- BETH-PEOR house of Peor; i.e., “temple of Baal-peor”, a place in Moab,
on the east of Jordan, opposite Jericho. It was in the tribe of Reuben
(Joshua 13:20; Deuteronomy 3:29; 4:46). In the “ravine” or valley over
against Beth-peor Moses was probably buried (Deuteronomy 34:6). - BETH-PHAGE house of the unripe fig, a village on the Mount of Olives,
on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Matthew 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke
19:29), and very close to Bethany. It was the limit of a Sabbath-day’s
journey from Jerusalem, i.e., 2,000 cubits. It has been identified with the
modern Kefr-et-Tur. - BETHSAIDA house of fish. (1.) A town in Galilee, on the west side of the
sea of Tiberias, in the “land of Gennesaret.” It was the native place of
Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and was frequently resorted to by Jesus (Mark
6:45; John 1:44; 12:21). It is supposed to have been at the modern ‘Ain
Tabighah, a bay to the north of Gennesaret.
(2.) A city near which Christ fed 5,000 (Luke 9:10; comp. John 6:17;
Matthew 14:15-21), and where the blind man had his sight restored (Mark
8:22), on the east side of the lake, two miles up the Jordan. It stood within
the region of Gaulonitis, and was enlarged by Philip the tetrarch, who
called it “Julias,” after the emperor’s daughter. Or, as some have
supposed, there may have been but one Bethsaida built on both sides of
the lake, near where the Jordan enters it. Now the ruins et-Tel.
- BETH-SHEAN house of security or rest, a city which belonged to
Manasseh (1 Chronicles 7:29), on the west of Jordan. The bodies of Saul
and his sons were fastened to its walls. In Solomon’s time it gave its name
to a district (1 Kings 4:12). The name is found in an abridged form,
Bethshan, in 1 Samuel 31:10, 12 and 2 Samuel 21:12. It is on the road from
Jerusalem to Damascus, about 5 miles from the Jordan, and 14 from the
south end of the Lake of Gennesaret. After the Captivity it was called
Scythopolis, i.e., “the city of the Scythians,” who about B.C. 640 came
down from the steppes of Southern Russia and settled in different places
in Syria. It is now called Beisan. - BETH-SHEMESH house of the sun. (1.) A sacerdotal city in the tribe of
Dan (Joshua 21:16; 1 Samuel 6:15), on the north border of Judah (Joshua
15:10). It was the scene of an encounter between Jehoash, king of Israel,
and Amaziah, king of Judah, in which the latter was made prisoner (2
Kings 14:11, 13). It was afterwards taken by the Philistines (2 Chronicles