BOSOR (Heb. Bēšer). — 1. — A Levitical city, counted among the cities of refuge (Deut. 4:43; Josh. 20:8; 21:30; I Chron. 6:78), commonly identified with Bušel-Harīrī, at the southern foot of the plateau of the Trachonitis, or with Barazēn east of Ḥesbān in southern Ammonitis. It is mentioned on the stele of Meša, l. 27.
The B. taken and destroyed by Judas Maccabaeus (I Macc. 5:26, 28, 36) must likewise be understood as the same place. In the versions and perhaps also in the Hebrew of Jer. 48:24, it is sometimes confused with Moabite Bosra (v. BOSRA, 2). Cf.: A. Musil, Arabia Petraea, I (Vienna 1907), pp. 218, 232.
2. — A descendant of Asher, I Chron. 7:37.
3. — In II Pet. 2:15, the Vulgate has “Bosor,” together with most of the Greek manuscripts, instead of Beor, the father of Balaam. Giovanni Rinaldi