BETH-HORON
(Beth-hoʹron) [house or place of the hollow].
Two towns, Upper and Lower Beth-horon, were strategically situated on the ancient route leading from Joppa and the maritime plain up the Valley of Aijalon to Bethel or to Gibeon and Jerusalem. The original names are preserved in those of the modern villages of Beit ʽUr el-Foqa (“the upper”) and Beit ʽUr et-Tahta (“the lower”). Upper Beth-horon thus lies about ten miles (16 kilometers) NW of Jerusalem, with Lower Beth-horon a couple of miles (3.2 kilometers) beyond, both sites occupying hilltops.
The building (or founding) of these places is credited originally to Sheerah, a daughter or granddaughter of Ephraim. (1 Chron. 7:22-24) The towns formed part of the southern boundary of the tribe of Ephraim (Josh. 16:3, 5), while the boundary of the tribe of Benjamin is stated to have come to “the mountain that is on the south of Lower Beth-horon.” (Josh. 18:13, 14) This appears to place both towns fittingly as within the inheritance of Ephraim. Beth-horon, perhaps just one of the towns, thereafter was given to the Levites of the sons of Kohath.—Josh. 21:22; 1 Chron. 6:68.
Situated as they were on a principal route from the maritime plain up into the hill country, these towns frequently saw the passing of warring forces. At the time of the Israelite conquest, Joshua defeated five Amorite kings who had combined to war against Gibeon, “pursuing them by way of the ascent of Beth-horon.” Here Jehovah caused great hailstones to strike down many of the Amorites as they fled along “the descent of Beth-horon.” (Josh. 10:6-12) The “descent of Beth-horon” is considered by some to refer to the descent from Upper Beth-horon to Lower Beth-horon, there being about eight hundred feet (244 meters) difference in altitude between the two places.
Later, during King Saul’s reign, “the road of Beth-horon” was one of three routes used by pillaging bands of Philistines making raids from Michmash. (1 Sam. 13:16-18) King Solomon built or fortified both towns, strengthening them with walls, doors and bar, doubtless considering that they served as a block to invading forces from Egypt or Philistia. (2 Chron. 8:5) Shishak of Egypt, who invaded Judah during Rehoboam’s reign, listed “Beth-horon” as one of the towns on his list of cities claimed as conquered or under his domination. (1 Ki. 14:25; 2 Chron. 12:2-9) When King Amaziah of Judah dismissed Ephraimite mercenary troops before engaging in battle with the Edomites, these soldiers from the northern kingdom with its capital in Samaria expressed their hot anger over their dismissal by raiding Judean cities as far as Beth-horon.—2 Chron. 25:5-13.
During the Maccabean period, Beth-horon was the scene of two defeats of the Syrians by Judas Maccabaeus. (1 Maccabees 3:23, 24; 7:39) The Jewish historian Josephus claims that in the year 66 C.E. the retreating forces of Roman General Cestius Gallus were nearly annihilated at Beth-horon by the pursuing Jewish forces.—Wars of the Jews, Book II, chap. XIX, pars. 7-9.