Bethel

Bible Quick Pulse, Devotional Notes

Bethel, translated into English as Beth El, Beth-El, or Beit El. Beth means “house” or “temple”; El means “God.” Therefore, the meaning is “House of God” (general term) or “House of Yahweh” (in specific contexts).Bethel was a city in ancient Israel, located approximately 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem. The modern-day Palestinian village of Beitin is generally considered to be the location of Bethel in the West Bank. However, the site of the biblical Bethel (Joshua 8:17) was replaced ten years after the Six-Day War by a nearby new Israeli settlement also named Beit El.

In Joshua 12:7-24, within the record of the 31 cities allotted to Judah, the name Bethel is mentioned twice. This gives the impression that there may have been another Bethel located in the southern part of Judah (1 Samuel 30:27). Some scholars believe this southern Bethel is actually Bethuel (1 Chronicles 4:30), which was part of the territory given to the tribe of Simeon within the inheritance of Judah, and suggest it may be the same place as Bethul (Joshua 19:4).

Bethel is mentioned many times in the Book of Genesis. The first mention is in Genesis 12:8, where Abram built an altar to the east of this place. However, the most famous example is likely in Genesis 28, when Jacob was traveling to Haran to escape his brother Esau’s threat to kill him. Reaching a certain place as the sun set, he stayed there for the night. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and fell asleep. In a dream, he saw a ladder resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, who said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.” Jacob rose early the next morning, took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel (which means “House of God”).

Another mention of Bethel in the Bible is in Genesis 35. This chapter recounts the covenant between God and Jacob and the origin of the naming of Bethel once again. It states that Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-Bethel, which means “God of Bethel.” The original name of the city was Luz, given by the Canaanites (Genesis 28:19).