A Canaanite place name, perhaps meaning “the house of Hauron,” the god of the underworld. Beth-horon was two towns located 16.1 and 19.3 kilometers (10 and 12 miles) northwest of Jerusalem. These towns were on the border between the territories of Ephraim and Benjamin (Joshua 16:3, 5). The two settlements were important because they controlled the Aijalon Valley, a key ancient route that connected the Mediterranean coast to the interior hill country. The upper town guarded a strategic mountain pass. The town of Beth-Horon in Ephraim, along with its surrounding fields, was given to the Levite family of Kohath (Joshua 21:22; 1 Chronicles 6:68).
Many armies passed through the Aijalon Valley near Beth-Horon. After Joshua defeated the Amorites at Gibeon, they fled past Beth-Horon on “the day the sun stood still” (Joshua 10:1–14). A group of Philistines also passed through here to fight King Saul (1 Samuel 13:18). The Egyptian army under King Shishak also passed by Beth-Horon, as recorded in his Karnak inscription. Syrian forces led by Seron (1 Maccabees 3:13–24) and Nicanor (7:39–43) were defeated by Judas Maccabeus at Beth-Horon. Later, Roman troops led by Cestius were nearly destroyed by Jewish forces there, according to the Jewish historian Josephus.
Beth-Horon was likely destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. Sheerah, the daughter of Beriah and granddaughter of Ephraim, is credited with building both the lower and upper towns of Beth-Horon (1 Chronicles 7:24). King Solomon later strengthened both towns after nearby raids by an Egyptian pharaoh (1 Kings 9:15–17; 2 Chronicles 8:5). During the period between the two Testaments, the Syrian general Bacchides strengthened the defences of Beth-Horon after battling Jonathan Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 9:50).