Judges 9:21

“And Jotham ran away, and fled, etc.] Having delivered his fable, and the application of it, he made his escape, having the advantage of being on the top of a mountain, at some distance from the people, and perhaps they might not be inclined to do him any harm: and went to Beer; which some take to be the same with Baalathbeer in the tribe of Simeon, (<061908>Joshua 19:8) Jerom f202 says, the village Bera, whither Jotham fled, is eight miles from Eleutheropolis to the north; but Mr. Maundrell f203, who was in those parts in 1697, gives us a better account of it; and, according to him, it is about two hours and a half’s travel from Bethel to it, and three hours and one third from it to…”

“Joatham . . . went to Beer--the modern village El-Bireh, on the ridge which bounds the northern prospect of Jerusalem.”

“And fled - Which he might easily do, having the advantage of the hill, and because the people were not forward to pursue a man whom they knew to have such just cause to speak, and so little power to do them hurt. To Beer - A place remote from Shechem, and out of Abimelech's reach. Judges 9:22”

“Beer: Probably the Beer mentioned by Mr. Maundrell, three hours and a half, or about ten miles, north of Jerusalem, towards Shechem. It is situated toward the south, on an easy declivity; and has a fountain of excellent water at the bottom of the hill, from which it has taken its name. Close to the well are the mouldering walls of a ruined khan; and on the summit of the hill two large arches still remain of a ruined convent. Dr. Richardson says, that it seems to have been once a place of considerable consequence. Num 21:16; Jos 19:8; Sa2 20:14 Judges 9:23”

“But Jotham fled to Beer, after charging the Shechemites with their iniquity, and dwelt there before his brother Abimelech ("before," i.e., "for fear of." - Jerome). Beer in all probability is not the same place as Beeroth in the tribe of Benjamin ( Jos 9:17), but, according to the Onom. (s. v. Βηρά), a place eight Roman miles to the north of Eleutheropolis, situated in the plain; at present a desolate village called el Breh, near the mouth of Wady es Surr, not far from the former Beth-shemesh (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 132). Judges 9:22”