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Bible Dictionaries
Bethel
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or House of God, the name of a city west of Hai, on the confines of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, Genesis 12:8 28:10-22 , and occupying the spot where Jacob slept and had his memorable dream, the name he then gave it superseding the old name Luz, Judges 1:23 . Thirty years after, he again pitched his tent there, Genesis 35:1-15 . It was captured by Joshua, and given to Benjamin, Joshua 12:9 18:22 . The Ephraimites, however, expelled the Canaanites, Judges 1:22-26 . Here the ark of the covenant, and probably the tabernacle, long remained, Judges 20:26 1 Samuel 10:3 . Samuel held his court here in turn, 1 Samuel 7:16 . After Solomon, it became a seat of gross idolatry; Jeroboam choosing it as the place for one of his golden calves, from the sacredness previously attached to it, 1 Kings 12:29 . The prophets were charged with messages against Bethel, 1 Kings 13:1,2 Jeremiah 48:13 Amos 3:14 7:10 . The first of these was fulfilled by Josiah, 2 Kings 23:13; and the others in the later desolation of Bethel, where nothing but ruins can now be found. Its site was identified by Dr. Robinson, in the place now called Beitin. It is twelve miles from Jerusalem towards Shechem, on the southern side of a hill, with a narrow and fertile valley on the east, and the long-traveled road on the west. At the bottom of the hill are the remains of a vast stone reservoir, of an ancient Hebrew age.
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Bethel'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/b/bethel.html. 1859.
