blasphemous act in using vessels of Jehovah’s worship in praising see-nothing, hear-nothing, know-nothing gods, Belshazzar held to his offer and proceeded to invest Daniel with the position of third ruler in the doomed kingdom.

Belshazzar did not live out the night, being killed as the city fell during the night of October 5-6, 539 B.C.E., when, according to the Nabonidus Chronicle, “the troops of Cyrus without fighting entered Babylon.” (Dan. 5:30) In his history, Xenophon (c. 434-c. 355 B.C.E.) also connects Belshazzar’s death with the actual capture of Babylon. With the death of Belshazzar and the apparent surrender of Nabonidus to Cyrus, the dynasty beginning with Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar came to a close, and with it ended the dominion of Mesopotamia by Semitic rulers.—See CYRUS; NABONIDUS.

BELT

See DRESS.

BELTESHAZZAR

(Bel·te·shazʹzar) [protect his life].

The Babylonian name given to Daniel after he was taken captive in 617 B.C.E.—not to be confused with Belshazzar. (Dan. 1:7) The name is in the form of an invocation to Bel and hence was selected, as Nebuchadnezzar said, “according to the name of my god.” (Dan. 4:8; 5:12) The purpose was evidently to effect Daniel’s naturalization and alienate him from the worship of Jehovah. However, the Babylonians continued to speak of him also by his name Daniel.—Dan. 4:18, 19; 5:12, 13; see DANIEL No. 2.

BEN

[Heb., ben, “son of”].

1. A Levite musician of David’s day who accompanied the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 15:15, 18.

2. The Hebrew prefix ben often occurs in names such as Benjamin (son of the right hand) or Benammi (son of my people). It is equivalent to bar in Aramaic names such as Barnabas (son of comfort). (Acts 4:36) It is frequently used also to define relationships other than parental, such as race, “sons [b^enehʹ] of Israel,” “sons [b^enehʹ] of the Cushites” (2 Chron. 35:17; Amos 9:7); location, “sons [b^enehʹ] of the jurisdictional district” (Ezra 2:1); or condition, “sons [b^enehʹ] of youth,” “sons [b^enehʹ] of unrighteousness.”—Ps. 127:4; Hos. 10:9.

BENAIAH

(Be·naiʹah) [Jah has built].

1. Son of a Levitical chief priest named Jehoiada, and father of at least two sons, Ammizabad and Jehoiada. (1 Chron. 27:5, 6, 34) Benaiah was a mighty warrior of great valor and courage, “distinguished even more than the thirty” mighty men of David’s forces though “to the rank of the three he did not come.”—2 Sam. 23:20-23.

Benaiah demonstrated his prowess in a threefold way: by striking down two of Moab’s powerful heroes, by fearlessly descending into a water pit and killing a lion, and by overcoming exceptional odds to slay an Egyptian giant with the victim’s own spear. (1 Chron. 11:22-24) David put this courageous man over his personal bodyguard. (1 Chron. 11:24, 25) The Cherethites and Pelethites, headed by Benaiah, remained loyal to the king during the rebellions of Absalom and Adonijah. (2 Sam. 8:18; 15:18; 20:23; 1 Ki. 1:8, 10, 26; 1 Chron. 18:17) Additionally, Benaiah was appointed over the third rotating division of the army, a force of 24,000 men. (1 Chron. 27:5, 6) In David’s old age Benaiah and the Cherethites and Pelethites supported the coronation of Solomon. (1 Ki. 1:32-40) Later, under Solomon’s reign he was assigned to carry out the execution of Adonijah, Joab and Shimei, and was also put in command of the army by Solomon.—1 Ki. 2:24, 25, 28-46; 4:4.

2. One of David’s mighty men, commander of the eleventh rotational army division; a Pirathonite of the tribe of Ephraim.—2 Sam. 23:30; 1 Chron. 11:31; 27:14.

3. A Levite musician who played his stringed instrument accompanying the ark of the covenant when it was brought to Jerusalem and placed in the tent David had prepared for it.—1 Chron. 15:18, 20; 16:1, 5.

4. A priest who played a trumpet when the Ark was brought to Jerusalem during David’s reign.—1 Chron. 15:24; 16:6.

5. A Levite descendant of Asaph.—2 Chron. 20:14.

6. A Simeonite, possibly a contemporary of King Hezekiah.—1 Chron. 4:24, 36-43.

7. A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to help care for the bounteous contributions to Jehovah’s house.—2 Chron. 31:12, 13.

8. Father of Pelatiah, one of the wicked princes seen in Ezekiel’s vision.—Ezek. 11:1, 13.

9, 10, 11, 12. Four men who, at Ezra’s admonition, dismissed their foreign wives and sons. These four were descendants of Parosh, Pahath-moab, Bani and Nebo respectively.—Ezra 10:25, 30, 35, 43, 44.

BEN-AMMI

(Ben-amʹmi) [son of my people, that is, son of my relatives].

Son of Lot by his younger daughter, hence half brother of Moab. Modern findings attest to the common use of the name during this period. Ben-ammi was forefather of the Ammonites.—Gen. 19:31-38; see AMMON.

BENE-BERAK

(Benʹe-beʹrak) [sons of lightning].

A city of Dan, presently identified with Ibn Ibraq, now a suburb in the NE of Tel Aviv-Jaffa (Joppa). (Josh. 19:45) The Arabic name Ibn Ibraq corresponds to the Hebrew Bene-berak. In the Taylor Prism of Sennacherib that emperor’s account of the Assyrian campaign against Hezekiah states that he “sacked Beth-dagon, Joppa, Banai-barqa [Bene-berak], Azuru. . . .”

BENE-JAAKAN

(Benʹe-jaʹa·kan) [sons or children of Jaakan].

A station of the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness. (Num. 33:31, 32) Jaakan appears to be the Akan of Genesis 36:27 and 1 Chronicles 1:42 (where the Masoretic text reads “Jaakan”). The account in the book of Numbers states that the Israelites “pulled away from Moseroth and went camping in Bene-jaakan. After that they pulled away from Bene-jaakan and went camping in Hor-haggidgad.”

At Deuteronomy 10:6 reference is made to Beeroth Bene-jaakan in connection with “Moserah” (singular of Moseroth), probably indicating that Beeroth Bene-jaakan (wells of the sons of Jaakan) is the same location as Bene-jaakan. However, the account at Deuteronomy lists the direction of travel of the Israelites in reverse order from the Numbers account, stating that “the sons of Israel pulled away from Beeroth Bene-jaakan for Moserah.” In view of the many years spent in the wilderness it is quite possible that the Israelites passed twice through this region. As The Pentateuch and Haftorahs (Deuteronomy) commentary on Deuteronomy 10:6 suggests: “A probable explanation is that the Israelites, after journeying in a southern direction to the land of Edom, had to turn sharply to the north. . . . They may have had to retrace their steps for a short distance, and revisit some of the places they had passed through, this time in the reverse order.” It is to be noted that the record of Deuteronomy (10:6) refers to Aaron’s death immediately after referring to the station of Moserah, whereas the Numbers account (33:31-39) describes the Israelites’ travels to Ezion-geber and then NW to Kadesh before dealing with the matter of the death of Aaron. This, together with the long period of years involved, would certainly allow for a measure of backtracking, if such were the case.

Bene-jaakan (Beeroth Bene-jaakan) is usually identified with a site a few miles N of Kadesh-barnea.—See BEEROTH BENE-JAAKAN.