LUZA (Hebr. láz «almond tree», Septuagint^Aou^a). — The primitive name of a Canaanite locality, about 17 km north of Jerusalem, which later received the name Bethel (q.v.) or «house of God» in memory of the vision of the ladder and the Angels seen there by Jacob as he journeyed from Beersheba to Haran (Gen. 28:11–28). It was situated almost at the center of Palestine, and in the division of the Promised Land it came to lie on the borders of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin (cf. Josh. 16:1 ff.; 8:3).
Here Abraham had erected an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh (Gen. 12:8; 13:3–4); Jacob later set up another stone in memory of the vision and the divine apparition, which he recalled on his return from Haran with solemn rites, receiving confirmation of the promises already made to him by the Lord. It was probably on this occasion that the name of Luza was changed to that of Bethel (cf. Gen. 35:1–15), famous in the history of Israel.
The same name Luza was given to a city in the land of the Hittites, built after the Israelite occupation of Luza-Bethel by a Canaanite who had shown the Hebrews the way to take that city: having been spared with his family, he went into the land of the Hittites and founded a city there, which he named Luza (cf. Judg. 1:22–26).