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Beeroth, Beerothite
BEEROTH, BEEROTHITE be e’ roth, be’ ĕ roth, (בְּאֵרֹ֖ות, wells) be e’ roth īt, be’ ĕr oth īt (בְּאֵ֣רֹתִ֔י). Beeroth is one of the four cities involved in the Gibeonite treaty (
In
One of David’s “thirty,” the military elite of Israel, came from Beeroth. He was Nahari, armorbearer to Joab (
The location of this site is not certain. Some identify it with modern el-Bīreh, eight m. N of Jerusalem, but this name does not appear in any literary document before the Middle Ages. Eusebius’ Onomasticon places it under Gibeon, but Gibeon is there capable of two interpretations, viz., Gibeon=el-ğīb or Gibeon=el-bīreh (or a place close to it). Even the unearthing of a number of jar handles at el-ğīb with the name of “Gibeon” on them (BA 19 [1956], 70) has failed to convince everyone, since jars were inscribed with the place of manufacture where they were destined for use. Other suggestions are Tell en-Nasbeh, Nebi Samwil and el-ğīb.
Bibliography C. C. McCown, Excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh (1947), 23-59; J. Simons, Geographical and Topographical Texts of OT (1959), 175, 176.