Beth-Horon

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Beth-Horon . The upper and nether, two towns represented by the villages Beit ‘Ur el-foka and Beit ‘Ur et-tahta , said to have been built by Sheerah (  1 Chronicles 7:24 ). Their position, as commanding the ancient great highroad from the maritime plain into the heart of the mountains of Benjamin, made these places of great importance, and several celebrated battles occurred in their neighbourhood. Here Joshua defeated the Canaanites (  Joshua 10:10-14 ). Solomon fortified both these cities (  2 Chronicles 8:5 ,   1 Kings 9:17 ). By this road Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Judah. Here Judas Maccabæus defeated the Syrian general Seron ( 1Ma 3:13-24 ) and five years afterwards Nicanor (  1 Chronicles 7:39-40 ); more than 200 years later the Jews at the same place beat back the Roman army under Cestius Gallus. In few places in Palestine can we with greater precision set history in its geographical setting; the whole ancient road, with abundant traces of Roman work, can be followed throughout, and the two Beit ‘Urs , less than two miles apart, stand sentinel above the road as the two Beth-horons did in ancient times. The Beth-horons were on the frontier between Benjamin and Ephraim (  Joshua 16:3-5;   Joshua 18:13-14 ). They belonged to the latter (  Joshua 21:22 ), and followed the Northern Kingdom. Possibly Sanballat the Horonite (  Nehemiah 2:10 ) was from here.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Beth-ho'ron. (house of caverns). The name of two towns or villages, an "upper" and a "nether,"  Joshua 16:3;  Joshua 16:5;  1 Chronicles 7:24, on the road from Gibeon to Azekah,  Joshua 10:10-11, and the Philistine plain.  1 Maccabees 3:24.

Beth-horon lay on the boundary line between Benjamin and Ephraim,  Joshua 16:3;  Joshua 16:5 and  Joshua 18:13-14, was counted to Ephraim,  Joshua 21:22;  1 Chronicles 7:24, and given to the Kohathites.  Joshua 21:22;  1 Chronicles 6:68.  1 Chronicles 6:53. The two Beth-horons still survive in the modern villages of Beit-ur , et-tahta and el-foka .

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

About twelve miles from Jerusalem, lies the Arab village of Bethoor, where Dr. E. D. Clarke was by accident compelled to pass a night. It is noticed by no other traveller; and yet, there is the highest probability that this is the Beth-horon of the Scriptures. St. Jerom associates it with Rama, in the remark that they were in his time, together with other noble cities built by Solomon, only poor villages. Beth-horon stood on the confines of Ephraim and Benjamin; which, according to the learned traveller, exactly answers to the situation of Bethoor. He sup poses it, from its situation on a hill, to be Beth-horon the upper, the Beth-horon superior of Eusebius, of which frequent notice occurs in the apocryphal writings. Josephus mentions that Cestius, the Roman general, marched upon Jerusalem by way of Lydda and Beth-horon.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Now Beit-ur, the name common to two neighboring towns in the northwest corner of Benjamin, still distinguished as the Upper and the Lower. These lay on two ridges, with valleys on each side; Beth-horon the Nether being separated from the Upper by a small valley, and a rocky and rough pass up the ridge on which Upper Beth-horon stood. The latter was nearest to Jerusalem about twelve miles from it; and both were on the usual routed to the seacoast. Down this pass Joshua drove the Amorites, and here Paul passed by night on his way to Antipatris,  Joshua 10:1-11   Acts 23:31,32 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 10:10 Joshua 16:3 16:5 Joshua 18:13-14 Joshua 21:22 1 Samuel 13:18 1 Kings 9:17 1 Chronicles 7:22-24 2 Chronicles 25:13 Isaiah 1750

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Chronicles 8:5 1 Chronicles 7:24 Joshua 10:10,11 18:13,14 Exodus 9:19,25 Job 38:22,23 Psalm 18:12-14 Isaiah 30:30Gibeon

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Beyth Choron', בֵּית חֹרוֹן or בֵּית חוֹרֹן, once [ 1 Kings 9:17] בֵּית חֹרֹן, in Chron. fully בֵּית חוֹרוֹן, house of the hollow; Sept. Βηθωρών or Βαιθωρών; Βαιθωρώ, Βαιθώρα, and Βεθωρόν ), the name of two towns or villages ( 2 Chronicles 8:5), an "upper" (הָעֶלְיוֹן ) and a "nether" (הִתִּחְתִּיּוֹן ) ( Joshua 16:3;  Joshua 16:5;  1 Chronicles 7:24), on the road ( 2 Chronicles 25:13;  Judith 4:4) from Gibeon to Azekah ( Joshua 10:10-11) and the Philistine Plain ( 1 Samuel 13:18;  1 Maccabees 3:24). Beth-horon lay on the boundary-line between Benjamin and Ephraim ( Joshua 16:3;  Joshua 16:5;  Joshua 18:13-14), was counted to Ephraim ( Joshua 21:22;  1 Chronicles 7:24), and given to the Kohathites ( Joshua 21:22;  1 Chronicles 6:68 [53]). In a remarkable fragment of early history ( 1 Chronicles 7:24) we are told that both the upper and lower towns were built by a woman of Ephraim, Sherah, who in the present state of the passage appears as a granddaughter of the founder of her tribe, and also as a direct progenitor of the great leader with whose history the place is so closely connected. Nether Beth-horon lay in the N.W. corner of Benjamin; and between the two places was a pass called both the ascent and descent of Beth-horon, leading from the region of Gibeon (el-Jib) down to the western plain ( Joshua 18:13-14;  Joshua 10:10-11;  1 Maccabees 3:16;  1 Maccabees 3:24). Down this pass the five kings of the Amorites were driven by Joshua ( Joshua 10:11;  Sirach 46:6). The upper and lower towns were both fortified by Solomon ( 1 Kings 10:17;  2 Chronicles 8:5). At one of them Nicanor was attacked by Judas Maccabmaus; and it was afterward fortified by Bacchides ( 1 Maccabees 7:39 sq.;  1 Maccabees 9:50; Josephus, Ant. 12, 10, 5; 13:1, 3).

Cestius Gallus, the Roman proconsul of Syria, in his march from Caesarea to Jerusalem, after having burned Lydda, ascended the mountain by Beth-horon and encamped near Gibeon (Joseph. War. 2, 19, 1); and it was near this place that his army was totally cut up (Joseph. War, 2, 19, 8 and 9). In the time of Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s.v. Βηθθορών , Bethoron) the two Beth-horons were small villages, the upper Beth-horon being 12 Roman miles from Jerusalem; according to Josephus (comp. War, 2, 12, 2, with Ant. a-x. 4, 4) it was 100 stadia from thence, and 50 stadia from Gibeon. From the time of Jerome (Epit. Paul. 3) the place appears to have been unnoticed till 1801, when Dr. E. D. Clarke recognised it in the present Beit-Ur (Travels, vol. 1, pt. 2, p, 628); after which it appears to have remained unvisited till 1838, when the Rev. J. Paxton, and, a few days after, Dr. Robinson arrived at the place. The Lower Beit-Ur is upon the top of a low ridge, which is separated by a wady, or narrow valley, from the foot of the mountain upon which the Upper Beit-Ur stands. Both are now inhabited villages. The lower is very small, but foundations of large stones indicate an ancient site — doubtless that of the Nether Beth-horon. The Upper Beit. Ur is likewise small, but also exhibits traces of ancient walls and foundations. In the steep ascent to it the rock is in some parts cut away and the path formed into steps, indicating an ancient road. On the first offset or step of the ascent are foundations of huge stones, the remains perhaps of a castle that once guarded the pass. It is remarkable that the places are still distinguished as Beit-Ur el-Foka (the Upper), and Beit-Ur el-Tahta (the Lower), and there can be no question that they represent the Upper and Lower Beth-horon. "In the name," remarks Dr. Robinson (in, 59), ‘ we find the rather unusual change from one harsh Hebrew guttural to one still deeper and more tenacious in Arabic; in all other respects the name, position, and other circumstances agree" (compare Schwarz, Palest. p. 140, 146). (See Gibeon).

The importance of the road on which the two Beth-horons are situated, the main approach to the interior of the country from the hostile districts on both sides of Palestine — Philistia and Egypt on the west, Moab and Ammon on the east-at once explains and justifies the frequent fortification of these towns at different periods of the history ( 1 Kings 9:17;  2 Chronicles 8:5;  1 Maccabees 9:50;  Judith 4:4-5). The road is still the direct one from the site which must have been Gibeon (el-Jib), and from Mishmash (Mukhmas) to the Philistine plain on the one hand, and Antipatris (Joseph. War, 2, 19, 9) on the other. On the mountain which lies to the southward of the nether village is still preserved the name (Yalo) and the site of Ajalon, so closely connected with the proudest memories of Beth-horon; and the long "descent" between the two remains unaltered from what it was on that great day, "which was like no day before or after it." From Gibeon to the Upper Beth-horon is a distance of about 4 miles of broken ascent and descent. The ascent, however, predominates, and this therefore appears to be the "going up" to Beth-horon which formed the first stage of Joshua's pursuit. With the upper village the descent commences; the road rough and difficult even for the mountain-paths of Palestine; now over sheets of smooth rock flat as the flagstones of a city pavement; now over the upturned edges of the limestone strata; and now among the loose rectangular stones so characteristic of the whole of this district. There are in many places steps cut, and other marks of the path having been artificially improved. But, though rough, the way can hardly be called "precipitous;" still less is it a ravine (Stanley, p. 208), since it runs for the most part along the back of a ridge or water-shed dividing wadys on either hand. After about three miles of this descent, a slight rise leads to the lower village standing on its hillock-the last outpost of the Benjamite hills, and characterised by the date-palm in the enclosure of the village mosque. A short and sharp fall below the village, a few undulations, and the road is among the dura of the great corn-growing plain of Sharon. This rough descent from the upper to the lower Beit-Ur is the "going down to Beth-horon" of the Bible narrative. Standing on the high ground of the upper village, and overlooking the wild scene, we may feel assured that it was over this rough path that the Canaanites fled to their native lowlands. This road, still, as in ancient times, "the great. road of communication and heavy transport between Jerusalem and the sea-coast" (Robinson, 3, 61), though a route rather more direct, known as the "Jaffa road," is now used by travelers with light baggage, leaves the main north road at Tuleil el-Ful, 3.5 miles from Jerusalem, due west of Jericho. Bending slightly to the north, it runs by the modern village of el-Jib, the ancient Gibeon, and then proceeds by the Beth-horons in a direct line due west to Jimzu (Gimzo) and Ludd (Lydda), at which it parts into three, diverging north to Caphar- Saba (Antipatris), south to Gaza, and west to Jaffa (Joppa).

Beth-horon (Supplemental From Volume 11):

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

beth -hō´ron ( בּית־חורן , bēth - ḥōrōn (other Hebrew forms occur); Βηθωρών , Bēthōrō̇n , probably the "place of the hollow"; compare Hauran , "the hollow"):

1. The Ancient Towns

The name of two towns, Beth-horon the Upper ( Joshua 16:5 ) and Beth-horon the Lower ( Joshua 16:3 ), said to have been built ( 1 Chronicles 7:24 ) by Sheerah, the daughter of Beriah. The border line between Benjamin and Ephraim passed by the Beth-horons ( Joshua 16:5;  Joshua 21:22 ), the cities belonging to the latter tribe and therefore, later on, to the Northern Kingdom. Solomon "built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars" ( 2 Chronicles 8:5;  1 Kings 9:17 ).

From Egyptian sources (Müller, As. und Europa , etc.) it appears that Beth-horon was one of the places conquered by Shishak of Egypt from Rehoboam. Again, many centuries later, Bacchides repaired Beth-horon, "with high walls, with gates and with bars and in them he set a garrison, that they might work malice upon ("vex") Israel" (1 Macc 9:50, 51), and at another time the Jews fortified it against Holofernes (Judith 4:4, 5).

2. The Modern Beit Ur El Foka and El Tahta

These two towns are now known as Beit Ur el foḳa (i.e. "the upper") and Beit Ur el tahta (i.e. "the lower"), two villages crowning hill tops, less than 2 miles apart; the former is some 800 ft. higher than the latter. Today these villages are sunk into insignificance and are off any important lines of communication, but for many centuries the towns occupying their sites dominated one of the most historic roads in history.

3. The Pass of the Beth-Horons

When ( Joshua 10:10 ) Joshua discomfited the kings of the Amorites "he slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the 'Ascent of Beth-horon.'" When the Philistines were opposing King Saul at Michmash they sent a company of their men to hold "the way of Beth-horon."

This pass ascends from the plain of Ajalon (now Yālo ) and climbs in about 3/4 hr. to Beit Ur el taḥta (1, 210 ft.); it then ascends along the ridge, with valleys lying to north and south, and reaches Beit Ur el foḳa (2,022 ft.), and pursuing the same ridge arrives in another 4 1/2 miles at the plateau to the North of el Jı̂b (Gibeon). At intervals along this historic route traces of the ancient Roman paving are visible. It was the great highroad into the heart of the land from the earliest times until about three or four centuries ago. Along this route came Canaanites, Israelites, Philistines, Egyptians, Syrians, Romans, Saracens and Crusaders. Since the days of Joshua ( Joshua 10:10 ) it has frequently been the scene of a rout. Here the Syrian general Seron was defeated by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 3:13-24), and six years later Nicanor, retreating from Jerusalem, was here defeated and slain (1 Macc 7:39ff; Josephus, Ant , Xii , x, 5). Along this pass in 66 ad the Roman general Cestius Gallus was driven in headlong flight before the Jews.

Now the changed direction of the highroad to Jerusalem has left the route forsaken and almost forgotten. See Pef , Iii, 86, Sh Xvii .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Beth-Ho´ron: two places of this name are distinguished in Scripture as the Upper and Nether Beth-horon ( Joshua 16:3;  Joshua 16:5;  Joshua 18:13;  1 Chronicles 7:24). The Nether Beth-horon lay in the N.W. corner of Benjamin; and between the two places was a pass called both the ascent and descent of Beth-horon, leading from the region of Gibeon (el-Jib) down to the western plain ( Joshua 18:13-14;  Joshua 10:10-11). Down this pass the five kings of the Amorites were driven by Joshua ( Joshua 10:11). The upper and lower towns were both fortified by Solomon ( 1 Kings 9:17;  2 Chronicles 8:5). Cestius Gallus, the Roman proconsul of Syria, in his march from Caesarea to Jerusalem, after having burned Lydda, ascended the mountain by Beth-horon and encamped near Gibeon. From these intimations it would appear that in ancient times, as at the present day, the great road of communication and of heavy transport between Jerusalem and the sea-coast was by the pass of Beth-horon.

The two Beth-horons still exist under the name of Beit-Ur. The Lower Beit-Ur is upon the top of a low ridge, which is separated by a wady, or narrow valley, from the foot of the mountain upon which the Upper Beit-Ur stands. Both are now inhabited villages. The lower is very small, but foundations of large stones indicate an ancient site—doubtless that of the Nether Beth-horon.

The Upper Beit-Ur is likewise small, but also exhibits traces of ancient walls and foundations. In the steep ascent to it the rock is in some parts cut away, and the path formed into steps, indicating an ancient road. On the first offset or step of the ascent are foundations of huge stones, the remains perhaps of a castle that once guarded the pass.

It is remarkable that the places are still distinguished as Beit-Ur el-Foka (the Upper), and Beit-Ur el-Tahta (the Lower).