The Brook Besor
נַחַל הַבְּשׂוֹר
Where is the Brook Besor? Nahal Besor, from the Negev to the coast south of Gaza. I mark it probable.
Two hundred of David's men collapsed from exhaustion at this wadi, while four hundred crossed and rescued their families.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Nahal Besor, from the Negev to the coast south of Gaza
- How sure
- Probable The best case we have, with real alternatives.
- Other names
- Besor Brook, Wadi Besor, Nahal HaBesor, Wadi Ghazzeh, Wadi Gaza
- Location
- 31.0138° N, 34.6972° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
Here the ancient name did not survive. The Arabs called it Wadi Ghazzeh, and Israeli naming committees renamed it Besor because of this story.
The choice is reasonable. The Amalekites had burned Ziklag, and David chased them south into the Negev. The Besor is the major wadi barrier in that region. The Gerar and Beersheba streams both feed it, so any route south from Ziklag had to cross it.
Because the name is lost, and Ziklag's own location is debated, some allow that the biblical Besor could be one of its tributaries.
Afterward David ruled that the men who stayed behind would share the spoil equally, and that ruling became law in Israel.
Visiting today
Eshkol National Park, at Ein HaBesor, has springs and lawns on the Israeli side. The lower course is in Gaza and closed to visitors.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Besor on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Gaza 6 km
- Beer Lahai Roi 7 km
- Gerar 14 km
- Beersheba (Be'er Sheva) 19 km
- Ziklag 20 km
- Sheba (Tel Be’er Sheva) 23 km