BETH-AVEN (‘house of iniquity,’ or ‘idolatry’?). Close to Ai ( Joshua 7:2 ), by the wilderness ( Joshua 18:12 ), north-west of Michmash ( 1 Samuel 13:5 ), and on the way to Aijalon ( 1 Samuel 14:23 ), still inhabited in the 8th cent. b.c. ( Hosea 5:8 ). The ‘calves of Bethaven’ were probably those at Bethel close by ( Hosea 10:5 ). Bethel is probably meant also in Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8 (see Amos 5:5 ) Hosea 10:8 (Aven).