Betomasthem (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Βαıτομασθαίμ, ''Baitomasthaim''). or Betomestham (Βετομεσθαίμ, ''Betomesthaim''). is an unidentified town from the

Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

. Betomasthem is the most important location in the Book of Judith (aside from

Bethulia Bethulia (, ''Baituloua''; Hebrew: wikt:בתוליה, בתוליה) is a biblical "city whose deliverance by Judith, when besieged by Holofernes, forms the subject of the ''Book of Judith''." Etymology The name "Bethulia" in Hebrew can be assoc ...

) and it is generally assumed to have been a sizeable city, possibly of equal importance with Bethulia in their region.

Location

Betomasthem is described in the Book of Judith as a town "over against

Esdraelon The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands of the Lower Galilee region, ...

, facing the plain that is near Dothaim", and in the vicinity of "Bebai, Chobai, and Cola, in the coasts of Israel". The

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

refers to the "Plain of Esdraelon" as the plain between the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

hills and

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

. As such, historian and archaeologist

Charles Cutler Torrey Charles Cutler Torrey (20 December 1863 – 12 November 1956) was an American historian, archaeologist and scholar. While he was a Christian, he was a close friend of the progressive rabbi George Alexander Kohut. Career He is known for, present ...

identified Betomasthem as a pseudonym for the city of Samaria. Torrey went further to identify the Hebrew basis for Betomasthem as “Bayit Mizpah”, which means “house of outlook”. This is plausible, because "Samaria" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name "Shomron", which means "watch" or "watchman". Others have proposed different identifications. It can hardly be Deir Massīn, which lies west of "the plain that is near Dothan". The district is clearly indicated, but no identification has been possible.

Adam Zertal Adam Zertal (; 1936 – October 18, 2015) was an Israeli archaeologist and a tenured professor at the University of Haifa. Biography Adam Zertal grew up in Ein Shemer, a kibbutz affiliated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement. Zertal was severe ...

and Nivi Mirkam have suggested the site of el-Baṭn, located between the

Jezreel Jezreel (, ''Yizre'el'', ''lit.'' God will sow) may refer to the following places and topics: * Jezreel (city), an ancient Israelite city * Jezreel Valley, a valley in northern Israel * Jezreel Valley railway, railway in northern Israel * Jezreel ...

and

Dothan Valley Dothan Valley or Sahl Arraba ( ''Emek Dotan''; ''Sahl ʻArrābah'', Arraba plain) is a fertile tectonic valley in the northern West Bank. The region is about eleven kilometers long and four kilometers wide. There are several Palestinian towns loca ...

s, as a possible candidate for Betomasthem. Theologian

Antoine Augustin Calmet Antoine Augustin Calmet, (; 26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine abbot, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of Lor ...

wrote in his commentary on the book of Judith, the "Commentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l'ancien et du nouveau testament: "Béthomesthaim is Betsamés, or, according to the Syriac pronunciation, Bétomesta". This identification identifies Betomasthem as

Beth Shemesh Beth Shemesh (''House of the Sun'') is the name of three places in the Land of Israel and one location in Ancient Egypt mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: *a city in southwest Judah, remains excavated next to modern Beit Shemesh – see Tel Beit Shem ...

.https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=KSpRAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA394&hl=en However, this is much too south to be anywhere near the Jezreel valley.

References

Sources

* Attribution: * * * {{Authority control Ancient Israel and Judah Places in the deuterocanonical books Book of Judith