BEZETHA:
According to Josephus, the name of a hill north of the Temple-mound, and separated from the latter by a valley. After the erection of the third wall it became part of the city of Jerusalem. Josephus ("B. J." ii. 15, § 5; ii. 19, § 4; v. 4, § 2; v. 5, § 8) gives the meaning of the name as "New City," according to which "Bezetha" is a strange transcription of 
. A more correct rendering is "house of olives" (
) It is not certain whether this place is identical with "Bezeth" in I Macc. vii. 19, where Bacchides pitched his tents after leaving Jerusalem. In "Ant." xii. 10, § 2 it is called Bησζήθω (variant reading, Bησζήθω), and is referred to as a village.
