Genesis 28:19

7. The Naming of the Place, Genesis 28:19.

Jacob called the name of that place, Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at first. It is not easy to discover whether Beth-el is identical with Luz, or they were two distinct places. Some passages seem to countenance the former view (Genesis 35:6, Judges 1:23), others the latter (Genesis 12:8, Genesis 13:3; Joshua 16:2; Joshua 18:13). The probability is that they were in close contiguity, and were in time merged into one (CECG, 200). Originally the Canaanitish town was called Luz, or -almond tree,-' a name it continued to bear until the conquest (Judges 1:23). From the circumstances recorded here in the narrative, Jacob called the spot where he slept (in the vicinity of Luz) Bethelthe designation afterward extending to the town (Genesis 35:6), Until the conquest both titles appear to have been usedLuz by the Canaanites, Bethel by the Israelites. When the conquest was completed the Hebrew name was substituted for the Hittite, the sole survivor of the captured city building another Luz in another part of the country (vide Judges 1:26) (PCG, 351). Luz, probably meaning -almond tree,-' was renamed by Jacob Bethel, meaning -house of God,-' and became a holy place to the children of Israel. It was located on land which later was granted to the tribe of Benjamin and was about twelve miles north of Jerusalem. The sacred place was defiled when Jeroboam erected a golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-33), therefore God decreed the destruction of the altar (1 Kings 13:1-5, 2 Kings 23:15-17, Amos 3:14-15) (HSB, 47). Jacob then gave the place the name of Bethel, i.e., House of God, whereas the town had been called Luz before. The antithesis shows that Jacob gave the name, not to the place where the pillar was set up, but to the town, in the neighborhood of which he had received the divine revelation. He renewed it on his return from Mesopotamia (Genesis 35:15). This is confirmed by ch. Genesis 48:3, where Jacob, like the historian in ch. Genesis 35:6, speaks of Luz as the place of this revelation. There is nothing at variance with this in Joshua 16:2; Joshua 18:13; for it is not Bethel as a city, but the mountains of Bethel, that are here distinguished from Luz (BCOTP, 282). Beth-el, house of God. A town about twelve miles North of Jerusalem, originally Luz (Genesis 28:19). It was here that Abraham encamped (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3), and the district is still pronounced as suitable for pasturage. It received the name of Beth-el, -house of God-' because of its nearness to or being the very place where Jacob dreamed (Genesis 28:10-22). Beth-el was assigned to the Benjamites, but they appear to have been either unable to take it or careless about doing so, as we find it taken by the children of Joseph (UBD, 139). (Cf. Judges 1:22-26; Judges 20:26-28; 1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Kings 12:28-33; 2 Kings 23:15-20; Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 11:31. Excavations at Bethel, conducted by Albright and Kelso reveal house walls from the time of the Judges; its occupation is thought to have begun about 2250 B.C.). Fleeing the vengeance of Esau, Jacob passed the night at Bethel about twelve miles north of Jerusalem on the road to Shechem. There he received the divine promise of a safe return to the land of his birth. The vision of the heavenly ladder reminded Jacob that the God of his fathers would not forsake him in his journeys. Bethel later became an important shrine. Golden calves were placed there by Jeroboam I to dissuade his people from going to the Temple at Jerusalem (BBA, 60). The problem of a twofold naming, as, for example, the naming of Bethel by Jacob at one time (Genesis 28:19) and again at a later time (Genesis 35:15) poses no serious problem. At the first time Jacob made a vow that, if God would bless and keep him till his return, the pillar which he had set up should be -God's house.-' Upon his return, in view of the abundant blessings which he had received, he performed his vow, changing the ideal to an actual Bethel, and thus encompassing and confirming the original name (Haley, ADB, 410). To the rationalistic objection that -identical names of places are not imposed twice,-' we may reply, in general, that it is in -full accordance with the genius of the Oriental languages and the literary tastes of the people-' to suppose that a name may be renewed; in other words, that a new meaning and significance may be attached to an old name. This fact sweeps away a host of objections urged against this and similar cases (ibid., 410). The place-name Bethel must have been known as far back as Abraham's time: as Murphy put it, Abraham also worshipped God here, and met with the name already existing (see Genesis 12:8, Genesis 13:3, Genesis 25:30). Or indeed the place may have been known as Luz in earlier times, this having been the Canaanite name, and somehow the two names became associated in the later historical accounts. (For examples, i.e., of twofold naming, cf. Genesis 14:14, Deuteronomy 34:1, Joshua 19:47, Judges 18:29, with reference to Laish (or Leshem) and Dan; also Numbers 32:41, Deuteronomy 3:4; Deuteronomy 3:14, Judges 10:3-4, with reference to Havoth-jair. Note also the name Beer-sheba: in Genesis 21:31, we read that Abraham gave this name to the place where he entered into a covenant with Abimelech; in Genesis 26:33, however, we read that Isaac called the place Shiba; but from Genesis 26:15; Genesis 26:18, we find that all the wells dug by Abraham in this region had been filled with earth by the Philistines, but that Isaac re-opened them and called them by the old familiar names. This certainly is a satisfactory explanation of the problem.)

Speiser seems to conclude properly in these statements: The link with Bethel carries its own symbolism as well. The theophany made Jacob realize that this was an abode of the Deity, hence the new name replaced the older Luz, as this aetiology sees it. Actually, Bethel was an old center (cf. Genesis 12:8, Genesis 13:3), which managed to retain its religious influence until late in the seventh century, when the site was destroyed by Josiah (2 Kings 23:15). The etymology seeks to fix the locale of Jacob's spiritual experience, but does not otherwise circumscribe its significance (ABG, 220). Skinner, following the critical line, writes: From John 16:2; John 18:13 it appears that Luz was really distinct from Bethel, but was overshadowed by the more famous sanctuary in the neighborhood (ICCG, 378). Note well Green's appraisal of the sanctuary notion: The sacred writer, he says, makes no reference whatever to the idolatrous sanctuary subsequently established at Bethel; least of all is he giving an account of its origin. There is no discrepancy in different patriarchs successively visiting the same place and building altars there. These descriptions of patriarchal worship are not legends to gain credit for the sanctuary; but the superstition of later ages founded sanctuaries in venerated spots, where the patriarchs had worshipped, and where God had revealed himself to them (UBG, 343). Bethel was assigned to the Benjamites, but they appear to have been either unable to take it or careless about doing so, as we find it taken by the children of Joseph, Judges 1:22-26). Later Old Testament history makes it clear that Jeroboam I did establish idolatrous sanctuaries both at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-33), and that King Josiah later destroyed the high places that Jeroboam had instituted; specific mention is made of the destruction of the idolatrous altar at Bethel, (cf. 2 Kings 23:15-20). As stated above, however, Lange suggests that through Jehovah's revelation, this place, which is viewed as a heathen waste, becomes to Jacob a house of God, and therefore he consecrates it as a permanent sanctuary-' (Lange, CDHCG, 523).

Review Questions

See Genesis 28:20-22.