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More than one Beth Shemesh is referenced in Scriptures, with our
focus in this article resting solely on the most prominent one,
namely the town that was 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Jerusalem
in the valley of Sorek. It was on the northern border of the tribal
area of Judah, yet (at least initially) belonged to Dan.1
Notably, Beth Shemesh was also near the western border area with
territory held by the Philistines.
Joshua 15:10, 12b Then it curved westward from Baalah to Mount Seir,
ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon),
continued down to Beth Shemesh and crossed to Timnah. ... These are
the boundaries around the people of Judah by their clans. (NIV)
Judah subsequently gave this border town to the Levites as a priestly city.
Joshua 21:9, 13-16 9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they
allotted the following towns by name ... 13 So to the descendants of
Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge for one accused
of murder), Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain,
Juttah and Beth Shemesh, together with their pasturelands - nine
towns from these two tribes. (NIV)
Beth Shemesh features prominently in one Biblical account. As part of
God's judgment against Eli's sons (Hophni & Phinehas) - as
prophesied to Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-21) - the Philistines had captured
the ark (1 Samuel 4:1-12) and taken it to their coastal cities.
1 Samuel 5:1-6:20 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God,
they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark
into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of
Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face
on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him
back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there
was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the
Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the
threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither
the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at
Ashdod step on the threshold. 6 The Lord's hand was heavy upon the
people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them
and afflicted them with tumors. 7 When the men of Ashdod saw what was
happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not
stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon
our god." 8 So they called together all the rulers of the
Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of
the god of Israel?" They answered, "Have the ark of the god
of Israel moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of
Israel. 9 But after they had moved it, the Lord's hand was against
that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of
the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 10 So they
sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron,
the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the
god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people." 11 So
they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said,
"Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its
own place, or it will kill us and our people." For death had
filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy upon it. 12
Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of
the city went up to heaven.
6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven
months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and
said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we
should send it back to its place." 3 They answered, "If you
return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but
by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed,
and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you." 4
The Philistines asked, "What guilt offering should we send to
him?" They replied, "Five gold tumors and five gold rats,
according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same
plague has struck both you and your rulers. 5 Make models of the
tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay honor
to Israel's god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods
and your land. 6 Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and
Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did they not send the
Israelites out so they could go on their way? 7 "Now then, get a
new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been
yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen
them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a
chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a
guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it
goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has
brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will
know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to
us by chance." 10 So they did this. They took two such cows and
hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed
the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest
containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the
cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and
lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left.
The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of
Beth Shemesh. 13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their
wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they
rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of
Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people
chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt
offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord,
together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them
on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered
burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five rulers
of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to
Ekron. 17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt
offering to the Lord-one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and
Ekron. 18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number
of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers - the fortified
towns with their country villages. The large rock, on which they set
the ark of the Lord, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua
of Beth Shemesh. 19 But God struck down some of the men of Beth
Shemesh, putting seventy2 of them to
death because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. The people
mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them, 20 and the
men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the
Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?" (NIV)
A
view from the area of Beth Shemesh looking towards the direction
from which the ark would have come (1 Samuel 6:12)
The
circular platform dates to a much later period.
The ark did not remain at Beth Shemesh and was taken to Kiriath
Jearim (1 Samuel 6:21-7:2). Later still, Beth Shemesh was in the
second district of Solomon, specifically mentioned as one of the
cities ruled by a regional governor. Solomon's specific interest in
this city is likely due to its large and fertile growing area for
wheat (1 Samuel 6:13).
1 Kings 4:7-9 Solomon also had twelve district governors over all
Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household.
Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. 8 These
are their names: Ben-Hur - in the hill country of Ephraim; 9
Ben-Deker - in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan; (NIV)
Another significant event associated with Beth Shemesh took place
during the time of the divided kingdom.
2 Kings 14:8, 11-15 Then Amaziah [king of Judah] sent messengers to
Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the
challenge: "Come, meet me face to face." ... 11 Amaziah,
however, would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and
Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 12
Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 13
Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of
Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash went to
Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate
to the Corner Gate - a section about six hundred feet long. 14 He
took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple
of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. He also took
hostages and returned to Samaria. (NIV)
The town of Beth Shemesh dates back to the time of Abraham. It came
under Egyptian control during the period of the Hyksos (circa
1700-1550 B.C.) and was fortified during this period. The city was
destroyed by fire perhaps as early as 1500 B.C. (some say by the
Egyptians, but this may date to the beginning of the Israelite
conquests circa 1400 B.C.). The site shows a subsequent period of
prosperity until about 1200 B.C. The Israelites definitely controlled
the site from 1200 B.C. to 586 B.C. but there is strong evidence of a
Philistine influence for the first two centuries of this period. The
city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar during his campaign of 588-587
B.C. and was never rebuilt.
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Notes
1.
Beth Shemesh is likely the same as Ir Shemesh mentioned in Joshua
19:41 as a town of Dan. The tribe of Dan was unable to take control
of much of the area given to it and subsequently left the area for
further north (see Joshua 19:41 and our article
on the city of Dan).
2.
The NIV's number of 70 here is most likely correct, even though many
Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint state 50,070. The ancient size
of Beth Shemesh, in this period, was such that the larger number is
high unlikely.
It
is possible that this is a copyist's error from antiquity, something
that can easily be done with Hebrew numbers. Scholars note that the
Hebrew text is unusual in that the seventy appears before the fifty
thousand and a normally expected character is missing if it was
intended to be a compound number. First century historian Josephus
uses seventy in his history of the period (Antiquities of the Jews
6.1.4).
An
alternate, and likewise probable, explanation is given by the
authors of the footnotes of the English Standard version...
The
puzzling Hebrew text "seventy men, fifty thousand men"
(ESV footnote) may possibly mean "seventy men, i.e., five people
out of every thousand" (or "every clan"). If this is
the correct meaning, then the population of the city would have been
14,000 people (or 14 clans). (ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version®)
Certainly
any translator leaving it as 50,070 is using a dubious rendering and
needs to explain why the text uses phraseology not normally utilized
with compound numbers. It is legitimate to footnote it and raise
these questions.
A
spring-time photo at Beth Shemesh, with a local bird and many
flowering plants |
