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BETHER*
Hebrew word occurring in the phrase “upon rugged mountains” and regarded as a proper name in the KJB (“mountains of Bether,” Sg 2:17). Occurrence of the phrase “mountains of spices” in an almost identical verse (8:14) suggests “spices” or a particular spice (such as cinnamon) as an appropriate translation of bether. Bether also occurs as the name of the city Beth-anoth in the hill country of Judah in Joshua 15:59 (but only in the Septuagint). In 1 Chronicles 6:59 the Septuagint reads “Bether” instead of “Beth-shemesh.” Some scholars identify this Bether with Khir-bet el-Jehudiyeh, southwest of Bittir, which may preserve the ancient name. It is unlikely that Bether is related to the phrase “mountains of Bether.”
In AD 135, Bether became the site of the last Jewish stronghold against the Romans in the Second Revolt (AD 132–135). There Simon Bar-Kochba, the designated “messiah,” and the Jewish forces were massacred.