Beesh-terah

Beesh-terah (UPDV: Be-eshterah) is one of the Levitical cities, given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh to the Gershonite Levites. It appears once under that name and once under the variant spelling Ashtaroth, both times paired with Golan in Bashan in the same allotment.

The Levitical City in Joshua's Allotment

Joshua's distribution of Levitical cities lists the towns assigned to each priestly and Levitical clan from each tribe. From the half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan, the Gershonites receive two cities: "And to the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh [they gave] Golan in Bashan with its suburbs--the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be-eshterah with its suburbs; two cities" (Jos 21:27). Beesh-terah stands alongside Golan, which doubles as a city of refuge for the eastern tribes.

The Variant Naming as Ashtaroth

The parallel list in Chronicles records the same allotment but uses a different name for the second city: "To the sons of Gershom [were given], out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, and Ashtaroth with its suburbs;" (1Ch 6:71). The pairing — Golan plus this second Manassite city — is identical, marking Beesh-terah and Ashtaroth as two designations for the same Gershonite town.