BERÅ’A . 1 . A town in the district of Macedonia called Emathia. The earliest certain reference to it occurs in an inscription of the end of the 4th cent. b.c. After the battle of Pydna (b.c. 168) it was the first city which surrendered to the Romans. In winter b.c. 49 48 it was the headquarters of Pompey’s infantry. In St. Paul’s time there was a Jewish community there to which he preached the gospel with success ( Acts 17:10; Acts 17:13 [Sopater, a native] Acts 20:4 ). It was a populous city, and is in modern times called Verria by Greeks, Karaferia by Turks, and Ber by Slavs.
2 . The place where Antiochus Eupator caused Menelaus, the ex-high priest, to be put to death ( 2Ma 13:4 ). It is now the well-known Haleb or Aleppo , with about 100,000 inhabitants.
3 . Mentioned 1Ma 9:4 , perhaps the same as Beeroth ( Joshua 9:17 ) or Beroth ( 1Es 5:19 ); modern Bireh , about 10 miles N. of Jerusalem.
A. Souter.