Beth-el in the Bible

Meaning: the house of God

Thematic Bible



Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the entrance-hall, to bring forth, out of the temple of Yahweh, all the vessels that had been made for Baal and for the Sacred Stem, and for all the army of the heavens, - and he burned them up outside Jerusalem, in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel;

And lo! a man of God, came in out of Judah, by the word of Yahweh, unto Bethel, - as Jeroboam was standing by the altar, to make a perfume. And he made proclamation against the altar, by the word of Yahweh, and said, O altar! altar! Thus, saith Yahweh, - Lo! a son to be born unto the house of David, Josiah his name, who shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places, who are making a perfume upon thee, and, human bones, shall be burned upon thee; and he shall give, on that day, a sign, saying, This, is the sign of which Yahweh hath spoken, - Lo! the altar, is to be rent, and the ashes that are upon thee shall be, poured out! read more.
And it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam thrust forth his hand, from off the altar, saying - Lay hold of him! and his hand which he had thrust forth against him was dried up, that he could not draw it back to him. Moreover, the altar, was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, - according to the sign which the man of God had given, by the word of Yahweh. Then responded the king and said unto the man of God - Appease, I pray thee, the face of Yahweh thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored unto me. So the man of God appeased the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king was restored unto him, and became as aforetime.

For the message which he proclaimed, by the ward of Yahweh, against the altar which is in Bethel, - and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

moreover also, the altar that was in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam son of Nebat made, wherewith he caused, Israel, to sin, - even that altar, and the high place, brake he down, - and burned the high place, crushing it to powder, and burned a Sacred Stem. And, when Josiah turned, and saw the graves which were there, in the mount, he sent and took the bones out of the graves, and burned upon the altar, and defiled it, - according to the word of Yahweh, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. Then said he - What is yonder erection, which I do see? And the men of the city said unto him - The grave of the man of God, who came in out of Judah, and proclaimed these things, which thou hast done, concerning the altar of Bethel. read more.
And he said - Let him rest, let, no man, disturb his bones. So they let his bones rest, with the bones of the prophet who came in out of Samaria. Moreover also, all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made, so as to provoke Yahweh to anger, did Josiah remove, - and he did to them according to all the doings which he had done in Bethel; and he sacrificed all the priests of the high places, who were there, by the altars, and burned human bones thereupon, - and returned to Jerusalem.

That, in the day I visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, then will I punish, concerning the altars of Bethel, So shall the horns of the altar, be broken off, and they shall fall to the ground;


I, am the GOD of Beth-el, where thou didst anoint a pillar, where thou didst vow to me a vow, - Now, rise, go forth out of this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

So Jacob went forth from Beer-sheba, and journeyed towards Haran. And he lighted on a place, and tarried the night there, because the sun had gone in, - and he took of the stones of the place, and put for his pillow, and lay down in that place, And he dreamed, and lo! a stairway, planted earthwards, with, its top, reaching towards the heavens, - and lo! messengers of God, ascending and descending thereon; read more.
and lo! Yahweh, standing by him, - and he said, I, am Yahweh, God of Abraham thy father and God of Isaac, - The land whereon, thou, art lying, to thee, will I give it and to thy seed; And thy seed shall become as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break forth westward and eastward, and northward and southward, - And all the families of the ground shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed. Lo! then, I, am with thee, so will I keep thee in every place whithersoever thou mayest go, and will bring thee back unto this soil, - For I will not forsake thee until I have done that of which I have spoken to thee. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said. Surely, Yahweh was in this place, And I, knew it not. And he feared and said, How fearful is this place! None other this, than the house of God! Nor this than the gate of the heavens So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone which he halt lint for his pillow, and put it for a pillar, - and poured out oil upon the top thereof; and called the name of that place - Beth-el, - nevertheless, Luz, was the name of the city, aforetime. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, - If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way whereon, I, am going, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on; and I come back in prosperity unto the house of my father, Then will Yahweh prove to be my God, - And, this stone which I have put for a pillar, shall be the house of God, - And, of all which thou shalt give me, a tenth, will I tithe unto thee.

Yea he strove against a Messenger, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him, - At Bethel, he found him, and, there, he spake with us;


And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, - and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel.

The king of Makkedah, one, the king of Bethel, one,


Then Jeroboam built Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein, - and went forth from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, - Now, shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh, in Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people return unto their lord, unto Rehoboam, king of Judah, - and they will slay me, and return unto Rehoboam, king of Judah. read more.
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, - and said unto them - It is, too much for you, to go up to Jerusalem, Lo! thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; And he set the one in Bethel, - and, the other, put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin, - and the people went before the one, as far as Dan. And he made a house of high-places, - and made priests from the whole compass of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam made a festival in the eight month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival which was held in Judah, and offered up on the altar, likewise, did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made, - and he kept in attendance in Bethel, the priests of the high-places which he had made. And he offered up on the altar which he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month which he had devised out of his own heart, - thus made he a festival for the sons of Israel, and offered up on the altar, to make a perfume.

Nevertheless, as for the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused, Israel, to commit, Jehu turned not away from following them, - the calves of gold, one being in Bethel, and the other in Dan.


and the boundary passeth over from thence towards Luz, to the side of Luz, southwards, the same, is Bethel, - and the boundary goeth down to Ataroth-addah, by the mountain that is on the south of Beth-horon the nether;

And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel, - now, the name of the city, formerly, was, Luz. So the watchers saw a man, coming forth from the city, - and they said unto him - Shew us, we pray thee, the way to get into the city, and we will deal with thee, in lovingkindness. And he shewed them the way to get into the city, and they smote the city, with the edge of the sword, - but, the man and all his family, they let go. read more.
And the man went into the land of the Hittites, - and built a city, and called the name thereof, Luz, that, is the name thereof, unto this day.


The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three;

The men of Bethel and Ai, a hundred and twenty-three;


Then shall Moab, be ashamed, of, Chemosh, - Just as, the sons of Israel, were ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

Enter ye Bethel, and transgress, At Gilgal, cause transgression, to abound, - Yea, carry in, every morning, your sacrifices, every three days, your tithes;


And they arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked of God, and the sons of Israel said, Who shall go up for us first, to fight against the sons of Benjamin? And Yahweh said - Judah, first.

And the sons of Benjamin came forth against the people, they were drawn away from the city, - and began to smite of the people, slaying as time after time, in the highways, whereof, one, goeth up to Bethel, and, the other, to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men in Israel.

So then the people came to Bethel, and abode there, until the evening, before God, - and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly,


And he moved on from thence towards the hill country, on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, - with Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east, and bulk there an altar to Yahweh, and called on the name of Yahweh.

And he went his way, by his removals, from the South even as far as to Bethel, - as far as the place where his tent was at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai: unto the place of the altar, which he made there at first, - and Abram called there, on the name of Yahweh.


So the king of Assyria commanded, saying - Carry thither, one of the priests, whom ye brought away captive from thence, that they may go, and dwell there, - and teach them the custom of the God of the land. Then came one of the priests whom they had carried away captive from Samaria, and dwelt in Bethel, - and he began teaching them how they should do reverence unto Yahweh.


and the boundary passeth over from thence towards Luz, to the side of Luz, southwards, the same, is Bethel, - and the boundary goeth down to Ataroth-addah, by the mountain that is on the south of Beth-horon the nether;

and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim, and Bethel,


And he went up from thence, to Bethel, - and, as he was going up on the way, some lads, came forth, out of the city, and made mockery of him, and said to him, Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head! And, when he turned round and saw them, he cursed them, in the name of Yahweh, - and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare, of them, forty-two youths.


Then said God unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, - and make there an altar, to the GOD who appeared unto thee, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. And Jacob said unto his house, and unto all who were with him, - Put away the gods of the alien which are in your midst, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el, - that I may make there an altar to the GOD who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way that I went. read more.
So they gave unto Jacob all the gods of the alien which were in their hand, and the earrings which were in their ears, - and Jacob hid them under the oak, which was by Shechem. And they brake up, - and it came to pass that the terror of God, was on the cities which were round about them, so that they pursued not after the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came in towards Luz, which was in the land of Canaan, the same, is Beth-el, - he and all the people who were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-el, - because, there, God revealed himself unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother, And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and was buried below Beth-el, under the oak, - so the name thereof was called, Allon-bacuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came in from Padan-aram, - and blessed him. And God said to him, Thy name, is Jacob, - Thy name shall no longer he called Jacob But, Israel, shall be thy name. So he called his name, Israel. And God said to him - I, am GOD Almighty! Be fruitful and multiply, A nation, and a multitude of nations shall spring from thee, - And, kings, from thy loins, shall come forth; And, the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, To thee, will I give it, - And to thy seed after thee, will I give the land. And God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, - and he poured out thereon a drink-offering, and poured thereon oil. And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Beth-el.


Then went up the house of Joseph - they also, - unto Bethel, - and, Yahweh, was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel, - now, the name of the city, formerly, was, Luz. So the watchers saw a man, coming forth from the city, - and they said unto him - Shew us, we pray thee, the way to get into the city, and we will deal with thee, in lovingkindness. read more.
And he shewed them the way to get into the city, and they smote the city, with the edge of the sword, - but, the man and all his family, they let go. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, - and built a city, and called the name thereof, Luz, that, is the name thereof, unto this day.


to them who were in Bethel, and to them who were in Ramoth of the South, and to them who were in Jattir,


And he used to take his journey, from year to year, and go round to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah, - and used to judge Israel, at all these places.

she used to sit, therefore, under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim, - and the sons of Israel came up to her, for justice.


Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel, of whom there were with Saul, two thousand in Michmash and in the hill-country of Bethel, and, a thousand, were with Jonathan, in Gibeah of Benjamin, - but, the rest of the people, he let go, every man to his own home.


And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came forth unto Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that, to-day, Yahweh is taking away thy lord, from thy head? And he said - I also, know, be silent.


And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and was buried below Beth-el, under the oak, - so the name thereof was called, Allon-bacuth.


Then do not seek Bethel, and, Gilgal, shall ye not enter, and, unto Beer-sheba, shall ye not cross over, For, Gilgal, shall, surely go into exile, and, Bethel, shall become a trouble.


Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel, of whom there were with Saul, two thousand in Michmash and in the hill-country of Bethel, and, a thousand, were with Jonathan, in Gibeah of Benjamin, - but, the rest of the people, he let go, every man to his own home.


Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel, of whom there were with Saul, two thousand in Michmash and in the hill-country of Bethel, and, a thousand, were with Jonathan, in Gibeah of Benjamin, - but, the rest of the people, he let go, every man to his own home.


And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel, - now, the name of the city, formerly, was, Luz.


And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came forth unto Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that, to-day, Yahweh is taking away thy lord, from thy head? And he said - I also, know, be silent.