Bealiah (Hastings' Dictionary)

A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Ch 12»). BEALOTH (n'lSv?), Jos 15".— An unknown town in the extreme south of Judah. See Balau. BEAM is the tr. of several Heb. words, 1. j-iK 'eregh, Jg 16'*, a weaver's hand-loom (to whicii Samson's hair was fastened), not Bimjily • In 1611 the two forms seem to be still equally acceptable, and for the most part AV follows previous versions. The nrevinus Torsions do not always ajrree, however.

Thus in Mt 22l«Tindale hoA, For many are calle<i, but feawe be chosen ' ; hut tiie (Jrcat Dible, ' For many be called, hut feaw are chosen. About the middle of the 17th cent, 'are' ((enerally replaces 'be, an may be Been by CAimimriii^ the PraverlioolcB of lt]04 and of 1U62 («.y. Kceiintf'B LiiurgiiZ Dritannioa, pp. xxii, 6, SS, 03, vlo.) 260 BEANS BEAST the beam. The same word is tr ' shuttle ' Job 7'. 2. I'ljp mAnOr, a weaver's beam, to which the web is attached.

Goliath's spear liandle is compared to it, 1 S 17' and 2 S 21'» ; his brother Lahmi's, 1 Ch 20° ; and that of an Egyptian slain by Benaiah, 1 Ch 1 !». 3. n-fp MraJi, 2 K 6»- », 2 Ch 3', Ca 1", a beam to be used as the rafter of a house ; hence the roof itself used fig. for the house, Gn 19 ' they are come under the sliadow of my roof.' 'Beam' in older Eng. was used for the tree before it was squared into a beam ; this use is found in 2 K 6- * 'as one was felling a b.' 4.

23 gcbh, 1 K 6' for the beams supporting the roof of Solomon's temple ; but the meaning (per- haps the reading) is uncertain. 6. vi" zel(C, 1 K 7' in ref. to Solomon's own house. In 6 the same word is tr ' chambers,' which seems to be its meaning in 7 also. See RVm. 6. o'jj k&phU, Hab 2'' ' the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the b. out of the timber shall answe- it ' — a girder probably (o connectendo, says Ges. Thes. s.v.)

In NT, only Jo/cit, Mt 7*-«-», Lk 6""w of the beam in the eye : a common classical word for a beam of wood, esp. for roofing. T.XX uses it for tr" of ^ah, Gn W, 1 K 6»- », Ca 1". J. Hastings. BEANS (^>'is p6l, Kia/u)t, /aJa).— There is no reason to doubt that the vegetable alluded to is the horse-bean, Faba vulgaris, L. It is still known by the Arabs as ful, which is the same word as tne Heb. p6l.

It is extensively cultivated in the East, and furnishes a coarse cheap article of diet, which is, however, eaten by the rich as well as the poor. There are several other kinds of beans grown in Palestine, as the string bean, Vigna Sinensis, L., var. sesquipedalis, L., which is knowTi as luhiyeh belediyeh, and the kidney bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, L., lubiyeh ifrangtyeh, and a climbing bean known as liibiyen kusd-s, which is probably a variety of Phaseolus mul'tijlorus , L.

The fm (horse-bean) is used in two stages of its development : one, the pods in the unripe state, like string beans ; the other, the ripe beans, which are boiled as the ordinary white beans. In both these stages they are meule into a stew with meat, and a large proportion of fat, or with oil alone, and often flavoured with onion or garlic. Ful is sown in Oct. or Nov., after the early rains, and harvested earlier or later in the spring, according to the stage in which it is to be used.

When harvested for the seed, it is plucked up by the roots, the stalks are trodden and cut to pieces on the threshing-floors, and the seeds extracted and winnowed, as in the case of other grains. It was the seeds that were ground with barley, lentUes, millet, and fitches to make bread (Ezk 4"). It is mentioned only once more as part of the supplies brought by the trans-Jordai^c friends of David when he had fled to Mahanaim (2 S 17").

This, with the other supplies, would be just what would be needed and available to-day in the same region and under similar circumstances. G. E. Post. BEAR (3^ or a^s d6h, tpierot, ipxot, urnu, ursa). — There is but one species of bear in Syria, Ursus Syriacus, Ehr. It is known to the natives by the name dubb, which is the Arab, form of Mo. It closely resembles the brown bear, Ursus arctos, L., of Europe. It has, however, a greyish brown fur.

Tristram says that it is closely allied to Ursus isabellinus, Horsf., of India. The bear is found in all the wilder regions of alpine Lebanon and Anti- lebanon, far more abundantly in the latter range, esp. its more unfrequented northern solitudes, than in the former. During the cold weather of winter, esp. in exceptionally rigorous seasons, it tomes down to the lower mountains in search of food. It is found sparingly in the mountains of Bashan, GUead, and Moab.

Very rarely U it aeen in Western Palestine. The bear feeds principally on roots, bulbs, fruits, and other vegetaole products. It is fond of the chick pea, which is much cultivated on the higher levels, where the farmer often suffers serious losses from the bear's voracity. When not abundantly supplied with vegetable food, it will attack sheep and other animals. It rarely attacks man, but, on the contrary, usually runs away from him as fast as possible.

It is clear that bears were once abundant in Palestine, when that country was more wooded than it is now. David killed one in Judaea (1 S n""**). Two she-beare are said to have torn forty-two chil- dren between Jericho and Bethel (2 K 2"). There are a number of allusions to the characteristics ot bears in OT. The bear lies in wait (La 3'"). The she-bear, 'robbed of her whelps,' is described ae specially ferocious (2 S \T, Pr IT^, Hos 13»).

It is spoken of as second to the lion in danger to man (1 S 17"-", Am S'"). A graphic picture of the Eeaceful reign of the Messiah is the cow and the ear feeding together, and their young lying down together (Is 11'). There is not the slightest warrant for the LXX rendering, Xilicoj (wolf, Pr 28"), nor lUpi/iya {anxious thought, Pr 17"), for d6b. In both passages the bear is undoubtedly meant. G. E. Post.