Bethel: 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
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 12:8) and on his return from Egypt he came back to it, and
again "called upon the name of the Lord"
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 28:10-19) and on his return he again visited this
place, "where God talked with him"
(Genesis 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
(Judges 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
(Judges 20:26-28) Here also Samuel
held in rotation his court of justice
(1 Samuel 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
(Hosea 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; Nehemiah 7:32) It has been identified with the
ruins of Beitin, a small village amid extensive ruins some 9
miles south of Shiloh.
2. Mount Bethel was a hilly district near Bethel
(Joshua 16:1; 1 Samuel 13:2)
3. A town in the south of Judah
(Joshua 8:17; 12:16)
