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Beth-shemesh - location profile

Location and Setting

• Several cities that were centers of sun worship took the name Beth-shemesh ("house of the sun"). Other sites that share the name of Beth-shemesh are in the upper Galilee in the tribe of Naphtali (Josh 19:38; Judg 1:33), the lower Galilee near the border of Issachar’s territory, and in Egypt at a place also known as Heliopolis (Jer 43:13; Isa 19:18).
• The most notable Beth-shemesh was located fifteen miles west of Jerusalem on the south side of the upper Sorek Valley. It was in a border area between the Philistine territory of the lower Shephelah and coastal plain and the Judean Hill Country.
• Also identified as Ir-shemesh ("city of the sun"), it was allotted to the tribe of Dan (Josh 19:41).
• Beth-shemesh guarded one of the main routes into the Judean Hill Country leading to Jerusalem.
• Directly across the Sorek Valley to the north was the town of Zorah, the birthplace of Samson.
• The Sorek Valley is broad, fertile, and well watered, producing an abundance of grain.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Although the area surrounding Beth-shemesh was allocated to the tribe of Dan, they were unable to occupy it and were driven up into the hill country by the Amorites (Judg 1:34, 35).
• Beth-shemesh was given to the sons of Aaron as a Levitical city (Josh 21:16; 1 Chr 6:59).
• After capturing the Ark of the Covenant and suffering plagues upon their cities, the Philistines returned the Ark to Beth-shemesh. They placed it on a cart and which was pulled by two nursing cows. As evidence of God’s control, the cows did not turn back to their calves but plodded the nine miles up the Sorek Valley from Ekron to Beth-shemesh. The inhabitants of Beth-shemesh then offered the cows as a sacrifice to the Lord. Some men looked inside of the Ark, however, contrary to the Lord’s command. As a result God killed 50,070 men of Beth-shemesh. In great fear, the Beth-shemeshites sent the Ark of the Covenant nine miles northeast past Aijalon to the city of Kiriath-jearim near Jerusalem, where it remained for twenty years (1 Sam 6:10-21).
• On one occasion King Amaziah of Judah challenged Joash, the king of Israel, to battle. Their armies met at Beth-shemesh, where Israel defeated Judah. Joash proceeded to Jerusalem and destroyed a section of its wall. He took back to Samaria the king’s treasure, the utensils from the house of God, and some hostages (2 Kgs 14:11-14; 2 Chr 25:21-24).
• During the reign of King Ahaz, of Judah, the Philistines captured several cities of the Shephelah including Beth-shemesh (2 Chr 28:18). 

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Yohanan. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962.
2. Kent, Charles Foster. Biblical Geography and History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1920.
3. Mitchell, T.C. "Beth-Shemesh" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.
4. Owen, G. Fredrick. The Holy Land. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1977.
5. Page II, Charles R. and Carl A. Volz. The Land and the Book: An Introduction to the World of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
6. Smith, George Adam. The Historical Geography of the Holy Land. London: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1966.
7. Turner, George A. Historical Geography of the Holy Land. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973.
8. Rainey, A.F. "Beth-Shemesh, Bethshemesh." The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.