How did Bethel get its name?
Bethel. Ten years after the 1967 Six-Day War, the biblical name was applied to the Israeli settlement of Beit El, constructed adjacent to Beitin. In several countries—particularly in the US—the name has been given to various locations (see Bethel (disambiguation) ).
What does the Bible say about Bethel?
Genesis 35:6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. Genesis 35:8Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth. Genesis 35:15Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel."
What is Bethel Church known for?
About Bethel Bethel is a congregation rooted in the love of God and dedicated to worldwide transformation through revival. It's our goal for God's love to be manifest in signs, wonders and miracles. The atmosphere at Bethel is charged with faith and exuberant joy, which manifests in all we do.
Did Bethel exist before Abram?
If we are to accept the precise definition of ( Genesis 12:8 ) the name of Bethel would appear to have existed at this spot even before the arrival of Abram in Canaan. ( Genesis 12:8 ; Genesis 13:3 Genesis 13:4 ) Bethel was the scene of Jacobs vision.
What does "bethel" mean?
Who identifies Bethel with El-Bireh?
What is the name of the village in the West Bank?
What happened to Elisha when he returned alone to Bethel?
What is the name of the place Jacob changed to?
Where is Deborah in Judges 4?
Who said "But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-s
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About this website
Is Bethel in the land of Canaan?
Definition: From Genesis 28:19 – “House of God” II. There are three (3) distinct places called “Bethel” in Scripture: 1) Bethel, a land area outside of Canaan in Abraham's day (Genesis 12:8, 13:3). 2) Bethel, previously a city named Luz until Jacob renamed it, in Canaan.
Is Bethel and Bethany the same place?
I've seen Bethlehem as a city where Jesus was born. And right now I'm gonna share the two cities we go after. Still in The West Bank territory, Bethel (Beit El ; Beth El) and Bethany (Beth Anya).Nov 10, 2016
Does the city of Bethel still exist?
Bethel, ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was important in Old Testament times and was frequently associated with Abraham and Jacob.
Where is modern day Bethlehem?
Bethlehem is situated on the Judean Mountains. The city is located 73 kilometers (45 mi) northeast of Gaza City and the Mediterranean Sea, 75 kilometers (47 mi) west of Amman, Jordan, 59 kilometers (37 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel and 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem.
Bethel Definition and Meaning - Bible Dictionary
Bethel. house of God. 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.
Bethel | ancient city, Palestine | Britannica
Bethel, ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was important in Old Testament times and was frequently associated with Abraham and Jacob. Excavations, carried out by the American School of Oriental Research and the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, suggest that Bethel may have been the actual scene of the events ...
Bethel, Bethlehem, and Bethesda | 2 or 3 gathered in His name
About Jared Kern. This is not an official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but, the Latter-day Church of Christ, whose members are also known colloquially as Mormons, is the only true church of Jesus Christ.
What was the name of the city that was the center of the prophetic ministry of Amos?
After the division of Israel, Jeroboam I (10th century bc) made Bethel the chief sanctuary of the northern kingdom (Israel), and the city was later the centre for the prophetic ministry of Amos.
Is Bethel a holy city?
Bethel was also a holy city, whose cult was centred on El, the Canaanite god par excellence. Its name does not lend itself to confusion, for it proclaims that the city is the bet, “house,” or temple,…. …. “The Ruin”) just east of Bethel (modern Baytīn in the West Bank).
Where is Bethel in the Bible?
Bethel [S] house of God. 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 ...
Who took Bethel?
Bethel was a royal city of the Canaanites ( Joshua 12:16 ). It appears to have been captured by Joshua (8:7), and it was allotted to Benjamin ( Joshua 18:22 ). In Judges 1:22 it is represented as held by Canaanites , from whom the house of Joseph took it by treachery (compare 1 Chronicles 7:28 ).
What did Jacob set up for a pillar?
In the morning Jacob set up "for a pillar" the stone which had served as his pillow ( Genesis 28:18; see PILLAR, matstsebhah), poured oil upon it and called the name of the place Bethel, "house of God"; that is, of God whose epiphany was for him associated with the pillar.
Who was slain by a lion in Bethel?
To Bethel came the man of God from Judah who pronounced doom against Jeroboam ( 1 Kings 13 ), and who , having been seduced from duty by an aged prophet in Bethel, was slain by a lion. According to the prophets Amos and Hosea the splendid idolatries of Bethel were accompanied by terrible moral and religious degradation.
What is the meaning of Zechariah 7:2?
Zechariah ( Zechariah 7:2) records the sending of certain men from Jerusalem in the 4th year of King Darius to inquire regarding particular religious practices. Bethel was one of the towns fortified by Bacchides in the time of the Maccabees (1 Macc 9:50; Ant, XIII, i, 3).
Who was slain in Bethel?
To Bethel came the man of God from Judah who pronounced doom against Jeroboam (1 Kings 13), and who, having been seduced from duty by an aged prophet in Bethel, was slain by a lion.
Who destroyed the sanctuary at Bethel?
King Josiah completed the demolition of the sanctuary at Bethel, destroying all the instruments of idolatry, and harr ying the tombs of the idolaters. The monument of the man of God from Judah he allowed to stand (2 Kings 23:4, 25).
What does Judges 20:31 mean?
Judges 20:31The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
What does Joshua 8:17 mean?
Joshua 8:17There was not a man left in Ai or Beth El who didn't go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel. Joshua 12:9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
Where did the lot come out for the children of Joseph?
Joshua 16:1The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. Joshua 16:2It went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth;
Where did Saul choose the three thousand men?
1 Samuel 13:2Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 1 Kings 12:29He set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
Who said Judah shall go up first?
Yahweh said, "Judah shall go up first.". Judges 20:26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
What is Bethel Church?
Bethel is a congregation rooted in the love of God and dedicated to worldwide transformation through revival. It's our goal for God's love to be manifest in signs, wonders and miracles. The atmosphere at Bethel is charged with faith and exuberant joy, which manifests in all we do. We believe we're on the edge of the greatest revival of all time.
Who is the Son of God?
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is God’s Anointed One, empowered by the Holy Spirit to inaugurate God’s kingdom on earth.
Where is Bethel in the Bible?
Another Bethel, a city of foremost importance in the Bible, was located about 11 miles north of Jerusalem near Ai. A major trading center, Bethel stood at a crossroads, with its north-south road passing through the central hill country from Hebron in the south to Shechem in the north, and its main east-west route leading from Jericho to the Mediterranean Sea. Only Jerusalem is mentioned more frequently than Bethel in the Old Testament.
Why was Bethel named Bethel?
Originally named Luz ( Genesis 28:19; Judges 1:23 ), the city was renamed Bethel by Jacob after the patriarch experienced a remarkable dream there. While traveling from Beersheba to Haran to escape his brother Esau, Jacob stopped for the night in Luz.
What did Jacob say when he woke up?
When Jacob awoke, he declared, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” ( Genesis 28:17 ). Then Jacob set up a sacred pillar, named the place Bethel (verses 18–19), and consecrated the site as a place to worship God (verse 21).
What did Jacob call the place of Bethel?
Many years later, Jacob returned to Bethel, built an altar to God there, and called the place El-Bethel, which means “God of Bethel.”. Bethel remained one of the main worship centers of Israel.
Where is Deborah buried in the Bible?
The Bible says Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was buried under an oak tree near Bethel ( Genesis 35:8 ), and the better-known Deborah, judge of Israel, held court at a site between Ramah and Bethel ( Judges 4:5 ). During the time of the divided kingdoms, King Jeroboam of Israel established two temples for the northern kingdom, ...
Who destroyed Bethel in the 7th century?
In the seventh century BC, the high places of Bethel were destroyed by King Josiah of Judah as part of his religious reforms ( 2 Kings 23:4, 13–19 ). Eventually, by the time of Ezra, the city of Bethel had been burned down and reduced to a small village ( Ezra 2:28 ). Bethel is not referred to in the New Testament. Return to:
Is Bethel mentioned in the Old Testament?
Only Jerusalem is mentioned more frequently than Bethel in the Old Testament. The Hebrew name Bethel means “house of God” and refers to both the city and the site of a major sanctuary that was established there for the northern kingdom of Israel. Bethel sat at the boundary between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin and eventually delineated ...
What does "bethel" mean?
For other uses, see Bethel (disambiguation). Bethel ( Ugaritic: bt il, meaning "House of El " or "House of God", Hebrew: בֵּית אֵל ḇêṯ’êl, also transliterated Beth El, Beth-El, Beit El; Greek: Βαιθηλ; Latin: Bethel) is the name of a place (a toponym) often used in the Hebrew Bible. It is first mentioned in Genesis 12:8 as being ...
Who identifies Bethel with El-Bireh?
David Palmer Livingston contradicts this view, based on the lack of positive identification by means of inscriptions and relying on the distance from Jerusalem according to Eusebius and Jerome. He identifies Bethel with El-Bireh, suggesting that Beitin might be biblical Ophrah.
What is the name of the village in the West Bank?
Most academics identify Bethel with the Arab West Bank village Beitin, a minority opinion preferring El-Bireh. Ten years after the 1967 Six-Day War, the biblical name was applied to the Israeli settlement of Beit El, constructed adjacent to Beitin.
What happened to Elisha when he returned alone to Bethel?
Later, when Elisha returned alone to Bethel, he was taunted by some young men (not 'young boys' as it is translated in some English Bibles) as he climbed up to the shrine, and cursed them; whereupon 42 of the young men were mauled by bears ( 2 Kings 2:23 ff).
What is the name of the place Jacob changed to?
Another account, from Genesis 35 repeats the covenant with God and the naming of the place (as El-Bethel), and makes this the site of Jacob's own change of name to Israel. Both versions state that the original name of the place was Luz, a Canaanite name.
Where is Deborah in Judges 4?
Bethel is said in Judges 4:5 to be in Mt. Ephraim .
Who said "But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-s
Books of Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah. The shrine is mentioned with disapproval by the prophet Amos (c. 750): But seek not Beth–el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer–sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth–el shall come to nought. -King James Bible.
Overview
Bethel (Hebrew: בֵּית אֵל, romanized: Bēṯ ’Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God", also transliterated Beth El, Beth-El, Beit El; Greek: Βαιθήλ; Latin: Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanctuary frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Bethel is first referred to in the bible as being near where Abram pitched his tent. Later, Bethel is mentioned as the location where Jacob dreams of a ladder leadi…
Identification
Edward Robinson identified the Arab village of Beitin in the West Bank with ancient Bethel in Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1838–52. He based this assessment on its fitting the location described in earlier texts, and on the philological similarities between the modern and ancient name, arguing that the replacement of the Hebrew el with the Arabic in was not unusual. Most acade…
In the Hebrew Bible
Bethel is mentioned several times in Genesis. It is first mentioned in Genesis 12 and 13, as a place near where Abram stayed and built an altar on his way to Egypt and on his return. It is said to be close to the Ai and just to the west of it. More famously it is mentioned again in Genesis 28, when Jacob, fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau, falls asleep on a stone and dreams of a ladder str…
Archaeology
See the excavation report by James L. Kelso (dig director 1954, 1957, 1960), William F. Albright (dig director 1934) and others.
See the excavation report by Kelso, Albright and others.
Bethel/Beitin was again inhabited and fortified by Bacchides the Syrian in the time of the Maccabees. Josephus tells us that Bethel was captured by Vespasian. …
See also
• Baetylus, sacred stones generally
• Bayt Allah or Beytullah, another name for the Muslim Kaaba of Mecca
• Bethel (god), name of a god or an aspect of a god from the Assyrian to Hellenistic periods
Bibliography
• Bleeker, C. J.; Widengren, G. (1988), Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-08928-0
• Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite
• Gomes, Jules Francis (2006), The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity, Walter de Gruyter & Co, ISBN 978-3-11-018993-3
External links
• Media related to Bethel (biblical village) at Wikimedia Commons