Beth-horon: House of the hollow, or of the cavern, the name of two towns or
villages
(2 Chronicles 8:5; 1 Chronicles 7:24) in the territory of Ephraim, on the way
from Jerusalem to Joppa. They are distinguished as Beth-horon "the
upper" and Beth-horon "the nether." They are about 2 miles apart,
the former being about 10 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Between
the two places was the ascent and descent of Beth-horon, leading from
Gibeon down to the western plain
(Joshua 10:10,11; 18:13,14) down which
the five kings of the Amorites were driven by Joshua in that great
battle, the most important in which the Hebrews had been as yet
engaged, being their first conflict with their enemies in the open
field. Jehovah interposed in behalf of Israel by a terrific
hailstorm, which caused more deaths among the Canaanites than did the
swords of the Israelites. Beth-horon is mentioned as having been
taken by Shishak, B.C. 945 in the list of his conquests, and the
pass was the scene of a victory of Judas Maccabeus. (Comp.)
(Exodus 9:19,25; Job 38:22,23; Psalms 18:12-14; Isaiah 30:30) The modern name of
these places is Beit-ur, distinguished by el-Foka, "the upper," and
el-Tahta, "the nether." The lower was at the foot of the pass, and
the upper, 500 feet higher, at the top, west of Gibeon.
