Beth-Le-Aphrah

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Beth-Le-Aphrah

Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.

A town mentioned only once in the Bible, in an oracle of Micah (Mic 1:10). There is almost certainly wordplay present in Micah’s oracle, since he calls the inhabitants to “roll in the dust,” and “Beth-Le-Aphrah” generally means “house of dust.”

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Dictionaries

The Lexham Bible Dictionary

Beth-Le-Aphrah

Beth-le-Aphrah (בֵּית לְעַפְרָה‎, beith le'aphrah). A town mentioned only once in the Bible, in an oracle of Micah (Mic 1:10). There is almost certainly wordplay present in Micah’s oracle, since he calls the inhabitants to “roll in the dust,” and “Beth-Le-Aphrah” generally means “house of dust.”

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary

Beth-Le-Aphrah (Place)

BETH-LE-APHRAH (PLACE) [Heb bêt lĕʿaprâ (בֵּית לְעַפְרָה)]. A town, otherwise unknown, mentioned only in Mic 1:10 within a paronomastic dirge lamenting the fall of the Shephelah cities, which formed the military bulwark for Jerusalem. Through a pun on the following Hebrew word, ʿapar, ‘dust,’ the

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible

Beth-le-aphrah

Beth-le-aphrah. Town mentioned by the prophet Micah. Beth-le-aphrah (kjv house of Aphrah) means “house of dust,” so Micah made a sarcastic pun by telling its idolatrous inhabitants to “roll yourselves in the dust” (Mi 1:10). Its location is unknown.

Aphrah

Aphrah. kjv for Beth-le-aphrah, possibly the name of a Philistine city, in Micah 1:10.See Beth-le-aphrah.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised

Beth-Le-Aphrah

Beth-Le-Aphrah beth-lə-afʹrə [Heb. bêṯ l^e‘ap̱râ—‘house of dust’; Gk. ex oíkou katá gélōta]; AV “house of Aphrah”; NEB BETH-APHRAH. A settlement in the Philistine plain mentioned only in Mic. 1:10. As in the other couplets in this passage (vv 10–16), Micah puns on the name: “In Beth-le-aphrah /

Tyndale Bible Dictionary

Aphrah

APHRAH* kjv for Beth-leaphrah, possibly the name of a Philistine city, in Micah 1:10. See Beth-leaphrah.

Beth-Leaphrah

BETH-LEAPHRAH Town mentioned by the prophet Micah. Since Beth-leaphrah (kjv “house of Aphrah”) means “house of dust,” Micah made a sarcastic pun by telling its idolatrous inhabitants to “roll in the dust” (Mi 1:10, nlt).

The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia

Beth-Le-Aphrah

BETH-LE-APHRAH (“house of dust”). An unknown place name (Mic 1:10, RSV), probably same as Ophrah of Benjamin or of the Philistine plain. There is here a play on words, for Micah declares, “Roll thyself in the dust” as an act of mourning.

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible

Beth-Le-Aphrah

Beth-Le-Aphrah (Heb. bêṯ lĕʿap̱râ)A small town in Judah (“house of vigor” or “house of the fawn”). The prophet Micah made a wordplay in his prophecy of doom against the southern kingdom by mockingly referring to the city as a “house of dust” (Mic. 1:10). Located E of Lachich and S of Jerusalem,

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary

Beth-Le-Aphrah

Beth-Le-Aphrah [bĕth lĭ ăfˊrə]. A city mentioned at Mic. 1:10 (KJV “house of Aphrah”; NIV “Beth Ophrah”) in a play on words: “in Beth-leaphrah [Heb. bêṯ l^e˓ap̱râ “house of dust”] roll yourselves in the dust.” It is not unlikely that the Arabs changed the name of this city (which to them sounded

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

Aphrah

Aph´rah (dust), The house of, a place mentioned in Micah 1:10. Its site is uncertain.

The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary

Beth-Le-Aphrah

BETH-LE-APH´RAH (beth-le-af-ra; “house or place of dust”; so in NASB, Mic. 1:10; “house of Aphrah” in the KJV; Beth Ophrah in the NIV). Site unknown, but apparently in Philistine territory.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Beth-Le-Aphrah

Beth-Le-Aphrah—(R.V. Micah 1:10), house of dust. The Authorized Version reads “in the house of Aphrah.” This is probably the name of a town in the Shephelah, or “low country,” between Joppa and Gaza.

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Beth Aphrah

BETH APHRAH [beth AF ruh] (house of dust) — a Philistine city (Mic. 1:10; Beth-le-aphrah, NASB, NRSV; Aphrah, KJV; Beth Ophrah, NIV). Some scholars, however, believe an allusion to Bethel or Ophrah may be intended.