| BESHT, ISRAEL OF MIEDZYBOZ – See Baal Shem-Ṭob, Israel. |
| BESOR – A wadi or river-bed where two hundred of the followers of David stopped while the rest of the force pursued the Amalekites (I Sam. xxx. 9, 10, 21). Guerin ("Judée," ii. 213), identifies Besor with the modern Wadi el-Ghazza,... |
| BESSARABIA – Government in southwest Russia; separated by the Pruth and Danube from Rumania on the west, by the Dniester from Podolia and Kherson on the north and east, and bordering on the Black Sea from the Sulina mouth of the Danube to... |
| BESSELS, EMIL – German-American Arctic explorer and naturalist; born at Heidelberg June 2, 1847; died at Stuttgart March 30, 1888. At the university of his native place he studied medicine and zoology. In 1869, under the encouragement of... |
| BET – The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its numerical value is two, wherefore the bet in the word (Gen. xxi. 12) is interpreted as an allusion to the two worlds Isaac is destined to inherit—this world and the world to come... |
| BET BELTIN – A steep hill above the Euphrates, on which is built the modern town of Bir; lat. 37° 3' N., long. 38° E. Travelers and caravans from Aleppo to Diarbekir, Bagdad, and Portia cross the Euphrates at this point. According to the... |
| BET DIN – Rabbinical term for court-house or court. In view of the theocratic conception of the law, which pervades Biblical legislation and is strictly carried out by rabbinical Judaism, including both civil and religious law, the bet... |
| BET HILLEL AND BET SHAMMAI – The "School (literally, "house") of Hillel" and the "School of Shammai" are names by which are designated the most famous antagonistic schools that flourished in Palestine during the first century (first tannaitic generation),... |
| BET HA-MIDRASH – Meaning. High school; literally, "house of study," or place where the students of the Law gather to listen to the Midrash, the discourse or exposition of the Law. It is used in contradistinction to the Bet ha-Sefer, the primary... |
| BET-TALMUD – Hebrew monthly review, devoted to Talmudical and rabbinical studies and literature; founded in 1881 by Isaac Hirsch Weiss and Meïr Friedmann, at Vienna, and published by the former until its discontinuance in 1886.Besides the... |
| BETERA, BENE – See Bathyra. |
| BETH-ANATH – A Canaanite city in the territory of Naphtali, the name of which contains, as one of its elements, the name of a god, Anath. Though the Israelites did not succeed in conquering this city, the Canaanitish inhabitants became... |
| BETH-ANOTH – City in the hills of Judah (Josh. xv. 59). It has been identified by both Conder and Buhl ("Geographie," p. 158) with the modern Beth Ainûn.J. Jr. G. B. L. |
| BETH-ARABAH – A town situated, according to Josh. xv. 61, in the wilderness of Judah. It was a border-town between Judah and Benjamin, and hence is credited to the former (Josh. ib.); while in Josh. xviii. 22 it is enumeratedamong the towns... |
| BETH-ARAM – A city east of the Jordan. The Talmud speaks of it as "Bethramta" ( ); Eusebius as "Bethramphta"; and Josephus as "Betharamatha." Herod the Great built a palace there which was destroyed after his death. The city was rebuilt by... |
| BETH-ARBEL – Mentioned only once (Hosea x. 14) as a city destroyed by Shalman. Opinions vary both as to the location of the place and as to the identification of Shalman. The most probable location is that of the modern Irbid on the east... |
| BETH-AVEN – A city on the border of Benjamin in the wilderness (Josh. xviii. 12), east of Bethel (Josh. vii. 2) and west of Michmash (I Sam. xiii. 5). It was the scene of a battle between Saul and the Philistines, in which the latter were... |
| BETH-AZMAVETH – See Azmaveth. |
| BETH-DAGON – The name of several places apparently in ancient Palestine. The second element is the name of the Philistine god Dagon. In the Old Testament mention is made of a city called "Beth-dagon," allotted to the tribe of Judah (Josh.... |
| BETH-DIBLATHAIM – City of Moab (Jer. xlviii. 22) identical with Almon diblataim.J. Jr. G. B. L. |
| BETH-EL – A city famous for its shrine, on the boundary between Ephraim and Judea—the site of the present little village of Bêitîn, on the southern slope of the Ephraimitic mountains. (See illustration on page 120.) Originally the town... |
| BETH-EMEK – A town on the border between Asher and Zebulun, belonging to the latter (Josh. xix. 27). It lay to the east of Acco; but its exact location has not been determined.J. Jr. G. B. L. |
| BETH GUBRIN – Name of a city mentioned in the Talmud and in the Midrash (Neubauer, "G. T." pp. 122 et seq.), called "Betogaboa" by Ptolemy and others. It does not occur in the Old Testament; but Reland shows that it was one of the Idumean... |
| BETH-HACCEREM – According to Neh. iii. 14, a Judean city; described in Jer. vi. 1 as a high place visible at a great distance. Jerome (on the passage) speaks of Beth-haccerem as a village still existing on the road between Jerusalem and Tekoa.... |
| BETH-HILLEL, DAVID DE – Beni-Israel; author of a book of "Travels," Madras, 1832, the first work by a Jew published in India. He describes his travels through India, but is otherwise of little importance.Bibliography: Catalogue of Anglo-Jewish... |