Bethel
From Bible Encyclopedia
beth´el (בּית־אל, bēth-'ēl; Βαιθήλ, Baithḗl and οῖκος θεοῦ, oíkos theoú, literally, “house of God”):
(1) A town near the place where Abraham halted and offered sacrifice on his way south from Shechem. The place is 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, Genesis 28:19); 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 (Genesis 12:4, Genesis 12:5) makes reference.
In troublous times the people went to Bethel to ask counsel of God (Judges 20:18, Judges 20:31; Judges 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; 1 Kings 13:1). Hence the prophet Hosea (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5, Hosea 10:8) 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, 2 Kings 17:29). 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.
1. Identification and Description
It lay West of Ai (Genesis 12:8). It is named as on the northern border of Benjamin (the southern of Ephraim, Joshua 16:2), at the top of the ascent from the Jordan valley by way of Ai (Joshua 18:13). It lay South of Shiloh (Judges 21:19). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 12 Roman miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. It is represented by the modern Beitīn, a village of some 400 inhabitants, which stands on a knoll East of the road to Nāblus. There are four springs which yield supplies of good water. In ancient times these were supplemented by a reservoir hewn in the rock South of the town. The surrounding country is bleak and barren, the hills being marked by a succession of stony terraces, which may have suggested the form of the ladder in Jacob's famous dream.
2. The Sanctuary
The town was originally called Luz (Genesis 28:19, etc.). When Jacob came hither on his way to Paddan-Aram we are told that he lighted upon “the place” (Genesis 28:11. Hebrew). The Hebrew māḳōm, like the cognate Arabic maḳām, denotes a sacred place or sanctuary. The māḳōm was doubtless that at which Abraham had sacrificed, East of the town. In the morning Jacob set up “for a pillar” the stone which had served as his pillow (Genesis 28:18; see Pillar - maccēbhāh), 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. This spot became a center of great interest, lending growing importance to the town. In process of time the name Luz disappeared, giving place to that of the adjoining sanctuary, town and sanctuary being identified. Jacob revisited the place on his return from Paddan-Aram; here Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under “the oak” (Genesis 35:6 f). Probably on rising ground East of Bethel Abraham and Lot stood to view the uninviting highlands and the rich lands of the Jordan valley (Genesis 13:9).
3. History
Bethel was a royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 12:16). It appears to have been captured by Joshua (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). Hither the ark was brought from Gilgal (Judges 2:1, Septuagint). Israel came to Bethel to consult the Divine oracle (Judges 20:18), and it became an important center of worship (1 Samuel 10:3). The home of the prophetess Deborah was not far off (Judges 4:5). Samuel visited Bethel on circuit, judging Israel (1 Samuel 7:16).
With the disruption of the kingdom came Bethel's greatest period of splendor and significance. To counteract the influence of Jerusalem as the national religious center Jeroboam embarked on the policy which won for him the unenviable reputation of having “made Israel to sin.” Here he erected a temple, set up an image, the golden calf, and established an imposing ritual. It became the royal sanctuary and the religious center of his kingdom (1 Kings 12:29; Amos 7:13). He placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made (1 Kings 12:32). 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. Against the place they launched the most scathing denunciations, declaring the vengeance such things must entail (Amos 3:14; Amos 4:4; Amos 5:11 m; Amos 9:1; Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5, Hosea 10:8, 23). With the latter the name Bethel gives place in mockery to Beth-Aven. Bethel shared in the downfall of Samaria wrought by the Assyrians; and according to an old tradition, Shalmaneser possessed himself of the golden calf (compare Jeremiah 48:13). The priest, sent by the Assyrians to teach the people whom they had settled in the land how to serve Yahweh, dwelt in Bethel (2 Kings 17:28). 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, 2 Kings 23:25). The men of Bethel were among those who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32), and it is mentioned as reoccupied by the Benjamites (Nehemiah 11:31). 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 Maccabees 9:50; Ant, XIII, i, 3). It is named again as a small town which, along with Ephraim, was taken by Vespasian as he approached Jerusalem (BJ, IV, ix, 9).
(2) A city in south of Judah (Joshua 8:17; Joshua 12:16) which in 1 Samuel 30:27 is called Bethel; in Joshua 19:4 Bethul; and in 1 Chronicles 4:30 Bethuel. The site has not been identified. In Joshua 15:30 Septuagint gives Baithel in Judah, where the Hebrew has Keṣīľ - probably a scribal error.
(3) Mount Bethel was a hilly district near Bethel (Joshua 16:1; 1 Samuel 13:2).
