BETH-EZEL

(Beth-eʹzel) [nearby house or place].

A town, evidently in Judah, mentioned only in Micah’s prophecy foretelling the disaster due to come upon unfaithful Judah. (Mic. 1:11) The prophet repeatedly makes a play on words in the use of the names of several towns in this portion of the prophecy, so that in reality he says: “In the house of Aphrah [dust] wallow in the very dust. Make your way across, O inhabitress of Shaphir [beautiful (city)], in shameful nudity. The inhabitress of Zaanan [migrating or departure] has not gone forth. The wailing of Beth-ezel [nearby place or ‘neighboring town’] will take from you people its standing place.” (Vss. 10, 11) The prophet’s warning, directed to those due to experience the disaster, thus in effect tells them that the mourning heard from Beth-ezel will cause them to realize that they can find no refuge there, or else that the calamity will not stop at Beth-ezel, hence allowing no stopping of the lamentation over Judah.

Though the identification is only tentative, Beth-ezel is generally considered to have been located at the site of present-day Deir el-ʽAsal, about eleven miles (18 kilometers) SW of Hebron.