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BEZEK

BEZEK (Βεζέκ, Βεζέκη), a city of the Canaanites at the time of the entering in of the children of Israel; the capital of a district which gave its name to one of the petty kings or sheikhs of the country. (Judg. 1.4, 5.) It is only mentioned again in 1 Sam. 11.8, though it may be doubted whether these two are identical, as the former was in Judah, and the latter apparently in Benjamin. Eusebius and St. Jerome (Onom. s. v.) mention two cities of that name, near each other, 17 miles from Neapolis, on the road to Scythopolis. But these cannot represent either of the Scripture sites. The Greeks mention a place in the eastern borders of the diocese of Bethlehem, now called Beletza, which they say was formerly Bezek: this would be in Judah. (Williams's Holy City, vol. i. Appendix, p. 493.)

[G.W]

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