Easton's Bible Dictionary House of rock, a town in the mountains of Judah (Joshua 15:58), about 4 miles to the north of Hebron. It was built by Rehoboam for the defence of his kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:7). It stood near the modern ed-Dirweh. Its ruins are still seen on a hill which bears the name of Beit-Sur, and which commands the road from Beer-sheba and Hebron to Jerusalem from the south. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia BETH-ZUR beth'-zur (beth-tsur; Baith-sour, "house of rock"; less probably "house of the god Zur"): (1) Mentioned (Joshua 15:58) as near Halhul and Gedor in the hill country of Judah; fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:7). In Nehemiah 3:16 mention is made of "Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur." During the Maccabean wars it (Bethsura) came into great importance (1 Maccabees 4:29, 61; 6:7, 26, 31, 49, 50; 9:52; 10:14; 0.503472222; 14:7, 33). Josephus describes it as the strongest place in all Judea (Ant., XIII, v, 6). It was inhabited in the days of Eusebius and Jerome. (2) It is the ruined site Belt Cur, near the main road from Jerusalem to Hebron, and some 4 miles North of the latter. Its importance lay in its natural strength, on a hilltop dominating the highroad, and also in its guarding the one southerly approach for a hostile army by the Vale of Elah to the Judean plateau. The site today is conspicuous from a distance through the presence of a ruined medieval tower. (See PEF, III, 311, Sh XXI). E. W. G. Masterman

Multi-Version Concordance Bethzur (4 Occurrences) Joshua 15:58 Halhul, Bethzur, and Gedor, (KJV) 1 Chronicles 2:45 And the son of Shammai was Maon: and Maon was the father of Bethzur. (KJV NAS RSV) 2 Chronicles 11:7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam, (KJV) Nehemiah 3:16 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty. (KJV)