BEZEK be’ zĕk (בֶּ֔זֶק, unknown). Many would seek to locate this city in the territory allotted to Judah and Simeon because of the inference of Judges 1:4; perhaps modern Bezqa, near Jerusalem. The problem with this identification is that no such town in southern Pal. is known from any other source. This battle mentioned in Judges 1:4-7 must be located in the mountains of Gilboa: modern Khirbet Ibziq. KD argued for this location; more recently Aharoni, denying that there is any reason to suspect the historicity of the brief notices collected in Judahites 1, points to the likelihood of the Judahites fighting in the region of Manasseh by noting the widespread phenomena of tribes passing through the hill country of Ephraim. In 1 Samuel 11:8 Saul starts his one night march from this city to Jabesh-Gilead, which is engulfed by the Ammonites.

Bibliography K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and The OT (1966), 66, n. 36; Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (1967), 197 and n. 62 on 197; G. E. Wright, “Literary and Historical Problems of Josh. 10 and Judg. 1,” JNES V (1946), 108 (contrary view).