Beth-El

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

1. A city north of Jerusalem

The ancient city adjacent to, and finally embraced in, was called Luz

• Joshua 18:13 From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
• Judges 1:23–26 They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.” So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that ma…

Abraham estblishes an altar at

• Genesis 12:8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
• Genesis 13:3–4 From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched, to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

The place where Jacob saw the vision of the ladder

• Genesis 28:10–22 Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its t…
• Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
• Hosea 12:4 Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there —

And builds an altar at

• Genesis 35:1–15 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your gar…

Deborah dies at

• Genesis 35:8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.

Conquered by Joshua

• Joshua 8:17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.
• Joshua 12:16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

Conquered by the household of Joseph

• Judges 1:22–26 The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.” So the man showed them the entranc…

Allotted to Benjamin

• Joshua 18:13 From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
• Joshua 18:22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

Court of justice held at

By Deborah

• Judges 4:5 And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.

By Samuel

• 1 Samuel 7:16 Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.

Tabernacle at, and called HOUSE OF GOD

• Judges 20:18 The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.
• Judges 20:31 The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.
• Judges 21:2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.

Jeroboam institutes idolatrous worship at

• 1 Kings 12:25–33 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel. Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts wil…
• 2 Kings 10:29 but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit— the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

Idolatry at

• Jeremiah 48:13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
• Amos 4:4 “Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.

Shalmanezer sends a priest to

• 2 Kings 17:27–28 Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.” Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should w…

Prophecies against the idolatrous altars at

• 1 Kings 13:1–6 Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of Davi…
• 1 Kings 13:32 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
• 2 Kings 23:4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
• 2 Kings 23:15–20 He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole. And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones…
• Amos 3:14 On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.

The school of prophets at

• 2 Kings 2:3 Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

The young men of, mock Elisha

• 2 Kings 2:23–24 From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female…

People of, return from Babylon

• Ezra 2:28 the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;
• Nehemiah 7:32 the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;

Prophecies against

• Amos 5:5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

2. A city in the south of territory of the tribe of Judah

• 1 Samuel 30:27 He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

3. A mountain

• 1 Samuel 13:2 He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.