Beth-el in the Bible

Meaning: the house of God

Exact Match

And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto Jehovah, and called upon the name of Jehovah.

Verse ConceptsAi, The CityCalling upon GodNomadsShrinesTentsAbraham, The Friend Of GodAbraham, Calling And LifePrayer, Described AsAltars To The LordBuilding AltarsEast And West

And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai,

Verse ConceptsNomadsParticular Journeys

And he called the name of that place Beth-el. But the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Verse ConceptsHouse Of GodPeople Naming Things

I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.

Verse ConceptsOilMonumentsI Am GodAnointing Things

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Verse ConceptsFugitivesAppearances Of God In OtCommemorationSpeech, DivineWorship, Places OfBuilding AltarsGod AppearingBethel The House Of GodLiving In The Land

and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; 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.

Verse ConceptsDistressGod AnsweredGod Has Been With YouGod With Specific People

So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Beth-el), he and all the people that were with him.

And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Verse ConceptsFugitivesBuilding AltarsGod AppearingAltars

And Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.

Verse ConceptsBurials, Places OfNursesTreesOaksMourning Death

And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsBethel The House Of GodPeople Naming Things

And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.

Verse ConceptsWeights And Measures, DistancesHard Tasks

And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.

Verse ConceptsAi, The CityLand, As A Divine GiftSpiesSpyingGradual Conquest Of The Land

And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the ambushment, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

Verse ConceptsWaitingWest Sides

And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Verse ConceptsFive ThousandWest Sides

And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Verse ConceptsEmpty CitiesUnguarded

The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Beth-el, one;

The king of Mekkedah, one; The king of Beth-El, one;

And the lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Beth-el;

and it went out from Beth-el to Luz, and passed along unto the border of the Archites to Ataroth;

And the border passed along from thence to Luz, to the side of Luz (the same is Beth-el), southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on the south of Beth-horon the nether.

and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,

And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el; and Jehovah was with them.

Verse ConceptsGod With Specific People

And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Beth-el. (Now the name of the city beforetime was Luz.)

Verse Conceptstraitors

And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Verse ConceptsPalm TreesCourts

And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah'shall go up first.

Verse Conceptsenquiring of GodFirst To FightFighting EnemiesPeople Of Judah

Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.

Verse ConceptsFasting, Nature OfAsceticism, TypesPrayer, Practicalities OfSacrifice, In OtUnhappinessWeepingArk Of The Covenant, EventsAction Until EveningFasting

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

Verse ConceptsThirtyBringing People Out Of Other PlacesKilling Within Israel

And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.

Verse ConceptsShrinesSittingVoicesWeepingAction Until Evening

And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

Verse ConceptsRoadsShrinesEvery YearFestivals Observed

And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.

Verse ConceptsCirclesEvery Year

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

Verse ConceptsThree MenThree AnimalsGoing Up MountainsQuantities Of WineOaksThree Other Things

Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel, whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mount of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

Verse ConceptsConscriptionA Thousand PeopleTwo ThousandThree Thousand And UpEarthly Armies

To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir,

And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.

And this became a sin in Israel; for the people went to give worship to the one at Beth-el, and to the other at Dan.

And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made.

Verse ConceptsNew Year, TheMonth 8the anniversary Feasts

And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up unto the altar, to burn incense.

Verse ConceptsNew Year, TheMonth 8Building AltarsIncense Offered Amiss

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

Verse ConceptsIncense Offered Amiss

And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.

Verse ConceptsdisabilitiesLimbs WitheredDiseased Hands

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsDifferent Things

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them also they told unto their father.

Verse ConceptsAnonymityTelling What People DidUnnamed Prophets Of The Lord

For the saying which he cried by the word of Jehovah against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

Verse ConceptsShrinesMan's Words Fulfilled

And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for Jehovah hath sent me as far as Beth-el. And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsGood FriendsBest friendIntimacyFriendship, Examples OfCompanionshipMotionlessnessStaying Put

And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that Jehovah will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

Verse ConceptsAskingSchool Of ProphetsSilenceSchoolsSons Of The ProphetsTodayPeople With General KnowledgeTaking Other Peopleassertiveness

And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.

Verse ConceptsBaldnessdisabilitiesImmaturityRoadsTownMockingWicked Children, Examples OfInfidelity To GodDisrespect For Old AgeAge DiscriminationKidsFunhumorharassment

Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit , the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

Verse ConceptsGolden Calves

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsAstrologyBurning Idolatrous ThingsAshes Of HumiliationServing Asherah

Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he brake down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

Verse ConceptsGrindingAltars, Pagan

Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsBurial Of Unnamed People

And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Jehovah to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsSamaritansreuniting

And their possessions and habitations were Beth-el and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Azzah and the towns thereof;

And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephron with the towns thereof.

The men of Beth-el and Ai, two hundred twenty and three.

Verse ConceptsAi, The CityTwo Hundred And Some

The men of Beth-el and Ai, a hundred twenty and three.

Verse ConceptsA Hundred And Some

The children of Benjamin also dwelt from Geba onward , at Michmash and Aija, and at Beth-el and the towns thereof,

And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.

Verse ConceptsShame Of Idolatry

So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness: at daybreak shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off.

Verse ConceptsDaybreakKilling KingsAt Daybreak

yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,

Verse ConceptsFinding GodBe Merciful!God SpeakingWrestlingStrugglesmanhood

For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

Verse ConceptsHornsSin, God's Judgment OnHorns BrokenThings Falling

Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days;

Verse ConceptsJustification, Necessity OfSacrifice, In OtShrinesFractions, One TenthTithesOnce A DayTwice A WeekContinuing In SinBringing In The Tithe

but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

Verse ConceptsUseless ThingsSeeking For Concrete ThingsExile In Prospectbeer

Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

Verse ConceptsSeeking LifeNot Extinguishing

Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

Verse ConceptsFalse Accusations, Examples OfConspiraciesPersecution, Forms OfAccusations, False ExamplesUnbearable ThingsConspiracy

but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house.

Verse ConceptsProphecy Muzzled

Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah,

Verse ConceptsSeeking The Favour Of God

Thematic Bible



Then the king ordered the high priest Hilkiah, the priests who served under Hilkiah, and the doorkeepers to remove from Jehovah's Temple all utensils that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the entire army of heaven. Josiah burned the utensils outside Jerusalem. It was in an open field near the Kidron Brook. Then he carried their ashes to Bethel.

A man of God from Judah went to Bethel. He arrived there while Jeroboam was at the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. He actually spoke against the altar: O altar, altar, this is what Jehovah says: 'A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you. He will burn human bones on you.' The prophet went on to say: This altar will fall apart. The ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that Jehovah has spoken through me. read more.
King Jeroboam heard this. He pointed his outstretched hand at him and ordered: Seize that man! At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he could not pull it back. The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground. This is what the prophet predicted in the name of Jehovah. King Jeroboam said to the prophet: Please pray to Jehovah your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm! The prophet prayed to Jehovah and the king's arm was healed.

The words that he spoke at Jehovah's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true.

He also tore down the altar at Bethel the place of worship made by Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin. He tore down both the altar and the place of worship. They burned the worship site. They crushed it into powder and burned the pole dedicated to Asherah. Josiah turned and saw the tombs on the hill. He sent men to take the bones out of the tombs and burn them on the altar to make it unclean. This fulfilled the word of Jehovah announced by the man of God. What is that headstone I see over there? Josiah asked. The men of the town said: It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah. The one who foretold all these things you have done to the altar of Bethel. read more.
He said: Let him be. Do not move his bones. So they let his bones be with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Josiah removed all the houses of the high places the kings of Israel built in the towns of Samaria. This provoked Jehovah to anger and he did with them as he had done in Bethel. He killed all the priests of the high places on the altars. Their bones were burned on the altars. Then the king went back to Jerusalem.

The day that I punish Israel because of her sins I will also punish those at the altars of Bethel! The horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.


I am the God of Bethel. That is where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Arise and leave this land. Return to the land of your birth.'

Jacob left Beer-sheba and traveled toward Haran. As soon as the sun went down he stopped for the night. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down there. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and coming down on it. read more.
Jehovah was standing above the stairway. He proclaimed: I am Jehovah, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. Every family on earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. Remember, I am with you. I will watch over you wherever you go. I will also bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I do what I have promised you. Jacob woke up from his sleep and said: Truly, Jehovah is in this place, and I did not know it! He was filled with reverence. He said: This is an awesome place! Certainly, this is the house of God and the gateway to the heavens! Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had under his head. He set it up as a marker and poured oil on top of it. He named that place Bethel (House of God). Previously, the name of the city was Luz. Jacob made a vow. He said: If God will be with me and will watch over me on my trip and give me food to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return safely to my father's home, then Jehovah will be my God. This stone I placed as a marker will be the house of God. I will certainly give you a tenth of everything you give me.

He struggled with the angel and won. Jacob cried and pleaded with him. Jacob found him at Bethel, and he talked with him there.


There was no man left in Ai or Bethel. They all went after Israel: and they left the city open.

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


King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel. He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me. read more.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites.

But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do. The gold calves were still worshiped in Bethel and in Dan.


The border went from there to Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lies on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

The house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. The spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him: Show us the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy. When he showed them the entrance into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But spared the man and all his family. read more.
The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city. He called it Luz, which is its name this day.


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

The men of Beth-el and Ai, a hundred and twenty-three.


Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh. The same as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, their trusted god.

Come to Bethel and transgress! Come to Gilgal and multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes every three days.


The Israelites went to the house of God at Bethel, and there they asked God: Which of us should attack the Benjaminites first? Jehovah answered: The tribe of Judah.

The Benjaminites came out to fight and were drawn away from the city. Just as before they killed some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites.

The people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. They lifted their voices and wept bitterly.


From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent. Bethel was on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.

He traveled from place to place from the Negev until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier. This was where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of Jehovah.


Then the king of Assyria gave orders, saying: Send one of the priests you took from there. Let him live there and teach the people the way of the god of the land. So one of the priests they had taken away as a prisoner from Samaria came back. He lived in Bethel and taught them how to worship Jehovah.


The border went from there to Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lies on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,


Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel. On the way some boys came out of a town and taunted and made fun of him. They shouted: Get out of here, baldy! Elisha turned around and glared at them. He cursed them in the name of Jehovah. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.


God said to Jacob: Go to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. Jacob said to his family and those who were with him: Get rid of the foreign gods that you have. Wash yourselves until you are ritually clean. Change your clothes. After that let us go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I have gone. read more.
So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem. Jacob and his family traveled through Canaan. God terrified the people in the towns so much that no one dared bother them. Finally, they reached Bethel, also known as Luz. Jacob built an altar there and called it God of Bethel. That was the place where God appeared to him when he was running from Esau. Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree). God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram. He blessed him. God said to him: Your name is Jacob. You shall no longer be called Jacob. Israel shall be your name. Thus He called him Israel. God also said: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and an assembly of nations will come from you. Kings shall come forth from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. I will give the land to your descendants after you. Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it. Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel (House of God).


The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel: and Jehovah was with them. The house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. The spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him: Show us the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy. read more.
When he showed them the entrance into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But spared the man and all his family. The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city. He called it Luz, which is its name this day.


He sent the offering to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir,


Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places.

She held court under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The children of Israel came to her for judgment.


Saul chose three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. One thousand were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home.


A group of prophets who lived at Bethel asked Elisha: Do you know that Jehovah is going to take your master away from you today? Yes, I know, Elisha answered. But let us not talk about it.


Deborah died. She was the servant who cared for Rebekah from childhood. She was buried near Bethel, under the holy tree. They named it Allon-bacuth (weeping tree).


Do not seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal. Do not pass to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity (exile), and Bethel will come to nothing.


Saul chose three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. One thousand were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home.


Saul chose three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. One thousand were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home.


The house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel.


A group of prophets who lived at Bethel asked Elisha: Do you know that Jehovah is going to take your master away from you today? Yes, I know, Elisha answered. But let us not talk about it.