בֶּ֫טַח (be.tach)
be.tach
Betah
N:N--LQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- N:N--L
Word Overview
The word betah is a proper noun referring to a specific city, identified as the capital of Zobah during the reign of King Hadadezer. In this context, it functions not as an abstract concept but as a concrete geographical location within the ancient Near East.
Although the name translates to "security" or "confidence," its biblical usage is strictly topographical. It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Samuel 8:8, where it denotes the place from which King David took bronze and other spoils after defeating Hadadezer. The text uses the name simply to locate the event, without elaborating on the city’s meaning or political status beyond its role as a royal center.
Translators typically retain "Betah" as a proper name rather than rendering it as "security," preserving its identity as a historical place. This single occurrence anchors the word in the narrative of David’s military campaigns, marking it as a real city in the region of Zobah rather than a metaphorical term for safety or trust.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
Betah is a proper noun referring to a specific city, identified as the capital of Zobah during the reign of King Hadadezer. In this context, it functions not as an abstract concept but as a concrete geographical location within the ancient Near East.
Although the name translates to "security" or "confidence," its biblical usage is strictly topographical. It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Samuel 8:8, where it denotes the place from which King David took bronze and other spoils after defeating Hadadezer. The text uses the name simply to locate the event, without elaborating on the city’s meaning or political status beyond its role as a royal center.
Translators typically retain "Betah" as a proper name rather than rendering it as "security," preserving its identity as a historical place. This single occurrence anchors the word in the narrative of David’s military campaigns, marking it as a real city in the region of Zobah rather than a metaphorical term for safety or trust.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- and/ from/ Betah1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- וּ/מִ/בֶּ֥טַח1×
Key Verses
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II Samuel 8:8
From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.
This verse identifies Betah as the source of bronze spoils taken by David, grounding the word in a specific historical event rather than abstract theology.