Beth-zur

Beth-zuhr´; Heb., “house of the rock”

A town (modern Khirbet et-Tubeiqah) on the Jerusalem road four miles north of Hebron. A Judean town (Josh 15:58) of Calebite descent (1Chr 2:45), it was fortified by Rehoboam as one of fifteen outposts south and west of Jerusalem (2Chr 11:5-10). (Neh 3:16) suggests it was a district center in the fifth century. It changed hands often in the Maccabean struggles (1Macc 4-11).