place · also Rehob
Beth-rehob
בֵּית־רְחוֹב
- verses
- 4
- first named
- Numbers 13:21
- last named
- 2 Samuel 10:8
- feature
- region
- coordinates
- 34.01°N · 36.15°E
Beqaa Valley (OpenBible)
Scholarship offers 5 identifications for this place. The leading one is shown; the others are recorded in the gazetteer.
Description
Beth-rehob in the text
Beth-rehob, also known as Rehob, was an Aramean city and region located in the north of Israel, near the border with Aram (Syria). It is mentioned in the context of the Israelites' conquest of Canaan and later during the reign of King David.
In Numbers 13:21, the spies sent by Moses to explore Canaan are said to have gone as far north as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. This suggests that Rehob was located in the northernmost part of the Promised Land, close to the entrance of Hamath, a major city in Syria.
In Judges 18:28, Rehob is mentioned as a reference point to describe the location of Laish, a city that the Danites conquered and renamed Dan. The text states that Laish was situated near Beth-rehob, indicating the proximity of the two places.
During the reign of King David, Beth-rehob played a role in the conflict between Israel and the Ammonites. In 2Sa.10.6, the Ammonites, facing an impending attack from David's army, hired Aramean mercenaries from various regions, including Beth-rehob, to help them in battle. The Arameans of Beth-rehob, along with those from Zobah, provided 20,000 foot soldiers to support the Ammonites.
In the subsequent battle at Helam (2Sa.10.8), the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, together with the Ammonites, faced David's army, led by Joab and Abishai. The Israelites defeated the Arameans and Ammonites, and the Arameans made peace with Israel, fearing to help the Ammonites any further.
The exact location of Beth-rehob is uncertain, but it was likely situated in the region of Aram, north of Israel, possibly in the area known as the Beqaa Valley in modern-day Lebanon. Its association with the Arameans and its proximity to Hamath suggest that it was an important city or region in the Aramean kingdom.
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.
Took part in
Stands in the same events as
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 4, across 3 books.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Sources