A city of the Amorrhites in the valley-plain east of the Jordan, about twelve miles from Jericho (Numbers 32:36; Joshua 13:27). It was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad and later fortified by Herod Antipas, who named it Livias in honor of the wife of Augustus. As she was later called Julia, Josephus speaks of the city as Julias. Having been burnt at the fall of Jerusalem, it was restored by the Christians and became a bishopric. The site is identified by some with Tell el Rameh, six miles east of the Jordan, by others with Beit Harran.
HEIDET in VIG., Dict. de la Bible; RIESS, Bibel-Allas (2nd ed., 1887); MERRILL, East of the Jordan, 383.
APA citation. (1907). Betharan. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02532b.htm
MLA citation. "Betharan." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02532b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns, Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas. Dedicated to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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