hotice of a place in the tribe of Simeon, named Bethul, a place dependent on Gaza of the Philistines, and famous for its temples, which are very remarkable, both for their antiquity and fine structure, (from whence not unlikely, it had the name Bethul or the house of the Lord.) there is much more reason to conclude, in the opinion of Calmet, that this was the place, since the other town which travellers talk of in the tribe of Zebulun, must be of too modern a date, to be the city intended here; because we find neither Joshua, nor Josephus, nor Eusebius, nor St. Jerome, make any mention of it. Calmet's dissert. and comment.

BETHULIA, a town of Palestine, in the tribe of Zebulun, two miles from the Dead Sea. The learned author from whom the preceding article is extracted would have saved himself trouble, if he had examined the seventh chap. of Judith, and would doubtless have concluded that there were two towns of this name, and also have felt more charity for modern travellers. In the third verse, the camp of Holofernes is said to have extended from Bethulia to Cyamon, 'which is over against Esdrelon. Esdre. lon or Jezreel, we all know, was not in the tribe of Simeon, but in that of Issachar, border

ing on the tribe of Zebulan, near the Dead Sea.

BETHZAIDA, or BETHSAIDA, see Bethsaida. "Woe unto thee Chorazin; woe unto thee Bethsaida, for if the migh. ty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes." This "woe" has long since been executed. Hence we may infer that Jesus Christ did not speak without authority. God has punished them for their disregard of Jesus Christ. Five or six poor cottages are all which now remains of this populous town. Тороgrahic Dict.

BETH-ZUR, or BETHSURA, a city belonging to the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv, 53; being opposite to south Edom, and a place of great strength, defending the passage into Judah, on the south side of Idumea. We read in the second book of Maccabees, xi, 5; that Bethsura was only five furlongs from Jerusalem, but this is an obvious mistake; Eusebius places it at the distance of twenty miles from Jerusalem, in the way towards Hebron. At the foot of mount Bethzur is a spring where it is said the eunuch of queen Candace was baptized.

Bethzur, or Bethsur, signi

fies the house of the rock, or the temple on the rock. The rock or mountain, the original refuge of mankind, are objects often commemorated on med

als.

BETOMESTHAM,

or BETOMASTHEM, (Judith iv, 6, and xv, 4;) a city of Judah, over against Esdraelon, near Doathim.

BETONIM, a city of the the tribe of Gad, Josh. 13, 26; towards the north extremity of this tribe, and bordering on Manasseh.

BEZEK, a city in the tribe of Judah. Eusebius and St. Jerome, say, that there were two cities of this name in their days, pretty near one another, about seventeen miles from Sichem, in the way to Scythopolis, or Bethshan. Calmet is of opinion that Bezek was situated, near the passage of the river Jordan at Bethshan; and Wells thinks, that there was no more than one city of this name, which was in the tribe of Judah. About 100 years since, this was a small village. Lat. 32, 21.

BEZER, or BOZRA, or BOSTRA, a city beyond Jordan, given by Moses to the tribe of Reuben, Deut. iv, 43; and designed by Joshua (chap. xx, ver. 8;) to be a city of refuge. The scripture speaking of Be

zer, generally adds, in the wil derness, because it lay in Arabia Deserta, and the eastern part of Edom, encomposed on all sides with deserts. Isaiah xxxiv, 6; threatens Bozra with very great calamities. "The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, and their land shall be soaked with blood; the smoak thereof shall go up for ever; thorns shall come up in her palaces, and there shall the great owl make her nest, and the vultures be gathered." He also describes a conqueror returning from Bozra, with his garments all dyed in blood. This conqueror is believed by some to be Judas Maccabeus, who took this city, and made great ravages in it, killing all the males, he found there, plundering the city, and then setting it on fire. Jeremiah likewise (chap. xlviii, ver. 24, 25, and xlix, 13, 22, &c, threatens Bozra in a terrible manner, and it is likewise believed by some, that these menaces, were accomplished when Nebuchadnezzar carried his arms into Edom, and the neighboring provinces five years after the taking of Jerusalem. We know not, saith a learned writer, that any vestige of this city remains at the present time. Eusebius places Bozra, at fourand twenty miles from Adraa

or Edrai. This city is said to belong sometimes to Reuben, sometimes to Moab, and sometimes to Edom, because, as it was a frontier town, to these three provinces, it sometimes, was in the hands of one, and sometimes of the other, as force or chance of war decided. There are Bishops of Bozra, whose names are subscribed to the decrees of several councils. Some Geographers allow sev eral cites of this name. Lat. 31, 43.

BEZETH, a city on this side Jordan, which Bacchides supprised, and threw all the inhabitants into a great pit, 1 Macc. vii, 19.

BEZETHA, a division, or district of Jerusalem, situated on a hill, encompassed with good walls, being, as it were, a new city added to the old. It was in the north part of the city.

BEZOR, See BESOR. BIBLUS, a city of Phoenicia, See BIELOS.

BILEAM, a city in the tribe of Manasseh, on the other side of Jordan. It was given to the Levites of Koath's fam. ily. 1 Chr. vi, 70.

BITHYNIA, forms one of the districts of Natolia and is the nearest province to Turkey in Europe, being separated only by the strait called Thracian

Bosphorus. Its principal cities are Prusa, Nice, and Nicomedia. This province lies on the south of the Euxine sea, west of Pontus and Galatia, north of Asia proper, and east of the Propontis. It was famed in the time of the Argonautic expedition; which might be during the reign of Rehoboam, if not much earlier. It is now called Becksangil; and if cultivated would be a fruitful country. When Paul first travelled for Europe, the Holy Ghost allowed him not to preach here, Acts xvi, 7. But afterwards a church was planted, and a number of Jews and others believed, 1 Pet. i, 1; the centuriators of Madgeburgh trace the history of Christianity here till the 10th century: nay there still remain some vestiges to the present time. At Nice in this province, was held the first general council; also the fourth general council at Chalcedon, on the strait of Constantinople.

BOCHIM, the place of weepers. It is certain that the battle between David and the Philistines, in the valley of Bochim was fought near Jerusalem, wherefore unless two places are distinguished by the name Bochim, it must be allowed this was near Jerusa lem.

BOHAN, a great rock men. tioned Joshua xviii, 17. "The stone of a man named Bohan, who was of the tribe of Reuben. This might be a boundary, or it might be set up to commemorate some remarkable event, like that of Jacob at Bethel and many others in different quarters of the world.

BOZEZ, the name of a rock, which Jonathan the son of Saul, climbed up, when he went to attack the Philistines. 1 Sam. 15, 4.

BOZHATH, ą city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv, 39. Lat. 31, 37.

BOZRA, or BEZER, or BEZER, or BOSOR, a town of Palestine, 60 miles south-west from Da

mascus.

BUZ, a region of Arabia, perhaps on the border of Idumea. Lat. 27, 40.

BYBLOS, a city of Phenicia, lying between Sidon and Orthosia, famous for the worship of Adonis. The river Adonis having its source in Libanus, passes by this town. At certain seasons, it overflows its banks, and from a species of red earth, over which it runs, the water becomes red as blood. Some are of opinion, that the ancients of Gebal, so skilful in maritime affairs, mentioned Ezek. xxvii, were the citizens of Byblos, in the Hebrew called

to

Gebal. The town was situated at the foot of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean, opposite some of the ancient cedars now remaining: most of the people are Turks, who have three mosques; the Christians have one church. Lat. 34,17. Lon. 36, 20. La Rouge. Lucian,

CABBON, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv, 40. Lat. 81, 37.

CABUL, the name, which Hiram king of Tyre, gave to the twenty cities in Galilee, given him by Solomon, for the great services he had rendered him, in building the temple, (1 Kings ix, 13.) It is but reasonable to suppose, that they lay near to Tyre, of which Hiram was king.

CADUMIM, a brook of Pa. lestine, mentioned in Judges v, 21, having its source in mount Tabor. Lat 32, 37.

CAIPHA, a town at the foot of mount Carmel, on the north side of the bay of Ptolemais, fifteen miles from Acre, by land, round the head of the bay it is thirty miles.

CÆSAREA, a city of Palestine of the first rank, which after being greatly decayed, was rebuilt by Herod the Great, and thus called in honor of Augustus Cæsar, being before called the tower of Strato. This city stood on the sea side, on

the coast of Phoenicia, between Dor and Joppa, upon the pass into Egypt, and was very convenient for trade, but had a bad harbor. To remedy this, he ordered a mole to be made, in the form of a half moon, and large enough to contain a royal navy. It was 200 feet long, and the stones were 50 feet long, 18 wide; the water 120 feet deep. The buildings of this town, were all of marble. This city was six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem. Here it was, that king Agrippa was smitten of the Lord, for not giving God the glory, when the people saluted him as God. Cornelius the centurion, who was baptized by St. Peter, lived at Cæsaria, Acts x, 1, &c. There Philip the deacon, with his four maiden daughters, had their habitation. At Cæsarea, the prophet Agabus foretold to Paul, that he would be bound, and confined by his enemies, at Jérusalem. The same apostle continued a prisoner two years at Cæsarea, till he was conducted to Rome, where he had appealed to Nero's tribunal. At Cæsarea, Eusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, was born. It is 40 miles north from Acre, and 30 south from Joppa, and 75 north-west from Jerusalem. Lat. 32, 37.

CÆSAREA PHILIPPI,

once called Paneas and Dan, a town of Palestine, at the head of the Jordan,20 miles east from Damascus, and one hundred, north-east from Jerusalem. See Dan. The woman healed by our Savior, (Matt. ix, 20) lived in this town. It is reported, that on her return, she gratefully erected a statue in honor of her Benefactor. Julian dis

placed it, and set his own in its place. But the Christian inhabitants, removed the statue of Christ into their church, that of Julian, was destroyed by lightning. Lat. 33, 17.

CALAH, a city of Assyria, built either by Asher or Nimrod, Gen. 10, 12.

CALAH, a country about the land of the river Lycus. It is probable, that the country took its name from its capital, Calah. Pliny mentions a people called Clarista, through whose country the Lycus has its course.

CALEB, a canton in the tribe of Judah, in which the cities of Kirjath-sepher and Hebron, were situated. 1 Sam. 30, 14.

CALNEH, a city in the land of Shinah, built by Nimrod, and the last city mentioned (Gen. x, 10) as, belonging to his kingdom. It is believed to be the same with Calno, mentioned in Isaiah x, 9, and