Beth-shan or Beth-shean means in the bible: The house of safety. The Jordan River is located at the border of the Jezreel Plain, three miles away from Damascus. It’s on the route from Egypt to Damascus and Jerusalem via Shechem Josh. 17:11, 16; Judg. 1:27; 1 Sam. 31:10, 12; 2 Sam. 21:12; 1 Kgs. 4:12; 1 Chr. 7:29. Beth-shan was the place where the bodies of Saul, his three sons and their corpses were attached to 1 Sam’s city wall. 31:10-13. Afterward, it was known as Scythopolis. It was also one of the Decapolis cities in Jesus’ time. Beth-shan is an archaeological treasure trove that contains ruins from early Palestinian history, both Canaanite and Egyptian.
(in Bible Dictionary)
