BETH-CAR

(Beth-car) [house of a lamb, or, sheep house].

A point mentioned in the account of Israel’s defeat of the Philistines at Mizpah. The Israelites pursued the fleeing Philistines “as far as south of Beth-car.” (1 Sam. 7:11) Some relate Beth-car to Beth-haccherem (Jer. 6:1; Neh. 3:14), generally identified with ʽAin Karim, some four miles (6 kilometers) W of Jerusalem. Such route, if followed, would lead the Philistines from Mizpah through the deep Wadi beit Hanina down to the Valley of Sorek, and through it to the Plains of Philistia.—See BETH-HACCHEREM.