Bethel (bĕth'ĕl), house of God. Joshua 18:13. 1. A town about twelve miles north of Jerusalem. It was visited by Abraham, Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3; marked by Jacob after his vision of the ladder, Genesis 28:11-19; Genesis 31:13; dwelling-place of Jacob, Genesis 35:1-8; name applied to Luz, Judges 1:22-23. See Joshua 16:2; Genesis 28:19; Samuel judged there, 1 Samuel 7:16; a place of calf-worship, 1 Kings 12:29; 2 Kings 10:29; called Beth-aven—i.e., "house of idols," Hosea 10:5 (in verse 8 simply Aven); taken by Judah, 2 Chronicles 13:19; home of prophets, 2 Kings 2:2-3; of a priest, 2 Kings 17:28; 2 Kings 23:15; 2 Kings 23:19; was desolate, Amos 3:14; Amos 5:5-6; settled by Benjamites after the captivity, Nehemiah 11:31; named about seventy times in the Old Testament; not noticed in the New Testament; now called Beitin (nine miles south of Shiloh), a village of about 25 Moslem hovels, standing amid ruins which cover about four acres.
With more than 1,500 subjects and proper names defined and analyzed, this dictionary, authored by Dr. Edwin Rice, will provide unique insites into the Bible as it has since its introduction in 1893Wikipedia
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