בֵּֽיתְ־אֵל

From the study of Genesis 28:19

Range of meaning

A place name made of two words: bayit, 'house' (a dwelling, a household or family line, or a god's temple), and ʾēl, 'god' or 'El.' In the ancient Near East a god's 'house' was his temple, the place on earth where he lived and could be reached. Throughout Israel's history the name refers to one particular town and sanctuary in the hill country of Benjamin and Ephraim.

Against the English

Most English versions just write 'Bethel,' so readers who don't know Hebrew miss that it is a sentence-name: 'House of God.' YLT adds '[house of God]' in brackets, and some modern versions (NLT, for example) add a note in the text explaining the meaning. KJV writes 'Beth-el' with a hyphen, which at least shows there are two parts.

How it drifted

To modern ears 'Bethel' sounds like the name of a church, chapel or ministry, and 'house of God' sounds like a church building. In Jacob's story no building exists. The 'house' is the spot where God showed himself, marked by a single standing stone (28:22: 'this stone… will be God's house').

Used elsewhere in the period

Outside the Bible, 'Bethel' also appears as the name of a god, apparently a sacred stone treated as divine. It shows up in Esarhaddon's treaty with Baal of Tyre (7th century BC, as Bayti-ilī) and in personal and divine names in the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine in Egypt (5th century BC). Jeremiah 48:13 ('as Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence') may refer to this. The Greek word baitylos, a sacred stone, is often traced to the same Semitic name, though scholars do not all agree on that link. Inside the Bible, Bethel is where Abram builds an altar (Gen 12:8; 13:3), where Jacob builds an altar on his return and calls it El-Bethel (35:7, 15), where the ark is kept for a time (Judg 20:26–27), and where Jeroboam sets up a golden calf as the northern kingdom's royal shrine (1 Kgs 12:29; Amos 7:13).

From the study of Amos 5:5

Range of meaning

Place name, 'House of God (El)'. A town about 18 km (11 miles) north of Jerusalem.

Against the English

English writes it as one opaque name, 'Bethel', so the reader loses the meaning 'House of God' that drives the wordplay.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 28:10–22: Jacob's dream; he names the place 'house of God'. 1 Kgs 12:28–33: Jeroboam I sets up a golden calf there as a rival to Jerusalem. Amos 7:10–13: the priest Amaziah calls it 'the king's sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom'. 2 Kgs 23:15: Josiah later tears down its altar.

From the study of 2 Kings 2:23

Range of meaning

'House of God', a town about 19 km (12 miles) north of Jerusalem, linked with Jacob's dream (Genesis 28:19).

Against the English

All versions transliterate it as 'Bethel', so the irony of the name is lost on English readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeroboam I set up a golden calf here (1 Kings 12:28–33); a man of God condemned its altar and was later killed by a lion (1 Kings 13); Amos 7:13 calls it 'the king's sanctuary'; Hosea mocks it as Beth-aven, 'house of wickedness' (Hosea 4:15; 10:5). A company of 'sons of the prophets' also lived there (2 Kings 2:3).