Bible Encyclopedias
Bela

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Bel and the Dragon

Next Entry
Belais

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

Additional Links

Concordances
Nave Topical Bible
• Bela
Dictionaries
American Tract Society
• Bela
Easton's Bible Dictionary
• Bela
Fausset Bible Dictionary
• Bela
Holman Bible Dictionary
• Bela
Hastings' BibleDictionary
• Bela
Morrish Bible Dictionary
• Bela
Smith Bible Dictionary
• Bela
Encyclopedias
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Bela
• Bela Bates Edwards
• Bela III
•   (only first 3 shown)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• Bela
• Bela; Belah
Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia
• Bela
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Bela
• Edwards Bela Bates, D.D.
• Hiubbard, Bela, D.D.
•   (only first 3 shown)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
• Bela I.
• Bela IV.
The Jewish Encyclopedia
• Bela
Lexicons
• בֶּלַע , בֶּלַע

1. An early king of Edom, having his royal seat at Dinhabah; son of Beor (Genesis 36:32,33; 1 Chronicles 1:43,44). The name "Dinhabah" occurs in Palmyrene, Syria, and in Babylonia (Dillmann, "Genesis," ad loc.); and, since it has not been encountered in Edom, the conclusion has been drawn by critics that Bela was a foreigner who conquered Edom while retaining his own capital as the seat of government. Targum Yerushalmi calls him "Balaam ben Beor"; while the Septuagint reads "Balak." But while the close resemblance of "Bela" to "Balaam" is rather curious, there is no real reason for regarding the two personages as identical.
2. A son of Benjamin (Genesis 46:21, A. V., where the name is spelled "Belah"; Numbers 26:38; 1 Chronicles 7:6). The names of his children vary in the different accounts.
3. A Reubenite, son of Azaz, living in Aroer and as far as "the entering in of the wilderness from the Euphrates" (1 Chronicles 5:8).
4. One of the five cities attacked by the invading army under Amraphel, Hammurabi (Genesis 14:2). In the two passages where "Bela" occurs a gloss adds "it is Zoar" (Genesis 14:2,8), which establishes its identity with that city. Its location was probably at the southern end of the Dead Sea. In Gen. R. 42:5 the name "Bela" is fancifully associated with the Hebrew stem "bala" (to swallow up), and explained as due to the circumstance that "her citizens were swallowed up," with reference, no doubt, to the convulsion which befell Sodom.