Hebrew word · H1053

בֵּית שֶׁ֫מֶשׁ

shemesh

Beth-shemesh

'House of the sun'. Shemesh is the ordinary word for the sun and also the name of the sun deity (Akkadian Shamash, Ugaritic Shapash). The name was used for several towns.

Appears 42 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Beth-shemesh = "house of the sun" or "sun-temple"

a town in southwest Judah

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 19:38

Range of meaning

'House of the sun'. Shemesh is the ordinary word for the sun and also the name of the sun deity (Akkadian Shamash, Ugaritic Shapash). The name was used for several towns.

Against the English

Because it is spelled the same, readers easily confuse this northern town with the famous Beth-shemesh of Judah, where the ark was returned (1 Samuel 6).

Used elsewhere in the period

Three different towns of this name appear in Joshua: in Judah (15:10), Issachar (19:22) and Naphtali (here). Judges 1:33 pairs this Naphtali Beth-shemesh with Beth-anath as towns left in Canaanite hands. In Egypt, Heliopolis is also called 'Beth-shemesh' (Jeremiah 43:13).

Where it appears

Joshua · 8
  1. Joshua 15:10 בֵּֽית־ שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    The border curled westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), went down to Beth-shemesh, and crossed to Timnah.

  2. Joshua 19:22 וּבֵ֣ית שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ and Beth, Shemesh

    The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen cities, along with their villages.

  3. Joshua 19:38 וּבֵ֣ית שָׁ֑מֶשׁ and Beth, Shemesh

    Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh. There were nineteen cities, along with their villages.

    Here: 'House of', the first part of the last town name in the list.

  4. Joshua 21:16 בֵּ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

Judges · 4
  1. Judges 1:33 בֵֽית־ שֶׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בֵֽית־ שֶׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ Beth, Shemesh

    Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.

1 Samuel · 14
  1. 1 Samuel 6:9 בֵּ֣ית שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”

  2. 1 Samuel 6:12 בֵּ֣ית שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ בֵּ֥ית שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃ Beth, Shemesh

    And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

  3. 1 Samuel 6:13 וּבֵ֣ית שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ and Beth, Shemesh

    Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight.

  4. 1 Samuel 6:15 בֵֽית־ שֶׁ֗מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

  5. 1 Samuel 6:19 בֵֽית־ שֶׁ֗מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.

    Here: First part of the town's name, 'House (or temple) of'.

  6. 1 Samuel 6:20 בֵֽית־ שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”

    Here: The first part of the place name 'Beth-shemesh', 'House of the Sun'. The name probably goes back to an old sun-god shrine. By this time it was an Israelite town.

1 Kings · 2
  1. 1 Kings 4:9 וּבֵ֣ית שָׁ֑מֶשׁ and in Beth, Shemesh

    Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;

2 Kings · 4
  1. 2 Kings 14:11 בְּבֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ at Beth, Shemesh

    But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

  2. 2 Kings 14:13 בְּבֵ֣ית שָׁ֑מֶשׁ at Beth, Shemesh

    There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

1 Chronicles · 2
  1. 1 Chronicles 6:59 בֵּ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    Ashan, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, together with their pasturelands.

2 Chronicles · 6
  1. 2 Chronicles 25:21 בְּבֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ at Beth, Shemesh

    So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

  2. 2 Chronicles 25:23 בְּבֵ֣ית שָׁ֑מֶשׁ at Beth, Shemesh

    There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

  3. 2 Chronicles 28:18 בֵּֽית־ שֶׁ֨מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.

Jeremiah · 2
  1. Jeremiah 43:13 בֵּ֣ית שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ Beth, Shemesh

    He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

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