They came unto a certain water. — Men have naturally endeavoured to identify the locality. In the time of Jerome, probably in that of Eusebius (de loc.), it was fixed at Bethsura, the Bethzur of 2 Chronicles 11:7), about twenty miles from Jerusalem, and two from Hebron. A fountain, now known as Ain-Edh-Dhirweh rises near the town, which retains the old name in the slightly altered form of Beit-Sur. On the other hand, Robinson is inclined to find the spring in the Wady-el-Hasey, between Eleutheropolis and Gaza, not far from the old sites of Lachish and Eglon. This agrees better with the mention of Gaza and with the epithet “desert” as attached to the “way.”

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