BETH-HORON ()rnh '3 The house of tht hollow ; Sept. '12pwriv, and BilOcepthr, and Bat Owpcbp). There are two towns of this name, dis tinguished on account of their situation as • Beth boron the upper,' and ' Beth-boron the nether.' They both lay on the southern border of Ephraim (Josh. xvi. 5), close to the territory of Benja min (Josh. xviii. 13, 14). Beth-boron the nether formed the north-west angle of the latter tribe. One of the towns, probably 'the nether,' as Eusebius suggests, was allotted out of the tribe of Ephraim to the Levites (Josh. xxi. 22). The situation of these two towns is thus clearly defined in the Bible ; and still more clearly by Josephus and Eusebius. The former places them too stadia from Jerusalem (Ant. xx. 5. 4, with B. 7ii. 12. and the latter twelve miles from Jerusalem on the great road to Nicopolis (Onomast. s. v. Bethorn). At the exact distance here indicated, on the ancient leading road from Jerusalem to the western plain, the line of which can still be traced, stands the little village of Belt ' Ur distinguished as el-faka, the upper ; ' and a mile and a half farther, near the foot of the mountains, is Beit 'Ur et-tahta, ' the lower.' There cannot be a question that these are identical with the `upper' and `nether' Beth horon.
The situation of these two villages, and the topography of the surrounding region are highly interesting, as tending to illustrate some of the most remarkable events in Jewish history. Beth horon the upper stands on the summit of a conical hill, the culminating point of a long narrow ridge that shoots out westward from the central chain of Judx.a. On both the north and south sides of the ridge are deep glens, which gradually converge and meet about a mile west of the village, forming by their junction the celebrated 'valley of Ajalon.' In front, just beneath the apex on which the vil lage stands, the ridge breaks down abruptly, and in places precipitously, to the point of junction ; and a short distance west of this point, on a rocky eminence, is situated Beth-boron the nether. The deep valley between the two places may perhaps account for the name, The house of the hollow.' The ancient road led through both villages. As cending from the plain of Philistia, it crossed the low hills to the nether Beth-horon, from which there is a short descent into the valley. The main ascent to the mountain region here begins. The road winds up the mountain side in a zigzag line, in many places cut in the rock, until it reaches the point on which the upper Beth-boron is perched ; then after a sharp descent of a few hundred yards, there is an easy ascent of some two miles more to the top of the rounded ridge, from which the road descends gradually into the beautiful plain or basin, in whose centre, on a rocky eminence, stands the old town of Gibeon. The pass of Beth-horon is
rugged and difficult, yet it is the only one by which an army could approach Jerusalem from the coast ; and the two villages completely command it. This shews why the wise Solomon ' built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-boron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, and gates, and bars' (2 Ch. viii. 5).
L'eth-horon is chiefly celebrated in Scripture from its having been the scene of Joshua's victory over the Amorites ; and the remarkable incidents of that victory will be more easily understood if read in connection with the foregoing topographical details. The banded kings assembled around Gibeon. Joshua made a rapid night-march from Jericho, and attacked them in the early morning. They were at once driven back along the way 'that goeth up (from the plain of Gibeon) to Beth-boron' (Josh. x. to). The steep and difficult pass was now before them. As they fled, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them' (ver. r). When Joshua reached the crest of the hill, and saw the enemy rushing down the pass, and the wearied Israelites in pursuit, he feared they might escape as night approached ; and then he uttered that wondrous command of faith—' sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon ; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon' (ch. x. 12). Gibeon was behind him, and the forenoon sun stood over it. Ajalon lay in front, and the waning moon stood over it. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.' In the time of the Maccabees Seron, the general of Antiochus marched against Jerusalem. The warlike Judas having occupied with a few hundred men the pass of attacked and routed the foe, pursued them from the going down of Beth-horon unto the plain' (x Maccab. iii. 13-24 ; Jos. Antiq. xii. 7. 1): Two centuries later, Ces this Gallus, the Roman proconsul, when approach ing Jerusalem by the pass, also sustained a disas trous defeat. Thus was the same spot the scene of one of the first, and one of the last victories that crowned the Jewish arms (Jos. Bell. 'la. ii. 19. 2 ; Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 208 ; Robinson, Bib. Res. ii. p. 252).
In the 4th century, the two villages of Beth horon were known to Jerome. From that time till our own day their names disappeared from history • although the crusaders more than once approached the holy city by this pass. They are both small villages still, with some traces of strong fortifications and departed greatness in and around them.—J. L. P.