place · also Beth-shan
Beth-shean
בֵּית שְׁאָן
- verses
- 8
- first named
- Joshua 17:11
- last named
- 1 Chronicles 7:29
- feature
- settlement
- coordinates
- 32.50°N · 35.50°E
Tel Bet Shean (OpenBible)
The gazetteer records one identification, and no competing one.
Description
Beth-shean in the text
Beth-shean, also known as Beth-shan, was a city located in the territory allotted to the tribe of Manasseh, although it was situated within the borders of Issachar. The city was strategically positioned at the junction of the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys, controlling access to the Jezreel Valley from the east.
In Joshua 17:11 and 16, Beth-shean is listed among the cities and towns within Manasseh's inheritance that were not fully conquered by the Israelites. The Manassites were unable to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, and the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in the land.
Judges 1:27 reiterates that Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth-shean and its villages, and the Canaanites continued to live there.
During the reign of King Solomon, Beth-shean was included in the fifth administrative district overseen by Baana, son of Ahilud (1Ki.4.12). The city's inclusion in this list suggests its ongoing importance and the presence of a significant Israelite population.
The most notable event associated with Beth-shean in the Bible is the aftermath of the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. In 1Sa.31.10-12, after Saul and his sons were killed in battle, the Philistines fastened their bodies to the wall of Beth-shean. When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard about this, they travelled through the night, took down the bodies, and buried them in Jabesh.
Later, during David's reign, the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were retrieved from Jabesh-gilead and buried in the tomb of Saul's father, Kish, in Benjamin (2Sa.21.12-14).
Beth-shean's strategic location made it a target for conquest throughout history. The city was eventually captured by the Egyptians and later by the Assyrians. It was known as Scythopolis during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, serving as the leading city of the Decapolis, a group of ten Hellenistic cities in the region.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The pattern
Where Beth-shean is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
8 verses across 6 of 66 books; 60 write the name nowhere. Named in Joshua (2), Judges (1), 1 Samuel (2), 2 Samuel (1), 1 Kings (1) and 1 Chronicles (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 8, across 6 books. The name is written 9 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Nothing in the graph stands one hop from this entity yet. These are the best-connected entities of the same type, so the page still ends somewhere. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Sources