Beeroth ( he, בְּאֵרוֹת; Be'erot, lit. "wells";
in LXX
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
grc, Βηρωθ) was a
Biblical city seven miles northwest of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. The city was an ancient
Hivite
The Hivites ( he, ''Ḥiwwîm'') were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (10:17). A variety of proposals have been made, but beyond the references in the Bible to Hivites in the land of Canaan, ...
settlement, and is mentioned in
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
9:17, 18:25,
2 Samuel 4:2-3,
Ezra
Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest (''kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρα ...
2:25 and
Nehemiah
Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced o ...
7:29. Another town named Beeroth is mentioned in
Deuteronomy 10:6.
Identification
Because there are no known ruins for Beeroth, the location of the city is disputed. The most noted source materials are the texts of the Bible, the
Onomastikon of
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
, the annotations of this same text by Jerome, and the
Madaba Map The distance Eusebius gives puts Beeroth somewhere between modern Biddu and
Nebi Samwil. The city was part of an Hivite confederacy under the apparent rule of Gibeon, "a royal city" that sued for peace after the Hebrews destroyed Jericho and Ai as described in
Joshua 9
Joshua 9 is the ninth chapter of the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible or in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phineh ...
. Later much of the area taken in this initial campaign (including Beeroth) was given to Benjamin as inheritance in Joshua 18. Beeroth may have been the place to which
Gideon's youngest son,
Joatham or Jotham, fled to escape from
Abimelech
Abimelech (also spelled Abimelek or Avimelech; ) was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, i ...
after his 69 brothers had been killed (Judges 9:21).
Pulpit Commentary
on Judges 9, accessed 30 October 2016
The town was then inhabited until the Babylonian captivity in 586 BCE, and the people of this town returned to the area 70 years later as referenced in Ezra and Nehemiah. Whether they re-built and inhabited the town is not described in the text.
Edward Robinson in the early 19th century thought Al-Bireh was the site of Be'eroth,[Robinson and Smith, 1841, pp]
130
- 133[ but modern scholars believe Be'eroth should be identified with Khirbet el-Burj near ]Beit Iksa
Beit Iksa ( ar, بيت إكسا;) is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The village is surrounded on all sides by the Israeli West Bank barrier, and outside Palestinians are de ...
.[Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 510] Other scholars suggested that it may be modern Biddu
Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro d ...
, or slightly east of Biddu.
See also
*Cities in the Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua lists almost 400 ancient Levantine city names (including alternative names and derivatives in the form of words describing citizens of a town) which refer to over 300 distinct locations in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon a ...
References
Hebrew Bible cities
Canaanite cities
{{AncientNearEast-stub