BETH-HORON bĕth hôr’ ən (בֵּית־חﯴרֹ֛ן, LXX Βαιθωρων, KJV Beth-oron, meaning house of caves. The name of two towns located c. ten and twelve m. NW of Jerusalem.

The locale of these two ancient towns is of little doubt since today there exist the villages of Beit-’Ur el-Faqa (Upper Beth-horon) and W of it Beit ’Ur et-Tahta (Lower Beth-horon). The higher and smaller one is c. 1,800 ft. above sea level while the latter is c. 1,100 ft. Excavations have produced evidence of occupation going back at least to the Late Bronze Age. Today one still can see evidences of the Rom. road connecting the two towns which were both located on the important trunk route between Gibeon to the E and the Valley of Aijalon and the coastal plain to the W. Both towns were on the border between Benjamin and Ephraim (Josh 16:3-5 and 18:13f.), and later when the kingdom was divided they became a part of the N (Josh 21:22). Because of their location on a mountain pass, and because they were border towns, they had more than their share of bloodshed. Beth-horon was among the Levitical cities (Josh 21:22; 1 Chron 6:68). The only possible patronymic is Sanballat the Horonite (Neh 2:10).

Sheerah the daughter of Beriah, the son of Ephraim, built both Lower and Upper Bethhoron (1 Chron 7:24). This would have been after the Exile and thus a rebuilding. It is recorded in 1 Kings 9:17 that Solomon rebuilt Lower Beth-horon after Pharaoh of Egypt had raided both it and Gezer. “He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars” (2 Chron 8:5).

In addition to the implied Egyp. capture of the towns in 1 Kings 9:17, the famous battle of Beth-horon took place nearby (Josh 10:6-15). An attack on the town by disgruntled Ephraimite mercenaries is recorded in 2 Chronicles 25:12f.

Beth-horon is mentioned in the Pseudep. and the Apoc. several times. A king of Beth-horon, with others, harassed Jacob’s flocks, according to Jubilees 34:4. A description of how the city was alerted against an imminent attack by the Assyrian general, Holofernes, is given in Judith 4:4. Judas Maccabees at least twice won victories near these towns (1 Macc 3:15-26 and 7:39-43). Later Bacchides fortified Beth-horon after a battle with Jonathan in the desert of Tekoa.