Bethulia
Bethulia
(Gr. Betuloua).
The city whose deliverance by Judith, when besieged by Holofernes, forms the subject of the Book of Judith. The view that Bethulia is merely a symbolic name for Jerusalem or a fictitious town, has met with little favor, even among those who deny the historical character of the book. Bethulia is clearly distinguished from Jerusalem (iv, 6; xi, 14, 19; xv, 5, 8; the references throughout the article being to the fuller Greek text), and the topographical details leave no doubt that the story, even if it be only a pious romance, is connected with a definite place. Its site, however, is in dispute. Beside Sânûr, Mithilîyeh, or Misilîyeh, Tell Kheibar and Beit-Ilfa, which have divided opinion for some time, Haraiq el-Mallah, Khirbet Sheikh Shibel, el-Bârid and Sichem (Bethulia being considered a pseudonym) have recently been proposed as sites of Bethulia.
The city was situated on a mountain overlooking the plain of Jezrael, or Esdrelon, and commanding narrow; passes to the south (iv, 6, 7; vi, 11-13); at the foot of the mountain there was an important spring, and other springs were in the neighborhood (vi, 11, vii, 3, 7, 12). Moreover it lay within investing lines which ran through Dothain, or Dothan, now Tell Dothân, to Belthem, or Belma, no doubt the same as the Belamon of viii, 3, and thence to Kyamon, or Chelmon, “which lies over against Esdrelon” (vii, 3). These data point to a site on the heights west of Jenîn (Engannim), between the plains of Esdrelon and Dothan, where Haraiq, Kh. Sheikh Shibel, and el-Bârid lie close together. Such a site best fulfils all requirements. It lies between lines drawn from Tell Dothân to Belæema, probably Belma, or Belamon, and from the latter to el-Yâmûn, probably Kyamon; there are a number of springs and wells in the neighborhood, and near by are the two passes of Kefr Adân and Burqîn, so narrow in places that two horsemen cannot ride abreast. One of the three above-named places is in all probability the site of ancient Bethulia. The other sites are all deficient in some essential requirement.
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Survey of Western Palest. Mem. II, 156; ROBINSON, Bibl. Researches (London, 1856), III, 337f.; TORREY in Journ. Am. Or. Soc., XX, 160f.; GUÉRIN, Samarie (Paris, 1874 1875), I, 344-350; RAUMER, Paläst. (4th ed., Leipzig, 1860) 151; RITTER, Erdkunde (Berlin 1848-52), XV, 423f.; SCHULTZ in Zeitschr. d. deutsch. morgenl. Gesch., III, 48; HEIDET in VIG., Dict. de la Bible, I, 1751f.; MARTA, Intorno al vero sito di Betulia (Florence, 1887); BRUNENGO in Civiltà Catt., ser. 13, IX, 527; ZANECCHIA, La Palest. d’aujourd., II, 581.
F. BECHTEL Transcribed by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns, Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas Dedicated to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Bethulia
(or rather Betylua, , for the Hebrews [Simonis, Onom. AN.T. p. 41] or for , house of God Jehovah), a place mentioned only in the apocryphal book of Judith (4, 6; 6:10, 11, 14; 7:1, 3, 6, 13, 20; 8:3, 11; 10:6; 11:19; 12:7; 13:10; 15:3, 6; 16:21, 23), of which it was the principal scene, and where its position is minutely described. It was near Dothaim (4, 6), on a hill which overlooked () the plain of Esdraelon (6, 11, 13, 14; 7:7, 10; 13:10), and commanded the passes from that plain to the hill country of Manasseh (4, 7; 7:1), in a position so strong that Holofernes abandoned the idea of taking it by attack, and determined to reduce it by possessing himself of the two springs or wells () which were under the city, in the valley at the foot of the eminence on which it was built, and from which the inhabitants derived their chief supply of water (6, 11; 7:7, 13, 21). Notwithstanding this detail, however, the identification of the site of Bethulia has hitherto been so great a puzzle as to form an important argument against the historical truth of the book of Judith (see Cellarii Notit. 3, 13, 4). SEE JUDITH. In the Middle Ages the name of Bethulia was given to the Frank Mountain, between Bethlehem and Jerusalem (Robinson, 2, 172), but this is very much too far to the south to suit the narrative. Modern tradition has assumed it to be Safed in North Galilee (Robinson, 3, 152), which again, if in other respects it would agree with the story, is too far north.
Von Raumer (Palast. p. 135) suggests Saner, which is perhaps nearer to probability, especially since the discovery of Dothan (q.v.), which is probably meant by the Dothaim of Judith (see Schubert, 3, 161; Stewart, p. 421; Van de Velde, Narrative, 1, 367). The ruins of that town are on an isolated rocky hill, with a plain of considerable extent to the east, and, so far as situation is concerned, naturally all but impregnable (Robinson, 3, 325). It is about three miles from Dothan, and some six or seven from Jenin (Engannim), which stand on the very edge of the great plain of Esdraelon. Though not absolutely commanding the pass which leads from Jenin to Sebustieh, and forms the only practicable ascent to the high country, it is yet sufficiently near to bear out the somewhat vague statement of Jdt 5:6. Nor is it unimportant to remember that Sanur actually endured a siege of two months from Djezzar Pasha without yielding, and that on a subsequent occasion it was only taken after a three or four months’ investment by a force very much out of proportion to the size of the place (Robinson, 3, 152). The most complete identification, however, is that by Schultz (in Williams’s Holy City, 1, Append. p. 469), who finds Bethulia in the still extant though ruined village Beit-Ilfa, on the northern declivity of Mt. Gilboa, containing rock graves, sarcophagi, and other marks of antiquity, and having a fountain near (comp. Ritter, Erdk. 15, 423 sq.; Gross, in the Zeitschr. d. deutschen morg. Gesellsch. 3, 58, 59). Dr. Robinson (Later Bib. Res. p. 337), with his usual pertinacity, disputes this conclusion. SEE BETH-LEPHTEPHA.
Bethulia
is regarded by Lieut. Conder (Tentwork, ii, 335; Quarterly Statement of the Pal. Explor. Fund, 1881, p. 45) and Tristram (Bible Places, p. 204) as the modern village Mithlia, which is laid down on the Ordnance Map as Meithalun, one and a half miles south-east of Sanur and four and a quarter miles east of south from Tell Dothan.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Bethulia
BETHULIA.The locality of the scenes of the Book of Judith (Jdt 4:6-7 etc.). If not a synonym for Jerusalem itself, it is an unknown site south of the plain of Jezreel. Mithilyah from the similarity of the name, Sanur from its commanding position, and even Shechem, have all been suggested as possible sites.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Bethulia
be-thuli-a (, Baithouloua): A town named only in the Book of Judith (4:6; 6:10ff; 7:1ff; 8:3; 10:6; 12:7; 15:3, 6; 16:21ff). From these references we gather that it stood beside a valley, on a rock, at the foot of which was a spring, not far from Jenn; and that it guarded the passes by which an army might march to the South. The site most fully meeting these conditions is that of Sanur. The rock on the summit of which it stands rises sheer from the edge of Merj el-Gharik, on the main highway, some 7 miles South of Jenn. Other identifications are suggested: Conder favoring Mithilyeh, a little farther north; while the writer of the article Bethulia in Encyclopedia Biblica argues for identification with Jerusalem.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Bethulia
Bethulia, a place mentioned only in the Apocryphal book of Judith (Jdt 4:6; Jdt 7:1; Jdt 7:3), and which appears to have lain near the plain of Esdraelon on the south, not far from Dothaim, and to have guarded one of the passes towards Jerusalem. Its site is still undetermined.