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Subjects in this Topic:
beth´el (בּית־×ל, beÌ„th-'eÌ„l; ΒαιθηÌλ, BaitheÌ„Ìl and οῖκος θεοῦ, oıÌkos theouÌ, literally, “house of Godâ€):
(1) A town near the place where Abraham halted and offered sacrifice on his way south from Shechem.
1. Identification and Description
It lay West of Ai (). It is named as on the northern border of Benjamin (the southern of Ephraim, ), at the top of the ascent from the Jordan valley by way of Ai (). It lay South of Shiloh (). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 12 Roman miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. It is represented by the modern Beitı̄n, 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 (, etc.). When Jacob came hither on his way to Paddan-aram we are told that he lighted upon “the place†(. Hebrew). The Hebrew maÌ„kÌ£oÌ„m, like the cognate Arabic makÌ£aÌ„m, denotes a sacred place or sanctuary. The maÌ„kÌ£oÌ„m 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 (; see PILLAR - macceÌ„bhaÌ„h), poured oil upon it and called the name of the place Bethel, “house of Godâ€; 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†( 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 ().
3. History
Bethel was a royal city of the Canaanites (). It appears to have been captured by Joshua (), and it was allotted to Benjamin (). In it is represented as held by Canaanites, from whom the house of Joseph took it by treachery (compare ). Hither the ark was brought from Gilgal (, Septuagint). Israel came to Bethel to consult the Divine oracle (), and it became an important center of worship (). The home of the prophetess Deborah was not far off (). Samuel visited Bethel on circuit, judging Israel ().
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 (; ). He placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made (). To Bethel came the man of God from Judah who pronounced doom against Jeroboam (1 Ki 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 (; ; m; ; ; ; , , 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 ). The priest, sent by the Assyrians to teach the people whom they had settled in the land how to serve Yahweh, dwelt in 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 (, ). The men of Bethel were among those who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (; ), and it is mentioned as reoccupied by the Benjamites (). Zechariah () 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). 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 Judah which in is called Bethel; in Bethul; and in Bethuel. The site has not been identified. In Septuagint gives Baithel in Judah, where the Hebrew has Keṣı̄ľ - probably a scribal error.