Hebrew word · H1020

בֵּית הַיְשִׁימוֹת

beit

Beth-jeshimoth

'The House of the Desolations / Wastelands.' The root y-sh-m means 'to be desolate'. From it come yeshimon, 'wasteland, desert' (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 78:40), and the Jeshimon wilderness of Judah.

Appears 8 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Beth-jesimoth = "house of the desolation"

a place in Moab given to the tribe of Reuben

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 13:20

Range of meaning

'The House of the Desolations / Wastelands.' The root y-sh-m means 'to be desolate'. From it come yeshimon, 'wasteland, desert' (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 78:40), and the Jeshimon wilderness of Judah.

Against the English

English versions transliterate it 'Beth-jeshimoth', so the descriptive picture of a town at the edge of the barren lands is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 33:49 has Israel camped 'by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab'. Joshua 12:3 uses it as a boundary point. Ezekiel 25:9 lists it, with Baal-meon and Kiriathaim, as one of Moab's prized cities, so by Ezekiel's time it was in Moabite hands. Josephus mentions a 'Besimoth' in the Jordan valley (Jewish War 4.438), and Eusebius places 'Bethasimouth' about ten Roman miles south of Jericho near the Dead Sea. It is usually identified with Tell el-'Azeimeh, north-east of the Dead Sea.

From the study of Numbers 33:49

Range of meaning

A place name: 'house of the wastes / desolations'. It comes from the root y-sh-m (to be desolate), related to yeshimon, 'wasteland, desert' (Num 21:20; 23:28; Ps 78:40). 'Beth' (house) is common in place names and often points to a settlement or a shrine.

Against the English

English versions just transliterate it (Beth-jeshimoth, Beth-jesimoth), so readers miss the meaning of the name, a meaning a Hebrew hearer would have caught.

Used elsewhere in the period

Listed as a border point of Sihon's former kingdom (Josh 12:3) and as a town given to Reuben (Josh 13:20). Ezekiel 25:9 calls it one of the 'glory of the country' towns of Moab. Josephus mentions Besimoth near the Dead Sea (Jewish War 4.438), and Eusebius's Onomasticon places a Bēthsimouth about 10 Roman miles south of Jericho. It is usually identified with Tell el-ʿAzeimeh, near the northeast shore of the Dead Sea.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 33:49 מִבֵּ֣ית הַיְשִׁמֹ֔ת from Beth, <the> Jeshimoth

    And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.

    Here: 'From' plus the first half of the place name Beth-jeshimoth. It sets the southern end of the camp.

Joshua · 4

  1. Joshua 12:3 בֵּ֣ית הַיְשִׁמ֑וֹת Beth, <of the> Jeshimoth

    as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

    Here: First part of the place name Beth-jeshimoth.

  2. Joshua 13:20 וּבֵ֥ית הַיְשִׁמֽוֹת׃ and Beth, <the> Jeshimoth

    Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth—

    Here: 'And the House of': the first part of a second compound place name. It closes the group of sites at the northwest corner of Reuben's land.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 25:9 בֵּ֣ית הַיְשִׁימֹ֔ת Beth, <of the> Jeshimoth

    therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land.

    Here: The first part of the place name Beth-jeshimoth, 'House of the wastes'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.