Judean lowland (Shephelah) · Old Testament · 19 verses
Beth-shemesh, meaning house of the sun, was a town in the lowland of Judah near the Philistine border. It was a Levitical town. The name appears in Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel and 5 more in the King James text.
About Beth-shemesh
Beth-shemesh, meaning house of the sun, was a town in the lowland of Judah near the Philistine border. It was a Levitical town.
Its place in the story
When the Philistines sent back the captured ark of God, the cart came to Beth-shemesh, and the people there rejoiced but also suffered for looking into the ark. It was later the site of a battle between Judah and Israel.
Beth-shemesh in Scripture (KJV)
“And the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah:”
“And the coast reacheth to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Bethshemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.”
“Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.”
“And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.”
“And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.”
Beth-shemesh, meaning house of the sun, was a town in the lowland of Judah near the Philistine border. It was a Levitical town. The name appears in Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel and 5 more in the King James text.
What happened at Beth-shemesh?
When the Philistines sent back the captured ark of God, the cart came to Beth-shemesh, and the people there rejoiced but also suffered for looking into the ark. It was later the site of a battle between Judah and Israel.