BETHEL (Hebrew Bēth-'Ēl = "House of God"). - Name given by Jacob to the place where he had the vision of the ladder and the angels while he was journeying to Mesopotamia to escape the wrath of Esau (Gen. 28, 11-22). Many biblical memories are linked to the history of B. Abraham, entering the land of Canaan, had pitched his tents between B. and Ai (v.) and had erected an altar to the Lord there; there he stopped and called upon the name of the Lord on his return from Egypt (Gen. 12, 8; 13, 3, where the name of B. is used by anticipation). Jacob again stopped at B. on his return from Mesopotamia and there prescribed a religious purification for his household (Gen. 35, 1-8). Later the name of B. was extended also to the ancient Canaanite city of Luz or Luza (= "the almond trees"), situated in the immediate vicinity. With the conquest of the promised land, B. was assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 18, 22), but in fact passed to that of Ephraim, having been taken (Judg. 1, 22-26) by the descendants of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh). In the time of the Judges, in difficult circumstances, the Israelites went there to consult the Lord and offer him sacrifices (Judg. 20, 18, 26; 21, 2). Under Jeroboam I the golden calf was worshiped there (1 Kings 12, 29-33).
On the area of ancient B., 19 km. from Jerusalem, to the right of the road to Shechem-Nablus, stands the village (ca. 600 inhabitants) of Betin, where the excavations of W. F. Albright (1928 and 1934) have revealed the imposing fortified works (20th-19th centuries B.C.) of the ancient Canaanite city, whose prosperity declined around 1300 B.C.