Biblical History
Beth-rehob, meaning "house of the open place" or "house of the wide street," appears in the biblical text in connection with the northern extremity of Canaan and with Aramean military history. Numbers 13:21 records that the Israelite spies sent by Moses traversed the land "from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath," indicating Beth-rehob marked the northernmost point of their reconnaissance. Judges 18:28 notes that the Danite tribe captured Laish, a city that had no political ally to rescue it: "for it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob." Most significantly, 2 Samuel 10:6 records that when the Ammonites hired mercenaries to fight against David, they engaged soldiers from Beth-rehob among their coalition forces. This places Beth-rehob within the Aramean political network of the early Davidic period. The site is associated with the northern Beqaa Valley or the area near Dan (Laish), on the threshold between Israelite and Aramean spheres of influence, representing the far northern boundary of the Promised Land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of Beth-rehob is disputed, with proposals ranging from a site in the upper Jordan Valley near Dan to a location deeper in the Beqaa Valley of modern Lebanon. Some scholars identify it with Tell er-Rahub southeast of Lake Huleh. The broader Beqaa Valley region has been surveyed and shows evidence of Bronze and Iron Age settlement, consistent with the biblical period. The association with Laish (later Dan, identified with Tell el-Qadi/Tel Dan) provides a useful geographical anchor, suggesting Beth-rehob lay in the vicinity of the upper Jordan headwaters. Tel Dan excavations have produced rich Bronze and Iron Age remains, but Beth-rehob itself remains archaeologically unconfirmed.
Verse Appearances (4)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]