beer Summary and Overview

well. (1.) A place where a well was dug by the direction of Moses, at the forty-fourth station of the Hebrews in their wanderings (Num. 21:16-18) in the wilderness of Moab. (See WELL T0003803.) (2.) A town in the tribe of Judah to which Jotham fled for fear of Abimelech (Judg. 9:21). Some have identified this place with Beeroth.

(a well). 1. One of the latest halting-places of the Israelites, lying beyond the Arnon. #Nu 21:16-18| This is possibly the BEER-ELIM of #Isa 15:8| 2. A place to which Jotham, the son of Gideon, fled for fear of his brother Abimelech. #Jud 9:21|

BE'ER (well). 1. Near the Arnon, Num 21:16, Num 21:18; probably Beer-elim. 2. A town in Judah, Jud 9:21; probably el-Bireh, 10 miles north of Jerusalem.

1. A "dug well", whereas EN or AIN is a "fountain" or "spring". Israel's last halting place was so-called, from the well dug there, beyond the Arnon, by the princes and nobles. A poetical fragment celebrates the fact (Numbers 21:16-18): "Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it. The princes digged the well; the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves". What a contrast was this Beer, digged amidst the people's joyous songs in honor of their princes, to the miraculous smiting of the rock amidst their murmuring against God and their leaders (Numbers 20:2). Perhaps the BEER-ELIM, "well of the princes," of Isaiah 15:8, on the border of Moab southwards. The howling (yillelathah; Beer-elim is chosen as similar in sound) shall reach even that remote point. Tradition made this the last appearance of the water that "followed" the people before their entrance into Canaan; compare 1 Corinthians 10:4. 2. A place whither Jotham, Gideon's son, fled from Abimelech (Judges 9:21).