BETH-BARAH

(Beth-barʹah) [House of Barah].

When Gideon’s forces were pursuing the fleeing Midianites, Gideon sent word to the men of Ephraim to capture “the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan” (Jg 7:24), evidently to prevent the enemy from crossing the Jordan. Since the battle took place in the Low Plain of Jezreel (Jg 6:33), this would indicate a site W of the Jordan. The identification is unknown, but a location between the Wadi Farʽah and the Jordan is suggested. A similar tactic was employed by Ehud in the fight against the Moabites when they “got to capture the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites.”​—Jg 3:27, 28.