Beth-horon

In the Bible

Beth-horon appears in several books of the Old Testament. Scripture sometimes distinguishes between Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon.

• The conquest: According to Joshua 10:10–11, Joshua defeated the allied forces of the five Amorite kings who had attacked Gibeon and "chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron." The text records that as the enemy fled down the slope of Beth-horon, God cast down great stones from heaven upon them as far as Azekah. The account of the sun and moon standing still follows in 10:12–14.
• Tribal boundary and Levitical city: Joshua 16:3, 16:5, and 18:13–14 place Beth-horon on the boundary between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. Joshua 21:22 and 1 Chronicles 6:68 record it as a city given to the Kohathites among the Levites.
• Building and fortification: 1 Chronicles 7:24 states that Sherah, a woman among the descendants of Ephraim, built Lower and Upper Beth-horon. 1 Kings 9:17 and 2 Chronicles 8:5 record that Solomon built it into a fortified city with walls, gates, and bars.
• Other military accounts: 1 Samuel 13:18 reports that in the time of Saul one company of Philistine raiders went toward Beth-horon. 2 Chronicles 25:13 records that soldiers sent home by King Amaziah attacked the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon.

Background

In the Hebrew name Beth Horon, beth means "house." A widely held view takes Horon as the name of a Canaanite deity and interprets the name as "house (temple) of Horon," though other interpretations exist.

Beth-horon lay on the road descending from the highlands around Gibeon to the Valley of Aijalon and the coastal plain to the west. The higher site was Upper Beth-horon and the lower site Lower Beth-horon, with a steep slope between them. This road was a principal route from the coast up into the hill country toward Jerusalem. As a result, armies seeking to hold the pass and armies seeking to cross it clashed here in many periods. Solomon's fortification of the site is likewise understood in light of this strategic importance. The sites are generally identified with the area of the two present-day villages of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beit Ur al-Tahta, though scholars differ.

Beth-horon also appears in sources outside the Bible. First Maccabees (chapters 3 and 7), which Protestants do not accept as canonical but which the Catholic Church accepts as deuterocanonical, recounts that during the intertestamental period Judas Maccabeus fought Seleucid forces near this place. According to Josephus, in AD 66 the Roman general Cestius Gallus suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Jewish rebels on this ascent.

Biblical Significance

Beth-horon does not appear in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it served as a gateway to the hill country of Israel. In Joshua 10 in particular, it is the setting in which the theme of God fighting for Israel (Joshua 10:14) unfolds.

Interpretation and Debate

Interpretations differ regarding the hailstones and the sun standing still in Joshua 10. Some read the event as a literal miracle. Others, noting that 10:13 quotes the Book of Jasher in poetic language, read it as a song celebrating a victory so decisive that the day seemed to have been lengthened. This difference in interpretation often falls less along denominational lines than according to how one understands biblical inerrancy.

A story that "scientists calculated and found a day missing from history" once circulated as a sermon illustration. However, this claim is not found in the text and is regarded as unsubstantiated.