Where is Bethel?

Approx. 31.9228, 35.2414 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

Identification	Type	Confidence
Beitin	settlement	High
Al Bira	settlement	Low
Burj Beitin	settlement	Low

Bethel in the Bible dictionary

A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The name Bethel was at first apparently given to the sanctuary in the neighbourhood of Luz, and was not given to the city itself till after its conquest by the tribe of Ephraim. When Abram entered Canaan he formed his second encampment between Bethel and Hai (Gen. 12:8); and on his return from Egypt he came back to it, and again “called upon the name of the Lord” (13:4). Here Jacob, on his way from Beersheba to Haran, had a vision of the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached unto heaven (28:10, 19); and on his return he again visited this place, “where God talked with him” (35:1-15), and there he “built an altar, and called the place El-beth-el” (q.v.). To this second occasion of God’s speaking with Jacob at Bethel, Hosea (12:4, 5) makes reference.

In troublous times the people went to Bethel to ask counsel of God (Judg. 20:18, 31; 21:2). Here the ark of the covenant was kept for a long time under the care of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (20:26-28). Here also Samuel held in rotation his court of justice (1 Sam. 7:16). It was included in Israel after the kingdom was divided, and it became one of the seats of the worship of the golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-33; 13:1). Hence the prophet Hosea (Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5, 8) calls it in contempt Beth-aven, i.e., “house of idols.” Bethel remained an abode of priests even after the kingdom of Israel was desolated by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:28, 29). At length all traces of the idolatries were extirpated by Josiah, king of Judah (2 Kings 23:15-18); and the place was still in existence after the Captivity (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32). It has been identified with the ruins of Beitin, a small village amid extensive ruins some 9 miles south of Shiloh.

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Bethel

Genesis 12:8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis 13:3
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 Hai;
Genesis 28:19
And he called the name of that place Beth–el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Beth–el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
Genesis 35:1
And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth–el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
Genesis 35:3
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.
Genesis 35:6
So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth–el, he and all the people that were with him.
Genesis 35:7
And he built there an altar, and called the place El–beth–el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Genesis 35:8
But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth–el under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon–bachuth.
Genesis 35:9
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan–aram, and blessed him.

All 69 references

Events at Bethel

Abraham enters Canaan