- BERNICE bearer of victory, the eldest daughter of Agrippa I., the Herod
Agrippa of Acts 12:20. After the early death of her first husband she was
married to her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis. After his death (A.D. 40) she
lived in incestuous connection with her brother Agrippa II. (Acts 25:13,
23; 26:30). They joined the Romans at the outbreak of the final war
between them and the Jews, and lived afterwards at Rome. - BERODACH-BALADAN the king of Babylon who sent a friendly
deputation to Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:12). In Isaiah 39:1 he is called
Merodach-baladan (q.v.). - BERYL the rendering in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew word
tarshish, a precious stone; probably so called as being brought from
Tarshish. It was one of the stones on the breastplate of the high priest
(Exodus 28:20; R.V. marg., “chalcedony;” 39:13). The colour of the wheels
in Ezekiel’s vision was as the colour of a beryl stone (1:16; 10:9; R.V.,
“stone of Tarshish”). It is mentioned in Cant. 5:14; Daniel 10:6; Revelation
21:20. In Ezekiel 28:13 the LXX. render the word by “chrysolite,” which
the Jewish historian Josephus regards as its proper translation. This also is
the rendering given in the Authorized Version in the margin. That was a
gold-coloured gem, the topaz of ancient authors. - BESOM the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning sweeper, occurs only in
Isaiah 14:23, of the sweeping away, the utter ruin, of Babylon. - BESOR cold, a ravine or brook in the extreme south-west of Judah, where
200 of David’s men stayed behind because they were faint, while the other
400 pursued the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:9, 10, 21). Probably the Wadyes
Sheriah, south of Gaza. - BESTEAD the rendering in Isaiah 8:21, where alone it occurs, of a Hebrew
word meaning to oppress, or be in circumstances of hardship. - BETAH confidence, a city belonging to Hadadezer, king of Zobah, which
yielded much spoil of brass to David (2 Samuel 8:8). In 1 Chronicles 18:8
it is called Tibhath. - BETH occurs frequently as the appellation for a house, or dwelling-place,
in such compounds as the words immediately following: - BETHABARA house of the ford, a place on the east bank of the Jordan,
where John was baptizing (John 1:28). It may be identical with Bethbarah,
kiana
(Kiana)
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