Beth-arabah

House of the desert, one of the six cities of Judah, situated in the sunk valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea (Josh. 18:22). In Josh. 15:61 it is said to have been “in the wilderness.” It was afterwards included in the towns of Benjamin. It is called Arabah (Josh. 18:18).

beth-ar'-a-ba (beth ha-`arabhah; Baitharaba, "place of the Arabah"):

(1) One of the 6 cities of Judah "in the wilderness" (Jos 15:61), on the borders of Benjamin and Judah (Jos 15:6; 18:18 Septuagint). "The wilderness of Judah" is the barren land West of the Dead Sea. Beth-arabah is not yet identified.

(2) One of the cities of Benjamin (Jos 18:22). Septuagint (Codex Vaticanus) reads Baithabara, and this may be correct. The names are early confounded.

See BETHABARA.