Beth Car

BETH CAR (bĕth' kăr', house of sheep). A place west of Mizpah to which Israel pursued the Philistines, “slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car” (1Sam.7.11). It has never been identified. In this area Samuel set up the stone called Ebenezer (1Sam.7.12).

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BETH-CAR bĕth kär’ (Heb. בֵּ֥ית כָּֽר), a place name mentioned only in 1 Samuel 7:11 in the context of Israel’s victory over the Philistines, it must have stood between Mizpah and the Mediterranean Sea. It was located in the tribe of Benjamin and means “house-of-pasturage,” but the identification with Arab. Khirbet-heir has nothing to recommend it and is of undoubted Arab. origin. Confusion exists in the VSS. The LXX reads Gr. Βαιθχορ, substituting for the better known Beth-horon (Josh 10:10 et al.). The Syriac and other Semitic VSS retain some form of the MT reading.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

"And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, Until they came under Beth-car" (1Sa 7:11). `Ain Karem has been suggested; if Mizpah is nebi Samwil then this identification is probable, as the pursuit would be along the deep Wady beit Hannineh--a natural line of retreat for the Philistines to take.

See Beth-haccherem.