Editing Bethel (section)

==Biblical references==
===Book of Genesis===
[[File:El sueño de Jacob, por José de Ribera.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Jacob's dream at Bethel, by [[Jusepe de Ribera]].]]Bethel is mentioned several times in the [[Book of Genesis]]. It is first mentioned in [[Lech-Lecha]] ({{bibleverse|Genesis|12 and 13}})<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 12 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> as a place near the place where [[Abraham|Abram]] stayed and built an altar on his way to Egypt and on his return. It is said to be close to [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]] and just to the west of it. More famously, it is mentioned again in {{bibleverse|Genesis|28}},<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 28:19 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.28.19?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> when Jacob, fleeing from the wrath of his brother [[Esau]], falls asleep on a stone and [[Jacob's Ladder|dreams of a ladder]] stretching between Heaven and Earth and thronged with [[angel]]s; God stands at the top of the ladder, and promises Jacob the land of [[Canaan]]; when Jacob awakes he anoints the stone ([[baetyl]]) with oil and names the place Bethel.<ref>"Bethel" in M. G. Easton, ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1894</ref>

Another account, from {{bibleverse|Genesis|35}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 35 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.35?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> repeats the covenant with God and the naming of the place as El-Bethel, and makes this the site of Jacob's own change of name to Israel. Both versions state that the original name of the place was [[Luz (biblical place)|Luz]], a Canaanite name.
===Book of Joshua===
Bethel is mentioned again in the book of {{bibleverse|Joshua 7:2, 8:9|multi=yes}} as being close to [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]] and on the west side of it; in this episode [[Joshua]] sent men from [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]] to capture Ai. At {{bibleverse-nb|Joshua|16:1}} it is again said to be next to Luz, near [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]], and part of the territory of the descendants of Joseph (that is [[Manasseh (tribal patriarch)|Manasseh]] and [[Ephraim]], cf. {{bibleverse|Joshua|16:4}}).

===Book of Judges===
In the book of {{bibleverse|Judges|1:22}} the descendants of Joseph capture the city of Bethel, which again is said to have previously been called Luz. At {{bibleverse|Judges|4:5}} the prophetess [[Deborah]] is said to dwell at Bethel under the palm-tree of Deborah (presumably a reference to {{bibleverse|Genesis|35:8}}, where another [[Deborah (Genesis)|Deborah]], the nurse of Jacob's mother [[Rebecca]], is said to have been buried under a tree at Bethel). Bethel is said in {{bibleverse|Judges|4:5}} to be in [[Mount Ephraim]].

In the narrative of [[Levite's concubine]], in {{bibleverse|Judges|20:18}}, where the Hebrew Beth-El is translated in the [[King James Version]] as the "House of God", the people of Israel go to Bethel to ask counsel of God when they are planning to attack the [[Tribe of Benjamin]] at the battle of Gibeah. They make a second visit ({{bibleverse|Judges|20:26}}) after losing the battle.

Bethel was evidently already an important religious centre at this time; it was so important, in fact, that the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was kept there, under the care of [[Phinehas]] the grandson of [[Aaron]] ({{bibleverse|Judges|20:27}} f). At {{bibleverse|Judges|21:19}}, Bethel is said to be south of [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]].

===Book of Samuel===
At the next mention of the Ark, in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:3}}, it is said to be kept at Shiloh.

In the book {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|7:16}}, it is said that the prophet [[Samuel]], who resided at [[Ramah in Benjamin|Ramah]], used to make a yearly circuit of Bethel, [[Gilgal]] and [[Mizpah in Benjamin|Mizpah]] to judge Israel. At I Samuel 10:3, Samuel tells [[Saul]] to go to Bethel to visit the 'Hill of God,' where he will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a 'psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp.' It appears that there was a Philistine garrison there at that time. Bethel is mentioned again in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|13:2}} and {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|30:27}}.

===First Book of Kings===
After the kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms on the death of King [[Solomon]] (c.931 BC), [[Jeroboam]], the first king of the northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], made two [[golden calf|golden calves]] ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|12:28}} ff) and set one up in Bethel, and the other in [[Dan (ancient city)|Dan]] in the far north of his kingdom. This was apparently to make it unnecessary for the people of Israel to have to go to Jerusalem to worship in the temple there. It seems that this action provoked the hostility of the Judaeans. A story is told at {{bibleverse|1 Kings|13:1}} ff of how a man from [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] visited the shrine at Bethel and prophesied that it would eventually be destroyed by [[Josiah]].

===Second Book of Kings===
According to {{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:1}}ff, the prophets [[Elijah]] and [[Elisha]] visited Bethel on a journey from [[Gilgal]] to Jericho shortly before Elijah was taken up to heaven alive ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:11}}). Later, when Elisha returned alone to Bethel, he was taunted by some young boys as he climbed up to the shrine, and cursed them; whereupon 42 of the young men were mauled by bears ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:23}} ff).

Bethel is next mentioned in connection with the tenth king of Israel, [[Jehu]] (c. 842–815 BC). Despite his killing of the prophets of [[Baal]] and destruction of their temple, it is said that Jehu continued to tolerate the presence of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|10:29}}). The shrine at Bethel apparently avoided destruction in the Assyrian invasions of the Kingdom of Israel in c. 740 and 722, but was finally completely destroyed by King [[Josiah]] of Judah (c. 640–609 BC).

===Books of Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah===
The shrine is mentioned with disapproval by the prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] (c. 750):

{{Blockquote|text=Do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.|title=[[Book of Amos|Amos]]|source=5:5}}

[[Amaziah (Book of Amos)|Amaziah]], a priest of Bethel, expels Amos from the shrine:
{{Blockquote|text=Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.|title=[[Book of Amos|Amos]]|source=7:13}}

A few years later, the prophet [[Hosea]] (8th century BC) speaks (at least according to modern translations) of the "wickedness" of Bethel ({{bibleverse|Hosea|10:15}}) and [[Jeremiah]] (6th century BC) speaks of the "shame" which it brought on Israel ({{bibleverse|Jeremiah|48:13}}). {{bibleverse|Hosea|13:1–3}} describes how the Israelites are abandoning [[Adonai]] for the worship of Baal, and accuses them of making or using images for 'idol' worship. Chief among these, it appears, was the image of the bull at Bethel, which by the time of Hosea was being worshipped as an image of Baal.<ref>{{Cite book |title= The Social Roots of Biblical Yahwism, Part 2 |author= Stephen L. Cook |publisher= Society of Biblical Literature |year=2004 |page= 90}}</ref>

===Books of Ezra and Nehemiah===
Bethel is mentioned in {{bibleverse|Ezra|2:28}} and {{bibleverse|Nehemiah|7:32}} as being resettled at the time of the [[Return to Zion|return of the exiles from Babylon]].