Bible Dictionary

Classic 19th-century Bible dictionary entries — names, places, and terms explained from Scripture, drawn from Easton, Smith, Hastings, Hitchcock & Schaff. — 7,288 entries

First-born; a youth, the second son of Benjamin (Gen. 46:21), who came down to Egypt with Jacob. It is probable that he married an Ephraimitish heiress, and that his descendants were consequently rec…

(first-born), son of Aphiah or Abiah, and grandson of Becher according to (1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Chronicles 7:8) (B.C. before 1093.)

An apartment in Eastern houses, furnished with a slightly elevated platform at the upper end and sometimes along the sides, on which were laid mattresses. This was the general arrangement of the publ…

BED. Gen 47:31. The floors of the better sort of Eastern houses were of tile or plaster, and were covered with mats or carpets; and as shoes were not worn on them and the feet were washed, their floo…

(solitary), the father of Hadad king of Edom. (Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:46) (B.C. before 1093.)

Bedeiah, the only Lord

One of the judges of Israel (1 Sam. 12:11). It is uncertain who he was. Some suppose that Barak is meant, others Samson, but most probably this is a contracted form of Abdon (Judg. 12:13).

one of the sons of Bani, in the time of Ezra, who had taken a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:35) (B.C. 458.)

Used in Deut. 3:11, but elsewhere rendered “couch,” “bed.” In 2 Kings 1:4; 16:2; Ps. 132:3; Amos 3:12, the divan is meant by this word.

BEE. Deut 1:44. The honeybee is probably the only species alluded to in the Bible. They must have been very numerous in Canaan, as honey was a common article of food, 1 Kgs 14:3; Ps 81:16; Song of So…

(the Lord knows); one of David’s 9 sons, born in Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 14:7) In the lists in Samuel the name is Eliada. (B.C. after 1045.)

BEEL'ZEBUB. The name properly should be Beelzebul in all the N. T. passages. Matt 10:25; Matt 12:24, Matt 12:27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 1 Sam 30:18, Acts 1:19. But this is, some say, merely because t…

(lord of the house), the title of a heathen deity, to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; Satan, the prince of the devils. (Matthew 10:25; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15) ff. Th…

Well. (1.) A place where a well was dug by the direction of Moses, at the forty-fourth station of the Hebrews in their wanderings (Num. 21:16-18) in the wilderness of Moab. (See WELL.) (2.) A town in…

Well of heroes, probably the name given to Beer, the place where the chiefs of Israel dug a well (Num. 21:16; Isa. 15:8).

I.e., “the well of him that liveth and seeth me,” or, as some render it, “the well of the vision of life”, the well where the Lord met with Hagar (Gen. 16:7-14). Isaac dwelt beside this well (24:62; …

BE'ER-SHE'BA, or BEER'-SHEBA (well of seven, or of oath), a city on the southern border of Canaan, 25 miles south-west of Hebron, on a line between the uplands and the desert. It is named 33 times in…

(a well), son of Zophah, of the tribe of Asher. (1 Chronicles 7:37) (B.C. after 1450.)

prince of the Reubenites, carried away by Tiglath-pileser. (1 Chronicles 5:6) (B.C. 738).

(well of heroes), a spot named in (Isaiah 15:8) as on the “border of Moab.” (Numbers 21:16) comp. Numb 21:13

Illustrious, or the well-man. (1.) The father of Judith, one of the wives of Esau (Gen. 26:34), the same as Adah (Gen. 36:2). (2.) The father of the prophet Hosea (1:1).

(a well of the living), a living spring, Authorized Version, fountain, comp. (Jeremiah 6:7) between Kadesh and Bered, in the wilderness. (Genesis 24:62)

Wells, one of the four cities of the Hivites which entered by fraud into a league with Joshua. It belonged to Benjamin (Josh. 18:25). It has by some been identified with el-Bireh on the way to Nablus…

Beeroth Of The Children Of Jaakan.

BEE'ROTH OF THE CHILDREN OF JAAKAN. Deut 10:6. Same as Bene-jaakan, Num 33:31; possibly el-Mayin, 60 miles west of Mount Hor. Well at Beer-sheba. (From Palmer's "Desert of the Exodus.")

Well of the oath, or well of seven, a well dug by Abraham, and so named because he and Abimelech here entered into a compact (Gen. 21:31). On re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name (Gen. 26:31-33…

Beersheba, Or Beersheba

(well of the oath), the name of one of the old places in Palestine which formed the southern limit of the country. There are two accounts of the origin of the name. According to the first, the well w…

BEESH'-TERAH (house of Astarte), a city of Bashan, Josh 21:27; same as Ashtaroth, 1 Chr 6:71.

(house of Ashterah), one of the two cities allotted to the sons of Gershon out of the tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan. (Joshua 21:27) Probably identical with Ashtaroth. (1 Chronicles 6:71)

BEE'TLE. Lev 11:21-22. Beetles have not "legs above their feet to leap withal upon the earth," neither are they ever eaten by man. From the connection, the word probably indicates an insect of the Lo…

BEEVES. Lev 22:19. As used in the Bible, this word is synonymous with "cattle," in its modern use. As they divide the hoof, and also chew the cud, they were reckoned among clean animals.