Genesis 14:2 states that it was also called Tso'ar (צער), meaning "small", by which name a town is also mentioned in Genesis 13:10, 19:22 and 30, Isaiah 15:5 and Jeremiah 48:34. However, the double-name seems unlikely. Like the town of Ai, which means "ruins", this is probably a case of a town whose name is lost being given a descriptive appellation. Bela (צער) - which should probably be written Bel'a - means "destroyed", and being - according to Genesis 19:28 - one of the Cities of the Plain on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, we can almost certainly identify it amongst those destroyed with Sedom (Sodom) and Amorah (Gomorrah). Only those two are named; however, when Lot fled Sedom (Genesis 19) it was to Tso'ar that he went, and then fled thence, fearing to be in its vicinity. Presumably all that was left afterwards was the "destruction", in Hebrew "Bela".
An unnamed king of Bela was involved in the War of the Kings (Genesis 14:2).
Genesis 36:32 has an Edomite king by the name of Bela whose city was Dinhava; this name may be a variation or misreading of Ba'al (בעל).
Genesis 46:21 names him as one of the sons of Bin-Yamin.
1 Chronicles 5:8 has a Bela who is a son of Azaz in the tribal list of Re'u-Ven (Reuben).
Genesis 36:32 has an Edomite king by the name of Bela whose city was Dinhava; this name may be a variation or misreading of Ba'al (בעל).
Genesis 46:21 names him as one of the sons of Bin-Yamin.
1 Chronicles 5:8 has a Bela who is a son of Azaz in the tribal list of Re'u-Ven (Reuben).
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