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BETH-HORON – Name of two villages at the western end of the Ephraimitc mountains, called respectively "upper Beth-horon" (Josh. xvi. 5) and "nether Beth-horon" (Josh. xvi. 3, xviii. 13; I Kings ix. 17). They are nowadays spoken of as the two...
BETH-JAAZEK – According to the Mishnah (R. H. ii. 4), a large court in which the Sanhedrin awaited the announcement of the new moon. The Palestinian Talmud ascribes its name to the fact that the calculation of the calendar was settled ( )...
BETH-JESHIMOTH – Town in the district east of the Jordan, allotted to the tribe of Reuben according to Num. xxxiii. 49 and Josh. xii. 3, xiii. 20; but in Ezek. xxv. 9 it is mentioned as a Moabitish city. Josephus calls the city "Besimoth" ("B....
BET HA-KENESET – See Synagogue.
BETH-LEHEM-JUDAH – The modern Bait Laḥm, situated about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, some 15 minutes' walk east of the road to Hebron, on a range of hills surrounded by fertile and beautiful valleys. The city was also called "Ephratah" (Josh. xv....
BETH-PEOR – A place in the valley of the Jordan which, in Josh. xiii. 20, is apportioned to the Reubenites. In Deuteronomy (iii. 29, iv. 46, xxxiv. 6) it is stated that the people were in the valley of the Jordan, opposite Beth-peor, when...
BETH-REHOB – An Aramaic city which sent reenforcements to the Ammonites during the war with David (II Sam. x. 6, 8; compareI Sam. 14, 47, LXX.). According to Judges xviii. 28, the city of Dan was built in the plain of Beth-rehob. The latter...
BETH-SHAN – Fortified town of Canaan. The Baisân of to-day, in the lower part of the Jalûd chasm, 120 meters below the level of the sea. The Israelites did not succeed in conquering this city, which was strongly fortified by nature (Josh....
BETH-SHE'ARIM – According to rabbinic accounts, the Sanhedrin was destined to pass through ten exiles during the period 30-170, and to be compelled to wander from place to place. One of its stations was to be the city of Beth-she'arim, in which...
BETH-SHEMESH – Biblical Data: A city of the hill-country between Judea and the coast on the southern side of Wadi Sarâar, called to-day 'Ain Shems. According to Josh. xix. 41, it was one of the cities of Dan, and according to Josh. xv. 10, it...
BETH-SHITTAH – A place near Abel-meholah. To it the Midianites fled when pursued by Gideon (Judges vii. 22). The name occurs only here; the place has not been identified.J. Jr. G. B. L.
BETH-ZUR – A city in southern Judea (Josh. xv. 58, I Chron. ii. 45; Neh. iii. 16) which was fortified by Rehoboam, (II Chron. xi. 7). It was a strongly walled place, situated on the eastern boundary-line of Judea. The town was repeatedly...
BETHABARA – An unidentified place mentioned in John i. 28. According to Origen's reading, the name is brought into connection with the Hebrew '"abarah" (crossing), and is supposed to refer to one of the many fords of the Jordan. Another...
BETHANY – A place referred to in the Gospels, and probably also in the Talmud, under the forms , and , but not mentioned in the Old Testament (Pes. 53a; Tosef., Shebi'it, ed. Zuckermandel, 30, 71). According to John (xi. 18), it was "nigh...
BETHAR – City in Palestine, scene of the war of Bar Kokba (132-135), and mentioned as such in Mishnah Ta'anit iv. 6; Yer. Ta'anit 69a; Babli Ta'anit 26b, 29a; Lam. R. to chaps. ii. 2 and iv. 8; Yer. Ber. 3d; Tosef., Yeb. xiv. 8; Bab....
BETHEL – An Italian-Jewish family, several members of which are known as liturgical poets and copyists. According to a family tradition, it was one of the four prominent Jewish families deported by Titus to Rome after the destruction of...
BETHESDA – A pool in Jerusalem. According to John v. 2—the only passage wherein it is mentioned—it was "by the sheep market," hence on the north of the Temple-hill. Its exact location can not be definitely fixed. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux...
BETHPHAGE – Town mentioned in several passages of the New Testament (Matt. xxi. 1; Mark xi. 1; Luke xix. 29), in all of which it is brought into connection with Bethany, or the Mount of Olives. It was, therefore, on the road to Jericho,...
BETHSAIDA – A town in northern Palestine not mentioned in the Old Testament, but referred to in the Gospels, and by Josephus, Pliny, and others. According to Josephus ("Ant." xviii. 2, § 1; 5, § 6; "B. J." ii. 9, § 1; iii. 9, § 7), Philip...
BETHUEL – Biblical Data: 1. According to Gen. xxii. 22, a descendant of Arphaxad (compare Gen. xi. 13-22). He was the son of Nahor and Milcah, and father of Laban and Rebekah. Since in Gen. xxv. 20 and xxviii. 2, 5, Bethuel is called "the...
BETHULIA – Name of the city which, according to the Book of Judith, was besieged by Holofernes; the home of Judith. In the shorter version of the legend published by Gaster ("Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology," 1894, xvi....
BETROTHAL – The term "betrothal" in Jewish law must not be understood in its modern sense; that is, the agreement of a man and a woman to marry, by which the parties are not, however, definitely bound, but which may be broken or dissolved...
BETTELHEIM – Name of a Hungarian family. The first bearer of it is said to have lived toward the second half of the eighteenth century, in Presburg. To account for its origin the following episode is related in the family records: Costumes...
BETTING – The mutual agreement of two parties as to gain and loss upon a certain contingency. It seems to have been unknown in Biblical times. There is no mention of it in the Scriptures, unless an allusion to this kind of easy gain is...
BETURIA, PAULINA – Roman proselyte to Judaism (about the year 50), known under the name "Sarah," who, according to her Latin epitaph, was eighty-six years and six months old at the time of her death. For sixteen years she was a Jewess, a mother of...

BETH-HORON – Name of two villages at the western end of the Ephraimitc mountains, called respectively "upper Beth-horon" (Josh. xvi. 5) and "nether Beth-horon" (Josh. xvi. 3, xviii. 13; I Kings ix. 17). They are nowadays spoken of as the two...

BETH-JAAZEK – According to the Mishnah (R. H. ii. 4), a large court in which the Sanhedrin awaited the announcement of the new moon. The Palestinian Talmud ascribes its name to the fact that the calculation of the calendar was settled ( )...

BETH-JESHIMOTH – Town in the district east of the Jordan, allotted to the tribe of Reuben according to Num. xxxiii. 49 and Josh. xii. 3, xiii. 20; but in Ezek. xxv. 9 it is mentioned as a Moabitish city. Josephus calls the city "Besimoth" ("B....

BET HA-KENESET – See Synagogue.

BETH-LEHEM-JUDAH – The modern Bait Laḥm, situated about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, some 15 minutes' walk east of the road to Hebron, on a range of hills surrounded by fertile and beautiful valleys. The city was also called "Ephratah" (Josh. xv....

BETH-PEOR – A place in the valley of the Jordan which, in Josh. xiii. 20, is apportioned to the Reubenites. In Deuteronomy (iii. 29, iv. 46, xxxiv. 6) it is stated that the people were in the valley of the Jordan, opposite Beth-peor, when...

BETH-REHOB – An Aramaic city which sent reenforcements to the Ammonites during the war with David (II Sam. x. 6, 8; compareI Sam. 14, 47, LXX.). According to Judges xviii. 28, the city of Dan was built in the plain of Beth-rehob. The latter...

BETH-SHAN – Fortified town of Canaan. The Baisân of to-day, in the lower part of the Jalûd chasm, 120 meters below the level of the sea. The Israelites did not succeed in conquering this city, which was strongly fortified by nature (Josh....

BETH-SHE'ARIM – According to rabbinic accounts, the Sanhedrin was destined to pass through ten exiles during the period 30-170, and to be compelled to wander from place to place. One of its stations was to be the city of Beth-she'arim, in which...

BETH-SHEMESH – Biblical Data: A city of the hill-country between Judea and the coast on the southern side of Wadi Sarâar, called to-day 'Ain Shems. According to Josh. xix. 41, it was one of the cities of Dan, and according to Josh. xv. 10, it...

BETH-SHITTAH – A place near Abel-meholah. To it the Midianites fled when pursued by Gideon (Judges vii. 22). The name occurs only here; the place has not been identified.J. Jr. G. B. L.

BETH-ZUR – A city in southern Judea (Josh. xv. 58, I Chron. ii. 45; Neh. iii. 16) which was fortified by Rehoboam, (II Chron. xi. 7). It was a strongly walled place, situated on the eastern boundary-line of Judea. The town was repeatedly...

BETHABARA – An unidentified place mentioned in John i. 28. According to Origen's reading, the name is brought into connection with the Hebrew '"abarah" (crossing), and is supposed to refer to one of the many fords of the Jordan. Another...

BETHANY – A place referred to in the Gospels, and probably also in the Talmud, under the forms , and , but not mentioned in the Old Testament (Pes. 53a; Tosef., Shebi'it, ed. Zuckermandel, 30, 71). According to John (xi. 18), it was "nigh...

BETHAR – City in Palestine, scene of the war of Bar Kokba (132-135), and mentioned as such in Mishnah Ta'anit iv. 6; Yer. Ta'anit 69a; Babli Ta'anit 26b, 29a; Lam. R. to chaps. ii. 2 and iv. 8; Yer. Ber. 3d; Tosef., Yeb. xiv. 8; Bab....

BETHEL – An Italian-Jewish family, several members of which are known as liturgical poets and copyists. According to a family tradition, it was one of the four prominent Jewish families deported by Titus to Rome after the destruction of...

BETHESDA – A pool in Jerusalem. According to John v. 2—the only passage wherein it is mentioned—it was "by the sheep market," hence on the north of the Temple-hill. Its exact location can not be definitely fixed. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux...

BETHPHAGE – Town mentioned in several passages of the New Testament (Matt. xxi. 1; Mark xi. 1; Luke xix. 29), in all of which it is brought into connection with Bethany, or the Mount of Olives. It was, therefore, on the road to Jericho,...

BETHSAIDA – A town in northern Palestine not mentioned in the Old Testament, but referred to in the Gospels, and by Josephus, Pliny, and others. According to Josephus ("Ant." xviii. 2, § 1; 5, § 6; "B. J." ii. 9, § 1; iii. 9, § 7), Philip...

BETHUEL – Biblical Data: 1. According to Gen. xxii. 22, a descendant of Arphaxad (compare Gen. xi. 13-22). He was the son of Nahor and Milcah, and father of Laban and Rebekah. Since in Gen. xxv. 20 and xxviii. 2, 5, Bethuel is called "the...

BETHULIA – Name of the city which, according to the Book of Judith, was besieged by Holofernes; the home of Judith. In the shorter version of the legend published by Gaster ("Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology," 1894, xvi....

BETROTHAL – The term "betrothal" in Jewish law must not be understood in its modern sense; that is, the agreement of a man and a woman to marry, by which the parties are not, however, definitely bound, but which may be broken or dissolved...

BETTELHEIM – Name of a Hungarian family. The first bearer of it is said to have lived toward the second half of the eighteenth century, in Presburg. To account for its origin the following episode is related in the family records: Costumes...

BETTING – The mutual agreement of two parties as to gain and loss upon a certain contingency. It seems to have been unknown in Biblical times. There is no mention of it in the Scriptures, unless an allusion to this kind of easy gain is...

BETURIA, PAULINA – Roman proselyte to Judaism (about the year 50), known under the name "Sarah," who, according to her Latin epitaph, was eighty-six years and six months old at the time of her death. For sixteen years she was a Jewess, a mother of...