Topic
Luz
8 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 28:19Easton · ISBE
And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
- Genesis 35:6Easton · ISBE
¶ So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him.
- Joshua 18:13Easton · ISBE
And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.
- Judges 1:26Easton · ISBE
And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.
- Genesis 48:3ISBE
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
- Joshua 16:2ISBE
And goeth out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,
- Judges 1:23ISBE
And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
- Judges 1:28Smith
And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 4 references
A nut-bearing tree, the almond. (1.) The ancient name of a royal Canaanitish city near the site of Bethel (Gen. 28:19; 35:6), on the border of Benjamin (Josh. 18:13). Here Jacob halted, and had a prophetic vision. (See BETHEL.)
(2.) A place in the land of the Hittites, founded (Judg. 1:26) by “a man who came forth out of the city of Luz.” It is identified with Luweiziyeh, 4 miles north-west of Banias.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 1 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 11 references
(luz):The Hebrew word means "almond tree" or "almond wood" (OHL, under the word). It may also mean "bone," particularly a bone of the spine, and might be applied to a rocky height supposed to resemble a backbone (Lagarde, Uebersicht., 157 f). Winckler explains it by Aramaic laudh, "asylum," which might be suitably applied to a sanctuary (Geschichte Israels). Cheyne (EB, under the word) would derive it by corruption from chalutsah, "strong (city)."
(1) This was the ancient name of Bethel (Ge 28:19; Jud 1:23; compare Ge 35:6; 48:3; Jos 16:2; 18:13). It has been thought that Jos 16:2 contradicts this, and that the two places were distinct. Referring to Ge 28:19, we find that the name Bethel was given to "the place," ha-maqom, i.e. "the sanctuary," probably "the place" (28:11, Hebrew) associated with the sacrifice of Abraham (12:8), which lay to the East of Bethel. The name of the city as distinguished from "the place" was Luz. As the fame of the sanctuary grew, we may suppose, its name overshadowed, and finally superseded, that of the neighboring town. The memory of the ancient nomenclature persisting among the people sufficiently explains the allusions in the passages cited.
(2) A Bethelite, the man who betrayed the city into the hands of the children of Joseph, went into the land of the Hittites, and there founded a city which he called Luz, after the ancient name of his native place (Jud 1:26). No satisfactory identification has been suggested.
W. Ewing
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.