Important city in Israel, associated with Abraham and Jacob.
Bethel
Named in 69 verses across 14 books, first in Genesis 12:8.
בֵּֽיתְ־אֵלBethel
בֵּית הָאֱלִיBethel
אָ֫וֶןAven
בֹּכִיםBochim
לוּזLuz
אֵל בֵּית־אֵלEl-bethel
Also called Aven, Bochim, Luz, El-bethel.
About Bethel Written by AI
Bethel, meaning "house of God" in Hebrew, was an important city in ancient Israel, located about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. It is mentioned numerous times throughout the Old Testament and is closely associated with the patriarchs Abraham and Israel (or 'Jacob'). The city was originally called Luz (Genesis 28:19; 35:6; 48:3; Judges 1:23) and was renamed Bethel by Jacob after his vision of a ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis 28:10-22). In this vision, God confirmed the covenant He had made with Abraham and promised to be with Jacob wherever he went. Jacob set up a stone pillar at the site, anointed it with oil, and made a vow to God. Abraham had previously built an altar between Bethel and Ai (Genesis 12:8; 13:3), and Jacob later returned to Bethel, where he built an altar and received a renewed promise from God (Genesis 35:1-15). The place was also called El-bethel, meaning "God of Bethel" (Genesis 35:7). During the period of the judges, Deborah held court under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel (Judges 4:5), and the Israelites went up to Bethel to seek guidance from God (Judges 20:18, 26; 21:2). The Ark of the Covenant was temporarily located at Bethel (Judges 20:27). After the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam I set up a golden calf at Bethel to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem to worship (1Ki.12.28-33). This act led to Bethel becoming a major center of idolatry, and the prophets Amos and Hosea condemned the worship there (Amo.3.14; 4:4; 5:5-6; 7:10, 13; Hosea 10:5, 8, 15). The city was called Aven, meaning "wickedness," by Hosea (Hosea 10:8) and Beth-aven, meaning "house of wickedness," in other passages (Joshua 7:2; 18:12; 1Sa.13.5; 14:23), likely referring to its association with idolatry. Bethel was destroyed by King Josiah during his religious reforms (2Ki.23.4, 15-19) but was later resettled after the Babylonian exile (Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32; 11:31). The city was also known as Bochim, meaning "weepers," in Judges 2:1, 5, where an angel of the Lord rebuked the Israelites for their disobedience. Bethel played a significant role in Israel's history, serving as a place of worship, a center of idolatry, and a symbol of God's presence and promises to His people.
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
This entry is on the name Bethel, and may cover more than one person or place by that name.
House of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The name Bethel was at first apparently given to the sanctuary in the neighbourhood of Luz, and was not given to the city itself till after its conquest by the tribe of Ephraim. When Abram entered Canaan he formed his second encampment between Bethel and Hai (Gen. 12:8); and on his return from Egypt he came back to it, and again “called upon the name of the Lord” (13:4). Here Jacob, on his way from Beersheba to Haran, had a vision of the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached unto heaven (28:10, 19); and on his return he again visited this place, “where God talked with him” (35:1-15), and there he “built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el” (q.v.). To this second occasion of God’s speaking with Jacob at Bethel, Hosea (12:4,5) makes reference.
In troublous times the people went to Bethel to ask counsel of God (Judg. 20:18, 31; 21:2). Here the ark of the covenant was kept for a long time under the care of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (20:26-28). Here also Samuel held in rotation his court of justice (1 Sam. 7:16). It was included in Israel after the kingdom was divided, and it became one of the seats of the worship of the golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-33; 13:1). Hence the prophet Hosea (Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5, 8) calls it in contempt Beth-aven, i.e., “house of idols.” Bethel remained an abode of priests even after the kingdom of Israel was desolated by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:28, 29). At length all traces of the idolatries were extirpated by Josiah, king of Judah (2 Kings 23:15-18); and the place was still in existence after the Captivity (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32). It has been identified with the ruins of Beitin, a small village amid extensive ruins some 9 miles south of Shiloh.
Read the rest of the entry
(2.) Mount Bethel was a hilly district near Bethel (Josh. 16:1; 1 Sam. 13:2).
(3.) A town in the south of Judah (Josh. 8:17; 12:16).
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
31.931, 35.221 See it on a map
Where the Bible names it
- Genesis 12:8
From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
- Genesis 13:3
From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,
- Genesis 28:19
and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
- Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
- Genesis 35:1
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
- Genesis 35:3
Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”
- Genesis 35:6
So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 35:7
There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
- Genesis 35:8
Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.
- Genesis 35:15
Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
- Genesis 35:16
Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
- Genesis 48:3
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
- Joshua 7:2
Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
- Joshua 8:9
So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
- Joshua 8:12
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
- Joshua 8:17
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.
- Joshua 12:9
the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;
- Joshua 12:16
the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
- Joshua 16:1
The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness that goes up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.
- Joshua 16:2
It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.
- Joshua 18:13
From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
- Joshua 18:22
Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
- Judges 1:22
The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
- Judges 1:23
They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),
- Judges 2:1
Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
- Judges 2:5
So they called that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.
- Judges 4:5
And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.
- Judges 20:18
The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.
- Judges 20:26
Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
- Judges 20:31
The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.
- Judges 21:2
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.
- Judges 21:19
“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
- 1 Samuel 7:16
Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
- 1 Samuel 10:3
Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
- 1 Samuel 13:2
He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- 1 Kings 12:29
One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
- 1 Kings 12:32
And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.
- 1 Kings 12:33
On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. So he ordained a feast for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.
- 1 Kings 13:1
Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 13:4
Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.