Places of the Bible

Bethel

Central hill country (border of Ephraim and Benjamin) · Old Testament · 61 verses

Bethel, meaning house of God, was a town in the central hill country north of Jerusalem. It was earlier called Luz. The name appears in Genesis, Joshua, Judges and 10 more in the King James text.

About Bethel

Bethel, meaning house of God, was a town in the central hill country north of Jerusalem. It was earlier called Luz.

Its place in the story

Abram built an altar near Bethel, and there Jacob dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven and named the place Bethel. Much later Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves there, and the prophets condemned its false worship.

Bethel in Scripture (KJV)

“And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.”
Genesis 12:8 (KJV)
“And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;”
Genesis 13:3 (KJV)
“And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.”
Genesis 28:19 (KJV)
“I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.”
Genesis 31:13 (KJV)
“And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.”
Genesis 35:1 (KJV)
“And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”
Genesis 35:3 (KJV)
“So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.”
Genesis 35:6 (KJV)
“But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.”
Genesis 35:8 (KJV)

Bethel is named 61 times in Scripture; 8 shown above.

Where it leads

Jacob's vision at Bethel of a stairway joining heaven and earth is taken up in the New Testament as an image of Christ, who joins God and humanity.

Who is Jesus? · Places of the Bible

People also ask

Where is Bethel in the Bible?

Bethel, meaning house of God, was a town in the central hill country north of Jerusalem. It was earlier called Luz. The name appears in Genesis, Joshua, Judges and 10 more in the King James text.

What happened at Bethel?

Abram built an altar near Bethel, and there Jacob dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven and named the place Bethel. Much later Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves there, and the prophets condemned its false worship.

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Scripture verbatim KJV. Place facts curated; any coordinates via Wikidata (CC0).

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