat"), a town of upward of 10,000 inhabitants, 5 miles South of Jerusalem and 2,350 ft. above sea level. It occupies an outstanding position upon a spur running East from the watershed with deep valleys to the Northeast and South It is just off the main road to Hebron and the south, but upon the highroad to Tekoa and En-gedi. The position is one of natural strength; it was occupied by a garrison of the Philistines in the days of David (2 Sam 23:14; 1 Ch 11:16) and was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Ch 11:6). The surrounding country is fertile, cornfields, fig and olive yards and vineyards abound. Bethlehem is not naturally well supplied with water, the nearest spring is 800 yds. to the Southeast, but for many centuries the "low level aqueduct" from "Solomon's Pools" in the ArTas valley, which has here been tunneled through the hill, has been tapped by the inhabitants; there are also many rock-cut cisterns.
In 1 Ch 2:51 Salma, the son of Caleb, is described as the "father of Bethlehem." In Gen 35:19; 48:7 it is recorded that Rachel "was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem)." Tradition points out the site of Rachel's tomb near where the road to Bethlehem leaves the main road. The Levites of the events of Jdg 17; 19 were Bethlehemites. In the list of the towns of Judah the name Bethlehem occurs, in the Septuagint version only in Josh 15:57.
Ruth, famous chiefly as the ancestress of David, and of the Messiah, settled in Bethlehem with her second husband Boaz, and it is noticeable that from her new home she could view the mountains of Moab, her native land. David himself "was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse" (1 Sam 17:12). To Bethlehem came Samuel to anoint a successor to unworthy Saul (1 Sam 16:4): "David went to and fro from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem" (1 Sam 17:15). David's "three mighty men" "brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David" (2 Sam 23:14,16). Tradition still points out the well. From this town came those famous "sons of Zeruiah," David's nephews, whose loyalty and whose ruthless cruelty became at once a protection and a menace to their royal relative: in 2 Sam 2:32 it is mentioned that one of them, Asahel, was buried "in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem."
After the time of David, Bethlehem would appear to have sunk into insignificance. But its future fame is pointed at by Micah (5:2): "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
In the return of the Jews captive Bethlehemites re-inhabited the place (Ezr 2:21; Neh 7:26 "men"; 1 Esdras 5:17 "sons").
In the New Testament Bethlehem is mentioned as the birthplace of the Messiah Jesus (Mt 2:1,5; Lk 2:4,25) in consequence of which event occurred Herod's "massacre of the innocents" (Mt 2:8,26). Inasmuch as Hadrian devastated Bethlehem and set up there a sacred grove to Adonis (Jerome, Ep. ad Paul, lviii.3) it is clear that veneration of this spot as the site of the Nativity must go back before 132 AD. Constantine (circa 330) founded a basilica over the cave-stable which tradition pointed out as the scene of the birth, and his church, unchanged in general structure though enlarged by Justinian and frequently adorned, repaired and damaged, remains today the chief attraction of the town. During the Crusades, Bethlehem became of great importance and prosperity; it remained in Christian hands after the overthrow of the Latin kingdom, and at the present day it is in material things one of the most prosperous Christian centers in the Holy Land.
Bethlehem of Zebulun (Josh 19:15) was probably the home of Ibzan (Jdg 12:8,20) though Jewish tradition is in support of (1). See Josephus, Ant, V, vii, 13. This is now the small village of Beit Lahm, some 7 miles Northwest of Nazareth on the edge of the oak forest. Some antiquities have been found here recently, showing that in earlier days it was a place of some importance. It is now the site of a small German colony. See PEF , I, 270, Sh V.
E. W. G. Masterman
See STAR OF THE MAGI .
beth'-fa-je, beth'-faj (from beth paghah; Bethphage, or Bethphage; in Aramaic "place of young figs"): Near the Mount of Olives and to the road from Jerusalem to Jericho; mentioned together with Bethany (Mt 21:1; Mk 11:1; Lk 19:29). The place occurs in several Talmudic passages where it may be inferred that it was near but outside Jerusalem; it was at the Sabbatical distance limit East of Jerusalem, and was surrounded by some kind of wall. The medieval Bethphage was between the summit and Bethany. The site is now enclosed by the Roman Catholics. As regards the Bethphage of the New Testament, the most probable suggestion was that it occupied the summit itself where Kefr et Tur stands today. This village certainly occupies an ancient site and no other name is known. This is much more probable than the suggestion that the modern Abu Dis is on the site of Bethphage.
E. W. G. Masterman
beth-sa'-i-da (Bethsaida, "house of fishing"):
(1) A city East of the Jordan, in a "desert place" (that is, uncultivated ground used for grazing) at which Jesus miraculously fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes (Mk 6:32 ff; Lk 9:10). This is doubtless to be identified with the village of Bethsaida in Lower Gaulonitis which the Tetrarch Philip raised to the rank of a city, and called Julias, in honor of Julia, the daughter of Augustus. It lay near the place where the Jordan enters the Sea of Gennesaret (Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; BJ, II, ix, 1; III, x, 7; Vita, 72). This city may be located at et-Tell, a ruined site on the East side of the Jordan on rising ground, fully a mile from the sea. As this is too far from the sea for a fishing village, Schumacher (The Jaulan, 246) suggests that el-`Araj, "a large, completely destroyed site close to the lake," connected in ancient times with et-Tell "by the beautiful roads still visible," may have been the fishing village, and et-Tell the princely residence. He is however inclined to favor el-Mes`adiyeh , a ruin and winter village of Arab et-Tellawiyeh, which stands on an artificial mound, about a mile and a half from the mouth of the Jordan. It should be noted, however, that the name is in origin radically different from Bethsaida. The substitution of sin for cad is easy: but the insertion of the guttural `ain is impossible. No trace of the name Bethsaida has been found in the district; but any one of the sites named would meet the requirements.
To this neighborhood Jesus retired by boat with His disciples to rest awhile. The multitude following on foot along the northern shore of the lake would cross the Jordan by the ford at its mouth which is used by foot travelers to this day. The "desert" of the narrative is just the barriyeh of the Arabs where the animals are driven out for pasture. The "green grass" of Mk 6:39, and the "much grass" of Jn 6:10, point to some place in the plain of el-BaTeichah, on the rich soil of which the grass is green and plentiful compared with the scanty herbage on the higher slopes.
(2) Bethsaida of Galilee, where dwelt Philip, Andrew, Peter (Jn 1:44; 12:21), and perhaps also James and John. The house of Andrew and Peter seems to have been not far from the synagogue in Capernaum (Mt 8:14; Mk 1:29, etc.). Unless they had moved their residence from Bethsaida to Capernaum, of which there is no record, and which for fishermen was unlikely, Bethsaida must have lain close to Capernaum. It may have been the fishing town adjoining the larger city. As in the case of the other Bethsaida, no name has been recovered to guide us to the site. On the rocky promontory, however, East of Khan Minyeh we find Sheikh `Aly ec-Caiyadin, "Sheikh Aly of the Fishermen," as the name of a ruined weley, in which the second element in the name Bethsaida is represented. Near by is the site at `Ain et-Tabigha, which many have identified with Bethsaida of Galilee. The warm water from copious springs runs into a little bay of the sea in which fishes congregate in great numbers. This has therefore always been a favorite haunt of fishermen. If Capernaum were at Khan Minyeh, then the two lay close together. The names of many ancient places have been lost, and others have strayed from their original localities. The absence of any name resembling Bethsaida need not concern us.
Were There Two Bethsaidas?:
Many scholars maintain that all the New Testament references to Bethsaida apply to one place, namely, Bethsaida Julias. The arguments for and against this view may be summarized as follows:
(a) Galilee ran right round the lake, including most of the level coastland on the East. Thus Gamala, on the eastern shore, was within the jurisdiction of Josephus, who commanded in Galilee (BJ, II, xx, 4). Judas of Gamala (Ant., XVIII, i, l) is also called Judas of Galilee (ibid., i, 6). If Gamala, far down the eastern shore of the sea, were in Galilee, a fortiori Bethsaida, a town which lay on the very edge of the Jordan, may be described as in Galilee.
But Josephus makes it plain that Gamala, while added to his jurisdiction, was not in Galilee, but in Gaulonitis (BJ, II, xx, 6). Even if Judas were born in Gamala, and so might properly be called a Gaulonite, he may, like others, have come to be known as belonging to the province in which his active life was spent. "Jesus of Nazareth" was born in Bethlehem. Then Josephus explicitly says that Bethsaida was in Lower Gaulonitis (BJ, II, ix, 1). Further, Luke places the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the sea from Galilee (8:26)--antipera tes Galilaias ("over against Galilee").
(b) To go to the other side--eis to peran (Mk 6:45)--does not of necessity imply passing from the East to the West coast of the lake, since Josephus uses the verb diaperaioo of a passage from Tiberias to Tarichea (Vita, 59). But (i) this involved a passage from a point on the West to a point on the South shore, "crossing over" two considerable bays; whereas if the boat started from any point in el-BaTeichah, to which we seem to be limited by the "much grass," and by the definition of the district as belonging to Bethsaida, to sail to et-Tell, it was a matter of coasting not more than a couple of miles, with no bay to cross. (ii) No case can be cited where the phrase eis to peran certainly means anything else than "to the other side." (iii) Mark says that the boat started to go unto the other side to Bethsaida, while John, gives the direction "over the sea unto Capernaum" (Mk 6:17). The two towns were therefore practically in the same line. Now there is no question that Capernaum was on "the other side," nor is there any suggestion that the boat was driven out of its course; and it is quite obvious that, sailing toward Capernaum, whether at Tell Chum or at Khan Minyeh, it would never reach Bethsaida Julius. (iv) The present writer is familiar with these waters in both storm and calm. If the boat was taken from any point in el-BaTeichah towards et-Tell, no east wind would have distressed the rowers, protected as that part is by the mountains. Therefore it was no contrary wind that carried them toward Capernaum and the "land of Gennesaret." On the other hand, with a wind from the West, such as is often experienced, eight or nine hours might easily be occupied in covering the four or five miles from el-BaTeichah to the neighborhood of Capernaum.
(c) The words of Mark (Mk 6:45), it is suggested (Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 42), have been too strictly interpreted: as the Gospel was written probably at Rome, its author being a native, not of Galilee, but of Jerusalem. Want of precision on topographical points, therefore, need not surprise us. But as we have seen above, the "want of precision" must also be attributed to the writer of Jn 6:17. The agreement of these two favors the strict interpretation. Further, if the Gospel of Mark embodies the recollections of Peter, it would be difficult to find a more reliable authority for topographical details connected with the sea on which his fisher life was spent.
(d) In support of the single-city theory it is further argued that (i) Jesus withdrew to Bethsaida as being in the jurisdiction of Philip, when he heard of the murder of John by Antipas, and would not have sought again the territories of the latter so soon after leaving them. (ii) Medieval works of travel notice only one Bethsaida. (iii) The East coast of the sea was definitely attached to Galilee in AD 84, and Ptolemy (circa 140) places Julius in Galilee. It is therefore significant that only the Fourth Gospel speaks of "Bethsaida of Galilee." (iv) There could hardly have been two Bethsaidas so close together.
But: (i) It is not said that Jesus came hither that he might leave the territory of Antipas for that of Philip; and in view of Mk 6:30 ff, and Lk 9:10 ff, the inference from Mt 14:13 that he did so, is not warranted. (ii) The Bethsaida of medieval writers was evidently on the West of the Jordan. If it lay on the East it is inconceivable that none of them should have mentioned the river in this connection. (iii) If the 4th Gospel was not written until well into the 2nd century, then the apostle was not the author; but this is a very precarious assumption. John, writing after 84 AD, would hardly have used the phrase "Bethsaida of Galilee" of a place only recently attached to that province, writing, as he was, at a distance from the scene, and recalling the former familiar conditions. (iv) In view of the frequent repetition of names in Palestine the nearness of the two Bethsaidas raises no difficulty. The abundance of fish at each place furnished a good reason for the recurrence of the name.
W. Ewing
beth-sa'-mos.
See BETHASMOTH .
beth-su'-ra (Baithsoura (1 Macc 4:29, etc.)), (2 Macc 11:5 the Revised Version (British and American)): The Greek form of the name BETH-ZUR (which see).
be-thu'-el (bethu'el; "dweller in God"): A son of Nahor and Milcah, Abraham's nephew, father of Laban and Rebekah (Gen 22:23; 24:15,24,47,50; 25:20; 28:2,5). In the last-named passage, he is surnamed "the Syrian." The only place where he appears as a leading character in the narrative is in connection with Rebekah's betrothal to Isaac; and even here, his son Laban stands out more prominently than he--a fact explainable on the ground of the custom which recognized the right of the brother to take a special interest in the welfare of the sister (compare Gen 34:5,21,25; 2 Sam 13:20,22). Ant, I, xvi, 2 states that Bethuel was dead at this time.
Frank E. Hirsch
be-thu'-el, beth'-u-el (bethu'el, "destroyed of God"): A town of Simeon (1 Ch 4:30), the same as Bethul (Josh 19:4), and, probably, as the Beth-el of 1 Sam 30:27.
beth'-ul, be'-thul (bethul):
be-thu'-li-a (Baithouloua): A town named only in the Book of Judith (4:6; 6:10 ff; 7:1 ff; 8:3; 10:6; 12:7; 15:3,6; 16:21 ff). From these references we gather that it stood beside a valley, on a rock, at the foot of which was a spring, not far from Jenin; and that it guarded the passes by which an army might march to the South. The site most fully meeting these conditions is that of Sanur. The rock on the summit of which it stands rises sheer from the edge of Merj el-Ghariq, on the main highway, some 7 miles South of Jenin. Other identifications are suggested: Conder favoring Mithiliyeh, a little farther north; while the writer of the article "Bethulia" in Encyclopedia Biblica argues for identification with Jerusalem.
W. Ewing
be-timz': In the sense of "early" is the translation of two Hebrew words: (1) shakham, a root meaning "to incline the shoulder to a load," hence "to load up," "start early": in Gen 26:31 "they rose up betimes in the morning," also in 2 Ch 36:15 (the American Standard Revised Version "early"); (2) of shachar, a root meaning "to dawn" in Job 8:5; 24:5, the American Standard Revised Version "diligently," and in Ps 13:24, "chasteneth him betimes."
In the Apocrypha (Sirach 6:36) "betimes" is the translation of orthizo, literally, "to rise early in the morning," while in Bel and the Dragon verse 16 the same word is translated "betime."
In other cases the King James Version "betimes" appears as "before the time" (Sirach 51:30); "early" (1 Macc 4:52; 11:67); "the mourning" (1 Macc 5:30).
Arthur J. Kinsella
be-to'-li-on (Betolio (Codex Alexandrinus), or (Codex Vaticanus) Betolio; the King James Version Betolius, be-to'-li-us): A town the people of which to the number of 52 returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:21). It corresponds to Bethel in Ezr 2:28.
be-to-mes'-tha-im, be-to-mes'-tham the King James Version Betomestham, (Betomesthaim (Judith 4:6)): the King James Version Betomasthem (Baitornasthaim (Judith 15:4)): The place is said to have been "over against Jezreel, in the face of (i.e eastward of) the plain that is near Dothan" It can hardly be Deir Massin, which lies West of the plain. The district is clearly indicated, but no identification is yet possible.
bet'-o-nim, be-to'-nim (beTonim; Botanei or Botanin): A town East of the Jordan in the territory of Gad (Josh 13:26). It may be identical with BaTneh, about 3 miles Southwest of es-SalT.
be-tra' (ramah; paradidomi): In the Old Testament only once (1 Ch 12:17). David warns those who had deserted to him from Saul: "If ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries .... the God of our fathers look thereon." The same Hebrew word is elsewhere translated "beguile" (Gen 29:25; Josh 9:22), "deceive" (1 Sam 19:17; 28:12; 2 Sam 19:26; Prov 26:19; Lam 1:19).
In the New Testament, for paradidomi: 36 times, of the betrayal of Jesus Christ, and only 3 times besides (Mt 24:10; Mk 13:12; Lk 21:16) of kinsmen delivering up one another to prosecution. In these three places the Revised Version (British and American) translates according to the more general meaning, "to deliver up," and also (in Mt 17:22; 20:18; 26:16; Mk 14:10,21; Lk 22:4,6) where it refers to the delivering up of Jesus. The Revisers' idea was perhaps to retain "betray" only in direct references to Judas' act, but they have not strictly followed that rule. Judas' act was more than that of giving a person up to the authorities; he did it under circumstances of treachery which modified its character: (a) he took advantage of his intimate relation with Jesus Christ as a disciple to put Him in the hands of His enemies; (b) he did it stealthily by night, and (c) by a kiss, an act which professed affection and friendliness; (d) he did it for money, and (e) he knew that Jesus Christ was innocent of any crime (Mt 27:4).
T. Rees
be-tra'-ers (prodotai, "betrayers," "traitors"): Stephen charged the Jews with being betrayers of the Righteous One (Acts 7:52) i.e. as having made Judas' act their own; compare Lk 6:16: "Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor;" 2 Tim 3:4, "traitors."
be-troth', be-troth' ('dras): On betrothal as a social custom see MARRIAGE . Hosea, in his great parable of the prodigal wife, surpassed only by a greater Teacher's parable of the Prodigal Son, uses betrothal as the symbol of Yahweh's pledge of His love and favor to penitent Israel (Hos 2:19,20). In Ex 21:8,9 the Revised Version (British and American) renders "espouse" for the "betroth" of the King James Version, the context implying the actual marriage relation.
II. A GLANCE ALTES TESTAMENT CONTEMPORANEOUS HISTORY
IV. INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THIS PERIOD
4. Preparation for Christianity
As the title indicates, the historical period in the life of Israel extends from the cessation of Old Testament prophecy to the beginning of the Christian era.
The Exile left its ineffaceable stamp on Judaism as well as on the Jews. Their return to the land of their fathers was marked by the last rays of the declining sun of prophecy. With Malachi it set. Modern historical criticism has projected some of the canonical books of the Bible far into this post-exilic period. Thus Kent (HJP, 1899), following the lead of the Wellhausen-Kuenen hypothesis, with all its later leaders, has charted the period between 600 BC, the date of the first captivity, to 160 BC, the beginning of the Hasmonean period of Jewish history, in comparative contemporaneous blocks of double decades. Following the path of Koster, the historical position of Ezra and Nehemiah is inverted, and the former is placed in the period 400-380 BC, contemporaneously with Artaxerxes II; Joel is assigned to the same period; portions of Isa (chapters 63 through 66; 24 through 27) are placed about 350 BC; Zec is assigned to the period 260-240, and Dan is shot way down the line into the re ign of the Seleucids, between 200 and 160 BC. Now all this is very striking and no doubt very critical, but the ground of this historical readjustment is wholly subjective, and has the weight only of a hypothetical conjecture. Whatever may be our attitude to the critical hypothesis of the late origin of some of the Old Testament literally, it seems improbable that any portion of it could have reached far into the post-exilic period. The interval between the Old and the New Testaments is the dark period in the hist ory of Israel. It stretches itself out over about four centuries, during which there was neither prophet nor inspired writer in Israel. All we know of it we owe to Josephus, to some of the apocryphal books, and to scattered references in Greek and Latin historians. The seat of empire passed over from the East to the West, from Asia to Europe. The Persian Empire collapsed, under the fierce attacks of the Macedonians, and the Greek Empire in turn gave way to the Roman rule.
II. A Glance at Contemporaneous History.
For the better understanding of this period in the history of Israel, it may be well to pause for a moment to glance at the wider field of the history of the world in the centuries under contemplation, for the words "fullness of time" deal with the all-embracing history of mankind, for whose salvation Christ appeared, and whose every movement led to its realization.
In the four centuries preceding Christ, The Egyptian empire, the oldest and in many respects the most perfectly developed civilization of antiquity, was tottering to its ruins. The 29th or Mendesian Dynasty, made place, in 384 BC, for the 30th or Sebennitic Dynasty, which was swallowed up, half a century later, by the Persian Dynasty. The Macedonian or 32nd replaced this in 332 BC, only to give way, a decade later, to the last or 33rd, the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The whole history of Egypt in this period was therefore one of endless and swiftly succeeding changes. In the Ptolemaic Dynasty there was a faint revival of the old glory of the past, but the star of empire had set for Egypt, and the mailed hand of Rome finally smote down a civilization whose beginnings are lost in the dim twilight of history. The Caesarian conquest of 47 BC was followed, 17 years later, by the annexation of Egypt to the new world-power, as a Roman province. Manetho's history is the one great literary monument of Egyptian history in this period. Her priests had been famous for their wisdom, to which Lycurgus and Solon, the Greek legislators, had been attracted, as well as Pythagoras and Plato, the world's greatest philosophers.
In Greece also the old glory was passing away. Endless wars sapped the strength of the national life. The strength of Athens and Sparta, of Corinth and Thebes had departed, and when about the beginning of our period, in 337 BC, the congress of Greek states had elected Philip of Macedon to the hegemony of united Greece, the knell of doom sounded for all Greek liberty. First Philip and after him Alexander wiped out the last remnants of this liberty, and Greece became a fighting machine for the conquest of the world in the meteoric career of Alexander the Great. But what a galaxy of illustrious names adorn the pages of Greek history, in this period, so dark for Israel! Think of Aristophanes and Hippocrates, of Xenophon and Democritus, of Plato and Apelies, of Aeschines and Demosthenes, of Aristotle and Praxiteles and Archimedes, all figuring, amid the decay of Greek liberty, in the 4th and 3rd centuries before Christ! Surely if the political glory of Greece had left its mark on the ages, its intellectual brilliancy is their pride.
Rome meanwhile was strengthening herself, by interminable wars, for the great task of world-conquest that lay before her. By the Latin and Samnite and Punic wars she trained her sons in the art of war, extended her territorial power and made her name dreaded everywhere. Italy and north Africa, Greece and Asia Minor and the northern barbarians were conquered in turn. Her intellectual brilliancy was developed only when the lust of conquest was sated after a fashion, but in the century immediately preceding the Christian era we find such names as Lucretius and Hortentius, Cato and Cicero, Sallust and Diodorus Siculus, Virgil and Horace. At the close of the period between the Testaments, Rome had become the mistress of the world and every road led to her capital.
In Asia the Persian empire, heir to the civilization and traditions of the great Assyrian-Babylonian world-power, was fast collapsing and was ultimately utterly wiped out by the younger Greek empire and civilization. In far-away India the old ethnic religion of Brahma a century or more before the beginning of our period passed through the reformatory crisis inaugurated by Gatama Buddha or Sakya Mouni, and thus Buddhism, one of the great ethnic religions, was born. Another reformer of the Tauistic faith was Confucius, the sage of China, a contemporary of Buddha, while Zoroaster in Persia laid the foundations of his dualistic world-view. In every sense and in every direction, the period between the Testaments was therefore one of political and intellectual ferment.
As regards Jewish history, the period between the Testaments may be divided as follows: (1) the Persian period; (2) the Alexandrian period; (3) the Egyptian period; (4) the Syrian period; (5) the Maccabean period; (6) the Roman period.
The Persian period extends from the cessation of prophecy to 334 BC. It was in the main uneventful in the history of the Jews, a breathing spell between great national crises, and comparatively little is known of it. The land of Palestine was a portion of the Syrian satrapy, while the true government of the Jewish people was semi-theocratic, or rather sacerdotal, under the rule of the high priests, who were responsible to the satrap. As a matter of course, the high-priestly office became the object of all Jewish ambition and it aroused the darkest passions. Thus John, the son of Judas, son of Eliashib, through the lust of power, killed his brother Jesus, who was a favorite of Bagoses, a general of Artaxerxes in command of the district. The guilt of the fratricide was enhanced, because the crime was committed in the temple itself, and before the very altar. A storm of wrath, the only notable one of this period, thereupon swept over Judea. The Persians occupied Jerusalem, the temple was defiled, the city laid waste in part, a heavy fine was imposed on the people and a general persecution followed, which lasted for many years (Ant., XI, 7; Kent, HJP, 231). Then as later on, in the many persecutions which followed, the Samaritans, ever pliable and willing to obey the tyrant of the day, went practically scot free.
The Alexandrian period was very brief, 334-323 BC. It simply covers the period of the Asiatic rule of Alexander the Great. In Greece things had been moving swiftly. The Spartan hegemony, which had been unbroken since the fall of Athens, was now destroyed by the Thebans under Epaminondas, in the great battles of Leuctra and Mantinea. But the new power was soon crushed by Philip of Macedon, who was thereupon chosen general leader by the unwilling Greeks. Persia was the object of Philip's ambition and vengeance, but the dagger of Pausanias (Ant., XI, viii, 1) forestalled the execution of his plans. His son Alexander, a youth of 20 years, succeeded him, and thus the "great he-goat," of which Daniel had spoken (Dan 8:8; 10:20), appeared on the scene. In the twelve years of his reign (335-323 BC) he revolutionized the world. Swift as an eagle he moved. All Greece was laid at his feet. Thence he moved to Asia, where he defeated Darius in the memorable battles of Granicus and Issus. Passing southward, he conquered the Mediterranean coast and Egypt and then moved eastward again, for the complete subjugation of Asia, when he was struck down in the height of his power, at Babylon, in the 33rd year of his age. In the Syrian campaign he had come in contact with the Jews. Unwilling to leave any stronghold at his back, he reduced Tyre after a siege of several months, and advancing southward demanded the surrender of Jerusalem. But the Jews, taught by bitter experience, desired to remain loyal to Persia. As Alexander approached the city, Jaddua the high priest, with a train of priests in their official dress, went out to meet him, to supplicate mercy. A previous dream of this occurrence is said to have foreshadowed this event, and Alexander spared the city, sacrificed to Yahweh, had the prophecies of Daniel concerning him rehearsed in his hearing, and showed the Jews many favors (Ant., XI, viii, 5) From that day on they became his favorites; he employed them in his army and gave them equal rights w ith the Greeks, as first citizens of Alexandria, and other cities, which he founded. Thus the strong Hellenistic spirit of the Jews was created, which marked so large a portion of the nation, in the subsequent periods of their history.
The Egyptian period (324-264 BC). The death of Alexander temporarily turned everything into chaos. The empire, welded together by his towering genius, fell apart under four of his generals--Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Cassander, and Selenus (Dan 8:21,22). Egypt fell to the share of Ptolemy Soter and Judea was made part of it. At first Ptolemy was harsh in his treatment of the Jews, but later on he learned to respect them and became their patron as Alexander had been. Hecataeus of Thrace is at this time said to have studied the Jews, through information received from Hezekiah, an Egyptian Jewish immigrant, and to have written a Jewish history from the time of Abraham till his own day. This book, quoted by Josephus and Origen, is totally lost. Soter was succeeded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, an enlightened ruler, famous through the erection of the lighthouse of Pharos, and especially through the founding of the celebrated Alexandrian library. Like his father he was very friendly to the Jews, and in his reign the celebrated Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures, the Septuagint, was made, according to tradition (Ant.,. XII, ii). As however the power of the Syrian princes, the Seleucids, grew, Palestine increasingly became the battle ground between them and the Ptolemies. In the decisive battle between Ptolemy Philopator and Antiochus the Great, at Raphia near Gaza, the latter was crushed and during Philopator's reign Judea remained an Egyptian province. And yet this battle formed the turning-point of the history of the Jews in their relation to Egypt. For when Ptolemy, drunk with victory, came to Jerusalem, he endeavored to enter the holy of holies of the temple, although he retreated, in confusion, from the holy place. But he wreaked his vengeance on the Jews, for opposing his plan, by a cruel persecution. He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child of 5 years. The long-planned vengeance of Antiochus now took form in an invasion of Egypt. Coele-Syria and Judea were occupied by the Syrians and passed over into th e possession of the Seleucids.
The Syrian period (204-165 BC). Israel now entered into the valley of the shadow of death. This entire period was an almost uninterrupted martyrdom. Antiochus was succeeded by Seleucis Philopator. But harsh as was their attitude to the Jews, neither of these two was notorious for his cruelty to them. Their high priests, as in former periods, were still their nominal rulers. But the aspect of everything changed when Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC) came to the throne. He may fitly be called the Nero of Jewish history. The nationalists among the Jews were at that time wrangling with the Hellenists for the control of affairs. Onias III, a faithful high priest, was expelled from office through the machinations of his brother Jesus or Jason (2 Macc 4:7-10). Onias went to Egypt, where at Heliopolis he built a temple and officiated as high priest. Meanwhile Jason in turn was turned out of the holy office by the bribes of still another brother, Menelaus, worse by far than Jason, a Jew-hater and an avowed defender of Greek life and morals. The wrangle between the brothers gave Antiochus the opportunity he craved to wreak his bitter hatred on the Jews, in the spoliation of Jerusalem, in the wanton and total defilement of the temple, and in a most horrible persecution of the Jews (1 Macc 1:16-28; 2 Macc 5:11-23; Dan 11:28; Ant, XII, v, 3.4). Thousands were slain, women and children were sold into captivity, the city wall was torn down, all sacrifices ceased, and in the temple on the altar of burnt off ering a statue was erected to Jupiter Olympius (1 Macc 1:43; 2 Macc 6:1-2). Circumcision was forbidden, on pain of death, and all the people of Israel were to be forcibly paganized. As in the Persian persecution, the Samaritans again played into the hands of the Syrians and implicitly obeyed the will of the Seleucids. But the very rigor of the persecution caused it to fail of its purpose and Israel proved to be made of sterner stuff than Antiochus imagined. A priestly family dwelling at Modin, west of Jerusalem , named Hasmonean, after one of its ancestors, consisting of Mattathias and his five sons, raised the standard of revolt, which proved successful after a severe struggle.
See ASMONEANS .
The Maccabean period (165-63 BC). The slaying of an idolatrous Jew at the very altar was the signal of revolt. The land of Judea is specially adapted to guerilla tactics, and Judas Maccabeus, who succeeded his father, as leader of the Jewish patriots, Was a past master in this kind of warfare. All efforts of Antiochus to quell the rebellion failed most miserably, in three Syrian campaigns. The king died of a loathsome disease and peace was at last concluded with the Jews. Though still nominally under Syrian control, Judas became governor of Palestine. His first act was the purification and rededication of the temple, from which the Jews date their festival of purification (see PURIFICATION ). When the Syrians renewed the war, Judas applied for aid to the Romans, whose power began to be felt in Asia, but he died in battle before the promised aid could reach him (Ant., XII, xi, 2). He was buried by his father's side at Modin and was succeeded by his brother Jonathan. From that time the Maccabean history becomes one of endless cabals. Jonathan was acknowledged by the Syrians as meridarch of Judea, but was assassinated soon afterward. Simon succeeded him, and by the help of the Romans was made hereditary ruler of Palestine. He in turn was followed by John Hyrcanus. The people were torn by bitter partisan controversies and a civil war was waged, a generation later, by two grandsons of John Hyrcanus, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. In this internecine struggle the Roman general Pompey participated by siding with Hyrcanus, while Aristobulus defied Rome and defended Jerusalem. Pompey took the city, after a siege of three months, and entered the holy of holies, thereby forever estranging from Rome every loyal Jewish heart.
The Roman period (63-4 BC). Judea now became a Roman province. Hyrcanus, stripped of the hereditary royal power, retained only the high-priestly office. Rome exacted an annual tribute, and Aristobulus was sent as a captive to the capital. He contrived however to escape and renewed the unequal struggle, in which he was succeeded by his sons Alexander and Antigonus. In the war between Pompey and Caesar, Judea was temporarily forgotten, but after Caesar's death, under the triumvirate of Octavius, Antony and Lepidus, Antony, the eastern triumvir, favored Herod the Great, whose intrigues secured for him at last the crown of Judea and enabled him completely to extinguish the old Maccabean line of Judean princes.
IV. Internal Developments in This Period.
One thing remains, and that is a review of the developments within the bosom of Judaism itself in the period under consideration. It is self-evident that the core of the Jewish people, which remained loyal to the national traditions and to the national faith, must have been radically affected by the terrible cataclysms which mark their history, during the four centuries before Christ. What, if any, was the literary activity of the Jews in this period? What was their spiritual condition? What was the result of the manifest difference of opinion within the Jewish economy? What preparation does this period afford for the "fullness of time"? These and other questions present themselves, as we study this period of the history of the Jews.
The voice of prophecy was utterly hushed in this period, but the old literary instinct of the nation asserted itself; it was part and parcel of the Jewish traditions and would not be denied. Thus in this period many writings were produced, which although they lack canonical authority, among Protestants at least, still are extremely helpful for a correct understanding of the life of Israel in the dark ages before Christ.
First of all among the fruits of this literary activity stand the apocryphal books of the Old Testament. It is enough here to mention them. They are fourteen in number: 1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 2 Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Holy Children, History of Susannah, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, 1 and 2 Maccabees. As 3 and 4 Maccabees fall presumably within the Christian era, they are not here enumerated. All these apocryphal writings are of the utmost importance for a correct understanding of the Jewish problem in the day in which they were written. For fuller information, see APOCRYPHA .
Thus named from the spurious character of the authors' names they bear. Two of these writings very probably belong to our period, while a host of them evidently belong to a later date. In this class of writings there is a mute confession of the conscious poverty of the day. First of all, we have the Psalter of Solomon, originally written in Hebrew and translated into Greek--a collection of songs for worship, touching in their spirit, and evincing the fact that true faith never died in the heart of the true believer. The second is the Book of Enoch, a production of an apocalyptic nature, named after Enoch the patriarch, and widely known about the beginning of the Christian era. This book is quoted in the New Testament (Jude 1:14). It was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic and translated into Greek as there is no trace of a Christian influence in the book, the presumption is that the greater part of it was written at an earlier period. Both Jude and the author of Revelation must have known it, as a comparative study of both books will show. The question of these quotations or allusions is a veritable crux interpretum: how to reconcile the inspiration of these books with these quotations?
The tradition of the Septuagint is told by Josephus (Ant., XII, ii, 13). Aristeas and Aristobulus, a Jewish priest in the reign of Ptolemy Philometor (2 Macc 1:10), are also quoted in support of it by Clement of Alexandria and by Eusebius. See SEPTUAGINT . The truth of the matter is most probably that this great translation of the Old Testament Scriptures was begun at the instance of Ptolemy Philadelphus 285-247 BC, under the direction of Demetrius Phalereus, and was completed somewhere about the middle of the 2nd century BC. Internal evidence abounds that the translation was made by different hands and at different times. If the translation was in any way literal, the text of the Septuagint raises various interesting questions in regard to the Hebrew text that was used in the translation, as compared with the one we now possess. The Septuagint was of the utmost missionary value and contributed perhaps more than any other thing to prepare the world for the "fullness of time."
The return from Babylon marked a turning point in the spiritual history of the Jews. From that time onward, the lust of idolatry, which had marked their whole previous history, utterly disappears. In the place of it came an almost intolerable spirit of exclusiveness, a striving after legal holiness, these two in combination forming the very heart and core of the later Pharisaism. The holy books, but especially the law, became an object of almost idolatrous reverence; the spirit was utterly lost in the form. And as their own tongue, the classic Hebrew, gradually gave way to the common Aramaic, the rabbis and their schools strove ever more earnestly to keep the ancient tongue pure, worship and life each demanding a separate language. Thus, the Jews became in a sense bilingual, the Hebrew tongue being used in their synagogues, the Aramaic in their daily life, and later on, in part at least, the Greek tongue of the conqueror, the lingua franca of the period. A spiritual aristocracy very largely replaced the former rule of their princes and nobles. As the core of their religion died, the bark of the tree flourished. Thus, tithes were zealously paid by the believer (compare Mt 23:23), the Sabbath became a positive burden of sanctity, the simple laws of God were replaced by cumbersome human inventions, which in later times were to form the bulk of the Talmud, and which crushed down all spiritual liberty in the days of Christ (Mt 11:28; 23:4,23). The substitution of the names "Elohim" and "Adonai" for the old glorious historic name "Yahweh" is an eloquent commentary on all that has been said before and on the spiritual condition of Israel in this period (Ewald, History of Israel, V, 198), in which the change was inaugurated. The old centripetal force, the old ideal of centralization, gave way to an almost haughty indifference to the land of promise. The Jews became, as they are today, a nation without a country. For, for every Jew that came back to the old national home, a thousand remained in the land of their adopti on. And yet scattered far and wide, in all sorts of environments, they remained Jews, and the national consciousness was never extinguished. It was God's mark on them now as then. And thus they became world-wide missionaries of the knowledge of the true God, of a gospel of hope for a world that was hopeless, a gospel which wholly against their own will directed the eyes of the world to the fullness of time and which prepared the fallow soil of human hearts for the rapid spread of Christianity when it ultimately appeared.
During the Greek period the more conservative and zealous of the Jews were all the time confronted with a tendency of a very considerable portion of the people, especially the younger and wealthier set, to adopt the manners of life and thought and speech of their masters, the Greeks. Thus the Hellenistic party was born, which was bitterly hated by all true blooded Jews, but which left its mark on their history, till the date of the final dispersion 70 AD. From the day of Mattathias, the Chasids or Haside ans (1 Macc 2:42) were the true Jewish patriots. Thus the party of the Pharisees came into existence (Ant., XIII, x, 5; XVIII, i, 2; BJ, I, v, 2). See PHARISEES . They were opposed by the more secular-minded Sadducees (Ant., XIII, x, 6; XVIII, i, 3; BJ, II, viii, 14), wealthy, of fine social standing, wholly free from the restraints of tradition, utterly oblivious of the future life and closely akin to the Greek Epicureans. See SADDUCEES . These parties bitterly opposed each other till the very end of the national existence of the Jews in Palestine, and incessantly fought for the mastery, through the high-priestly office. Common hatred for Christ, for a while, afforded them a community of interests.
4. Preparation for Christianity:
Throughout this entire dark period of Israel's history, God was working out His own Divine plan with them. Their Scriptures were translated into Greek, after the conquest of Alexander the Great the common language in the East. Thus the world was prepared for the word of God, even as the latter in turn prepared the world for the reception of the gift of God, in the gospel of His Son. The Septuagint thus is a distinct forward movement in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise (Gen 12:3; 18:18). As the sacrificial part of Jewish worship declined, through their wide separation from the temple, the eyes of Israel were more firmly fixed on their Scriptures, read every Sabbath in their synagogues, and, as we have seen, these Scriptures, through the rendering of the Septuagint, had become the property of the entire world. Thus, the synagogue everywhere became the great missionary institute, imparting to the world Israel's exalted Messianic hopes. On the other hand, the Jews themselves, embittered by long-continued martyrdoms and suffering, utterly carnalized this Messianic expectation in an increasing ratio as the yoke of the oppressor grew heavier and the hope of deliverance grew fainter. And thus when their Messiah came, Israel recognized Him not, while the heart-hungry heathen, who through the Septuagint had become familiar with the promise, humbly received Him (Jn 1:9-14). The eyes of Israel were blinded for a season, `till the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in' (Rom 9:32; 11:25).
Henry E. Dosker
bu'-la (be`ulah "married"): A name symbolically applied to Israel: "Thy land (shall be called) Beulah .... thy land shall be married. .... so shall thy sons marry thee" (Isa 62:4 f). In this figure, frequently used since Hosea, the prophet wishes to express the future prosperity of Israel. The land once desolate shall again be populated.
be-wal' (kopto): In the middle voice, this word has the thought of striking on the breast and of loud lamentation, so common among oriental people in time of great sorrow. It is used to express the most intense grief, a sorrow that compels outward demonstration (Lk 8:52; 23:27). A striking instance of this grief is that of the daughter of Jephthah (Jdg 11:37; Lev 10:6).
See BURIAL ,IV , 4, 5, 6;GRIEF .
be-wich' (existemi): There are two Greek words in the New Testament translated "bewitch." The one given above (Acts 8:9,21 the King James Version "bewitched," the Revised Version (British and American) "amazed") has reference to the work of Simon Magus. It means "to be out of one's mind," "to astonish," "to overwhelm with wonder." The other word, baskaino (Gal 3:1), means "to fascinate by false representation." It is by this means the apostle complains they have been led to accept a teaching wholly contrary to the gospel of Christ. Both these words reveal to us something of the difficulty the early teachers had to eradicate the idea so widely held by the Jews and Egyptians especially, that there were certain powers, dark and mysterious, which by certain occult forces they could control. For a long time this had to be contended with as one of the corrupt practices brought into the church by the converts, both from Judaism and heathenism. These words have a reference to the evil eye which for centuries was, and even today is, an important factor in the life of the people of the East. 1 Tim 6:20 is a reference to this thought and explains the word "science" (the King James Version) as there used.
See DIVINATION ;EVIL EYE ;SORCERY ;SUPERSTITION .
Jacob W. Kapp
be-ra', be-ra'-er: In its derivation is entirely different from betray (Latin, tradere), and meant originally "to disclose," "reveal" (compare Shakspere, Titus Andronicus,II , iv, 3: "Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so"); but has been affected by the former word and is used almost synonymously. It is the translation of three Hebrew words: (1) qara', meaning "to call out" (Prov 27:16), "the ointment of his right hand which bewrayeth itself" (the American Standard Revised Version "his right hand encountereth oil," the American Revised Version, margin "the oil of his right hand betrayeth itself"); (2) naghadh meaning "to front," "to announce" (by word of mouth): Prov 29:24, "heareth cursing and bewrayeth it not" (the American Standard Revised Version "heareth the adjuration and uttereth nothing"); (3) galah, "to denude," figuratively, "to reveal" (Isa 16:3), "bewray not him that wandereth" (the American Standard Revised Version "betray not the fugitive").
In Sirach 27:17 "bewray (the Revised Version (British and American) "reveal") his secrets" is the translation of apokalupto, literally "to uncover"; so also in Sirach 27:21 (the Revised Version (British and American) "revealeth"). Bewrayer of 2 Macc 4:1 ("bewrayer of. the money and of his country," the Revised Version (British and American) "had given information of the money and had betrayed his country") is the translation of endeiktes, literally, "one who shows."
In the New Testament "bewrayeth" is the King James Version of Mt 26:73; "thy speech bewrayeth thee" is the translation of the phrase delon poiein, which the American Standard Revised Version renders "maketh thee known."
Arthur J. Kinsella
be-yond': Found in the Hebrew only in its application to space and time, and for these ideas three words are employed: hale'ah (Gen 35:21) = "to the distance"; `abhar = "to go beyond" "to cross" derivative `ebher (Chald. `abhar) = "across," "beyond" (Dt 30:13; Josh 18:7; Jdg 3:26; 1 Sam 20:36; 2 Ch 20:2; Ezr 4:17,20; Jer 25:22); and `al (Lev 15:25) = "beyond the time." In the New Testament peran, is used to express "beyond" in the spatial sense (Mt 4:15), while other words and phrases are employed for adverbial ideas of degree: huperperissos (Mk 7:37); huper (2 Cor 8:3; 10:16); kathuperbolen (Gal 1:13). In the King James Version be`eher, is occasionally translated "beyond," and when this word is joined to ha-yarden, "Jordan," as it usually is, it becomes critically important. In the American Standard Revised Version, be`ebher ha-yarden is translated "beyond the Jordan," in Gen 50:10,21; Dt 3:20,25; Josh 9:10; Jdg 5:17; "on this side Jordan" in Dt 1:1,5; Josh 1:14,25; "on the othe r side Jordan" in Dt 11:30; Josh 12:1; 22:4; 24:2,8 (compare the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), Josh 24:14,25; see RIVER ,THE ), Jdg 10:8; 1 Sam 31:7; and "on the side of Jordan" in Josh 5:1. the American Standard Revised Version gives "beyond the Jordan" throughout. me`ebher, is used with ha-yarden in Nu 34:15; 35:14; Josh 13:32; Jdg 7:25; and `ebher, alone in Dt 4:49 (the King James Version "on this side"); Josh 13:27 (the King James Version "on the other side"). It is clear that the phrase may be translate d "across Jordan"; that it is used of either side of the Jordan (Dt 3:8 speaks of the eastern, 3:20,25 of the western); that "beyond Jordan" may be used of the side of the Jordan on which the writer stands (Josh 5:1; 9:1; 12:7); but from the fact that Dt 1:1,5; 4:41,46,47,49, where statements are made about Moses, the reference is to the country East of the Jordan, while in Dt 3:20,25; 11:30, where Moses is represented as speaking, the West is indicated, critics have concluded that the author (at least of Deuteronomy) must have lived after Moses, being careful to distinguish between himself and the prophet.
Frank E. Hirsch
be-za-an-an'-im (Josh 19:33 the Revised Version, margin).
See ZAANANNIM .
be'-za-i (betsay, "shining"(?)):
(1) A chief who with Nehemiah sealed the covenant (Neh 10:18).
(2) The descendants of Bezai returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (323, Ezr 2:17; 324, Neh 7:23 = Bassai, 1 Esdras 5:16).
bez'-a-lel (betsal'el, "in the shadow (protection) of 'El (God)"; Beseleel; the King James Version Bezaleel):
(1) A master workman under Moses; son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. Yahweh gave him especial wisdom and skill for his task, which was, with the aid of Oholiab of the tribe of Dan, to superintend the making of the tabernacle and its furniture (Ex 31:2; 35:30; 36:1,2 (8); 37:1; 38:22; 1 Ch 2:20; 2 Ch 1:5).
(2) An Israelite of the time of Ezra who put away a foreign wife (Ezr 10:30).
F. K. Farr
be'-zek (bezeq; Bezek, Codex Vaticanus, Abiezek):
(1) The city of Adoni-bezek taken by Judah and Simeon (Jdg 1:4 f), in the territory allotted to Judah. It is somewhat doubtfully identified with Bezqah, about 3 miles Northeast of Gezer.
(2) The place where Saul marshaled his army before marching to the relief of Jabesh-gilead (1 Sam 11:8). Eusebius, Onomasticon speaks of two villages of this name 17 Roman miles from Shechem, on the way to Scythopolis. No doubt Khirbet Ibziq is intended. Here, or on the neighboring height, Ras Ibziq, a mountain 2,404 ft. above sea level, the army probably assembled.
W. Ewing
be'-zer (betser; Bosor, "strong"):
(1) A city of refuge, set apart by Moses for the Reubenites and located in the "plain country" (or table-land, Mishor) East of the Jordan, later assigned to this tribe by Joshua (Dt 4:43; Josh 20:8). The same city was assigned by lot as place of residence to the children of Merari of the Levite tribe (Josh 21:36; 1 Ch 6:63,78). Driver, HDB, suggests the identity of Bezer with Bozrah (Septuagint, Bosor) (Jer 48:24). Besheir has been suggested as the present site. According to the manuscript it was forti fied by Mesha.
(2) A son of Zophah of the house of Asher (1 Ch 7:37).
A. L. Breslich
be'-zeth (Bezeth): A place in the neighborhood of Jerusalem to which Bacchides withdrew and where he slew several deserters (1 Macc 7:19). Possibly the same as Bezetha (see JERUSALEM ).
be-ze'-tha: Also called by Josephus the "New City" (BJ, V, iv, 2), certain suburbs of Jerusalem, North of the Temple, which were outside the second but included within the third wall. BEZETH (which see) may be the same place.
See JERUSALEM .