Be’er, (Heb. Beer‘,בּאֵר, a well), a local proper name, denoting, whether by itself or in composition, BEER-, the presence of an artificial well of water. SEE WELL. It was thus distinguished from the frequent prefix SEE EN- (q.v.), which: designated a natural spring. There were two places known by this name simply. See the compounds in their alphabetical order.
1. (With the art., הִבּאֵר; Sept. ὁ φρέαρ.) A place in the desert, on the confines of Moab, where the Hebrew princes, by the direction of Moses, dug a well with their staves, being the forty-fourth station of the Hebrews in their wanderings from Egypt to Canaan (Numbers 21:16-18). It seems to have been situated in the south part of the plain Ard Ramadan, not very far north-east of Dibon. SEE EXODE. The “wilderness” (מִדבָּר), which is named as their next starting-point in the last clause of ver. 18, may be that before spoken of in 13, or it may be a copyist’s mistake for מִבּאֵר. So the Sept., who read καὶ ἀπὸ φρέατος — and from the well, i.e. “from Beer.” Probably the same place is called more fully Beer-elim in Isaiah 15:8. (See Ortlob, Defonte baculis fosso, Lpz. 1718.)
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Beer
Bible reference(s): 1 Corinthians 10:4, Isaiah 15:8, John 5:4, Judges 9:21, Numbers 20:1, Numbers 21:16
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
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