Bethel
벧엘
The place Jacob calls Bethel after his dream; Genesis 28 records the city’s former name as Luz. Joshua 7:2 has Joshua send men “to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel”; at 8:9 and 8:12 men lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai, and 8:17 says, “There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel.” Judges 1:22–25 says that the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them; that the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel (“The name of the city before that was Luz”); that the watchers saw a man come out of the city and said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you”; and that when he showed them the entrance into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but let the man and all his family go. Judges 20:18 says that the children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”; 20:26–28 says that all the children of Israel and all the people came to Bethel, wept, sat there before the LORD, fasted, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and asked the LORD; the text adds, “for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days”; 21:2–4 says that the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God and wept severely, and on the next day built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; and at 21:19 the elders of the congregation speak of Shiloh, “which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah”. 1 Kings 12:29 says of the two calves of gold, “He set the one in Bethel”; 12:32–33 that Jeroboam sacrificed in Bethel to the calves that he had made, placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made, and went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel to burn incense; 13:1 that a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense; 13:4 that the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel; and 13:11 that “an old prophet lived in Bethel”. 2 Kings 2:2–3 says that Elijah and Elisha went down to Bethel, and that the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?”; and 2:23–24 that as Elisha went up to Bethel, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, saying, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!”, that he cursed them in the LORD’s name, and that two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of those youths. 2 Kings 23:15–18 says, “Moreover the altar that was at Bethel 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 broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah”, that Josiah took the bones out of the tombs that were there in the mountain and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, and that when the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel”, they let his bones alone; and 23:19 that Josiah took away the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, and did to them “according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.”
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- 1CH 7:28–29, engwebp
28Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer with its towns; Shechem also and its towns, to Azzah and its towns;
29and by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth Shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, and Dor and its towns. The children of Joseph the son of Israel lived in these.
- 1KI 12:26–30, engwebp
26Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to David’s house.
27If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the LORD’s house at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
29He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30This thing became a sin, for the people went even as far as Dan to worship before the one there.
- 1KI 12:31–33, engwebp
31He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
32Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
33He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel 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 to the altar to burn incense.
- 1KI 13:1–5, engwebp
1Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2He cried against the altar by the LORD’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! The LORD says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’”
3He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”
4When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.
5The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the LORD’s word.
- 1KI 13:6–10, engwebp
6The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” The man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before.
7The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;
9for so was it commanded me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, drink no water, and don’t return by the way that you came.’”
10So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he came to Bethel.
- 1KI 13:11–19, engwebp
11Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
12Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.
13He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it.
14He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”
15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16He said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
17For it was said to me by the LORD’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and don’t turn again to go by the way that you came.’”
18He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.
19So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
- 1KI 13:26–32, engwebp
26When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the LORD’s word. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to him.”
27He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it.
28He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.
29The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn, and to bury him.
30He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
31After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
32For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”
- 1SA 7:15–17, engwebp
15Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
16He went from year to year in a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.
17His return was to Ramah, for his house was there, and he judged Israel there; and he built an altar to the LORD there.
- 1SA 10:1–8, engwebp
1Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, then kissed him and said, “Hasn’t the LORD anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?
2When you have departed from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb, on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?”’
3“Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men will meet you there going up to God to Bethel: one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a container of wine.
4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hand.
5“After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.
6Then the LORD’s Spirit will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man.
7Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you.
8“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”
- 2CH 13:19–20, engwebp
19Abijah pursued Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.
20Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah. The LORD struck him, and he died.
- 2KI 2:1–3, engwebp
1When the LORD was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
- 2KI 2:23–25, engwebp
23He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!”
24He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the LORD’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of those youths.
25He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
- 2KI 10:28–31, engwebp
28Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29However, Jehu didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin—the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
30The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to Ahab’s house according to all that was in my heart, your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”
31But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.
- 2KI 17:24–28, engwebp
24The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.
25So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.”
27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”
28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
- 2KI 23:4–7, engwebp
4The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky; and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5He got rid of the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.
6He brought out the Asherah from the LORD’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.
7He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the LORD’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
- 2KI 23:15–18, engwebp
15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel 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 broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
16As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the LORD’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
17Then he said, “What monument is that which I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”
18He said, “Let him be! Let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.
- 2KI 23:19–20, engwebp
19All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
- AMO 3:9–15, engwebp
9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.”
10“Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says the LORD, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
11Therefore the Lord GOD says: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.”
12The LORD says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”
13“Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord GOD, the God of Armies.
14“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says the LORD.
- AMO 4:4–13, engwebp
4“Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
5offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim free will offerings and brag about them; for this pleases you, you children of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.
6“I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says the LORD.
7“I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One field was rained on, and the field where it didn’t rain withered.
8So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says the LORD.
9“I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards, and the swarming locusts have devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says the LORD.
10“I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven’t returned to me,” says the LORD.
11“I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says the LORD.
12“Therefore I will do this to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel.
13For, behold, he who forms the mountains, creates the wind, declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth: The LORD, the God of Armies, is his name.”
- AMO 5:1–17, engwebp
1Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:
2“The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up.”
3For the Lord GOD says: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
4For the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live;
5but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
6Seek the LORD, and you will live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
7You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name,
9who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.
10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
12For I know how many are your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.
13Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
14Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.
15Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
16Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide ways. They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
17In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of you,” says the LORD.
- AMO 7:10–17, engwebp
10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
11For Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’”
12Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there,
13but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!”
14Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs;
15and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
16Now therefore listen to the LORD’s word: ‘You say, Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.’
17Therefore the LORD says: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’”
- EZR 2:21–35, engwebp
21The children of Bethlehem, one hundred twenty-three.
22The men of Netophah, fifty-six.
23The men of Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight.
24The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.
25The children of Kiriath Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-three.
26The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.
27The men of Michmas, one hundred twenty-two.
28The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty-three.
29The children of Nebo, fifty-two.
30The children of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six.
31The children of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
32The children of Harim, three hundred twenty.
33The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-five.
34The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.
35The children of Senaah, three thousand six hundred thirty.
- GEN 12:8–9, engwebp
8He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the LORD’s name.
9Abram traveled, still going on toward the South.
- GEN 13:1–9, engwebp
1Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South.
2Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the LORD’s name.
5Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, herds, and tents.
6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together.
7There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time.
8Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives.
9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
- GEN 28:10–19, engwebp
10Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13Behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring.
14Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”
16Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I didn’t know it.”
17He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.
19He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
- GEN 35:1–15, engwebp
1God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.”
4They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
5They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.
6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
7He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
8Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
9God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.
10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel.
11God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.
12The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”
13God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.
14Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
15Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him “Bethel”.
- GEN 48:1–12, engwebp
1After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.
3Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’
5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
6Your offspring, whom you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”
8Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”
9Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
12Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
- HOS 10:9–15, engwebp
9“Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.
10When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them when they are bound to their two transgressions.
11Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods.
12Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.
13You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.
14Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
15So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.
- HOS 12:1–6, engwebp
1Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2The LORD also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him.
3In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he contended with God.
4Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us—
5even the LORD, the God of Armies. The LORD is his name of renown!
6Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.
- JDG 1:22–25, engwebp
22The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)
24The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”
25He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
- JDG 4:4–5, engwebp
4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time.
5She lived under Deborah’s palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
- JDG 20:18, engwebp
18The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first.”
- JDG 20:26–28, engwebp
26Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27The children of Israel asked the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” The LORD said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.”
- JDG 20:29–35, engwebp
29Israel set ambushes all around Gibeah.
30The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.
31The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32The children of Benjamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let’s flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
33All the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar. Then the ambushers of Israel broke out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba.
34Ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came over against Gibeah, and the battle was severe; but they didn’t know that disaster was close to them.
35The LORD struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men. All these drew the sword.
- JDG 21:1–4, engwebp
1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
2The people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.
3They said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”
4On the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
- JDG 21:16–22, engwebp
16Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”
17They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
18However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
19They said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.”
20They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’”
- JER 48:11–17, engwebp
11“Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.
12Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their containers in pieces.
13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war’?
15Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
16“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.
17All you who are around him, bemoan him; and all you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’
- JOS 7:2–5, engwebp
2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai.
3They returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Don’t let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them.”
4So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.
5The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.
- JOS 8:3–9, engwebp
3So Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.
4He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.
6They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,
7and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”
9Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.
- JOS 8:10–17, engwebp
10Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.
12He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.
14When the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
17There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.
- JOS 12:7–24, engwebp
7These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir. Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;
8in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
11the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
13the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
15the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one;
19the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
20the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
23the king of Dor in the height of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
24the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty-one.
- JOS 16:1–3, engwebp
1The 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 Bethel.
2It went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth;
3and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Beth Horon the lower, and on to Gezer; and ended at the sea.
- JOS 18:12–13, engwebp
12Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan. The border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward. It ended at the wilderness of Beth Aven.
13The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower.
- JOS 18:21–24, engwebp
21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,
22Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages.
- NEH 7:25–38, engwebp
25The children of Gibeon: ninety-five.
26The men of Bethlehem and Netophah: one hundred eighty-eight.
27The men of Anathoth: one hundred twenty-eight.
28The men of Beth Azmaveth: forty-two.
29The men of Kiriath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth: seven hundred forty-three.
30The men of Ramah and Geba: six hundred twenty-one.
31The men of Michmas: one hundred twenty-two.
32The men of Bethel and Ai: one hundred twenty-three.
33The men of the other Nebo: fifty-two.
34The children of the other Elam: one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
35The children of Harim: three hundred twenty.
36The children of Jericho: three hundred forty-five.
37The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: seven hundred twenty-one.
38The children of Senaah: three thousand nine hundred thirty.
- NEH 11:31–36, engwebp
31The children of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Bethel and its towns,
32at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen.
36Of the Levites, certain divisions in Judah settled in Benjamin’s territory.
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
Unresolved interpretation: The ark of the covenant of God that was “there” when Israel came to Bethel and asked (Judges 20:26–28), and Shiloh (Joshua 18:1, Judges 21:19)
- Judges 20:26–28 says that all the children of Israel and all the people came to Bethel, wept, sat there before the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD, and that they asked the LORD; the text adds, “for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days”.
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- JDG 20:26–28, engwebp
26Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27The children of Israel asked the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” The LORD said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.”
- JDG 20:26–28, engwebp
- Joshua 18:1 says, “The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- JOS 18:1–2, engwebp
1The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them.
2Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel, which had not yet divided their inheritance.
- JOS 18:1–2, engwebp
- Judges 21:19 has the elders of the congregation say, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- JDG 21:16–22, engwebp
16Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”
17They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
18However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
19They said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.”
20They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’”
- JDG 21:16–22, engwebp
- 1 Samuel 4:3–4 has the elders of Israel say, “Let’s get the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies”; so the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 1SA 4:3–4, engwebp
3When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.”
4So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
- 1SA 4:3–4, engwebp
Judges 20:26–28 says that the ark of the covenant of God was there when the children of Israel came to Bethel and asked the LORD; Joshua 18:1 says that the whole congregation of the children of Israel set up the Tent of Meeting at Shiloh; Judges 21:19 gives the elders’ word that there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh; and 1 Samuel 4:3–4 says that the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies. This collection records each passage as it reads, and does not decide where the ark and the Tent of Meeting were at what time, or how these passages relate.
Geographic sources & candidates
Matched to OpenBible.info’s “Bethel 1” by name and 63 shared verses. The coordinate of its leading identification, Beitin (confidence 716 of 1000), is adopted as a sourced approximation: not verified here, and not the place of any particular event.
AI-assisted source review; human approval pending, 2026-09-29
- Beitin
OpenBible.info confidence 716 of 1000 (current scholarship)
31.92278, 35.24139
OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, “Bethel 1” (CC BY 4.0)
Original editorial notes; linked source texts retain their own rights. Candidate lists are not exhaustive.
All 20 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
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Jacob (son of Isaac) — Named — Bethel
Evidence: Genesis 28:10–19
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Occurred at (1) — Jacob’s dream at Bethel
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
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Narrated location (18) — An altar built between Bethel and Ai, Strife among the herdsmen, and the offer to part, Going up to Bethel, building the altar, and the name Israel given again, Jacob recalls Luz, and takes Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, The house of Joseph strikes Bethel and lets go the man who showed the entrance, At Bethel the children of Israel ask God who shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin, All the children of Israel weep and fast at Bethel and ask the LORD again, The oath that none will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife, and the weeping at Bethel, The two calves of gold set in Bethel and in Dan, The priests of the high places who were not of the sons of Levi, and the feast of the eighth month, A man of God who came out of Judah to Bethel cries against the altar, and the altar is split apart, The king’s hand is restored, and the man of God will not go in with the king but goes another way, An old prophet who lives in Bethel lies to the man of God and brings him back to his house, Elijah and Elisha go from Gilgal down to Bethel, Youths mock Elisha as he goes up to Bethel, and two female bears come out of the woods, The king of Assyria places people in the cities of Samaria, and one of the priests carried away from Samaria comes and lives in Bethel, The king breaks down the altar and the high place at Bethel, and burns on the altar the bones taken out of the tombs, Abijah takes cities and Jeroboam dies
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the LORD’s name.
He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.”
So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him “Bethel”.
They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai.
Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.
He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.
the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
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 Bethel.
It went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth;
The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower.
Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)
She lived under Deborah’s palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
The children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first.”
Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
The people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.
They said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.”
He went from year to year in a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.
“Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men will meet you there going up to God to Bethel: one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a container of wine.
He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel 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 to the altar to burn incense.
Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.
So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he came to Bethel.
Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”
Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!”
However, Jehu didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin—the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky; and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel 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 broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
Then he said, “What monument is that which I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”
All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer with its towns; Shechem also and its towns, to Azzah and its towns;
Abijah pursued Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.
The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty-three.
The men of Bethel and Ai: one hundred twenty-three.
The children of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Bethel and its towns,
Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.
Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us—
“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.
“Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
Seek the LORD, and you will live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!”
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[Bibliadatum entry report] Entry: Bethel (place-bethel) Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/place/bethel Current wording: The place Jacob calls Bethel after his dream; Genesis 28 records the city’s former name as Luz. Joshua 7:2 has Joshua send men “to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel”; at 8:9 and 8:12 men lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai, and 8:17 says, “There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel.” Judges 1:22–25 says that the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them; that the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel (“The name of the city before that was Luz”); that the watchers saw a man come out of the city and said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you”; and that when he showed them the entrance into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but let the man and all his family go. Judges 20:18 says that the children of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”; 20:26–28 says that all the children of Israel and all the people came to Bethel, wept, sat there before the LORD, fasted, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and asked the LORD; the text adds, “for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days”; 21:2–4 says that the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God and wept severely, and on the next day built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; and at 21:19 the elders of the congregation speak of Shiloh, “which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah”. 1 Kings 12:29 says of the two calves of gold, “He set the one in Bethel”; 12:32–33 that Jeroboam sacrificed in Bethel to the calves that he had made, placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made, and went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel to burn incense; 13:1 that a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense; 13:4 that the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel; and 13:11 that “an old prophet lived in Bethel”. 2 Kings 2:2–3 says that Elijah and Elisha went down to Bethel, and that the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?”; and 2:23–24 that as Elisha went up to Bethel, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, saying, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!”, that he cursed them in the LORD’s name, and that two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of those youths. 2 Kings 23:15–18 says, “Moreover the altar that was at Bethel 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 broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah”, that Josiah took the bones out of the tombs that were there in the mountain and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, and that when the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel”, they let his bones alone; and 23:19 that Josiah took away the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, and did to them “according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.” Cited evidence: 1CH 7:28–29, engwebp / 1KI 12:26–30, engwebp / 1KI 12:31–33, engwebp / 1KI 13:1–5, engwebp / 1KI 13:6–10, engwebp / 1KI 13:11–19, engwebp / 1KI 13:26–32, engwebp / 1SA 7:15–17, engwebp (and 38 more of 46) Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending What looks wrong: (not written yet) --- This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.