Place
Bethel (of Palestine)
Also known as Aven, Beth-aven, Bochim, El-bethel, Luz, Bethel
Named in 62 verses across 14 books, first in Joshua 7:2.
In these stories
In the Bible
All 9 verses in Joshua, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
Joshua
- 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 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,
Events here
Events the dataset sets at Bethel (of Palestine). Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.
- c. 1921 BCAbraham enters Canaan
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
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.