Genesis 28:19

28:19 He called that place Bethel, ¹  although the former name of the town was Luz.

Genesis 35:3

35:3 Let us go up at once ²  to Bethel. Then I will make ³  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ⁴  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁵ 

Genesis 35:15-16

35:15 Jacob named the place ⁶  where God spoke with him Bethel. ⁷ 

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ⁸  Rachel went into labor ⁹  – and her labor was hard.

Joshua 8:17

8:17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel; ¹⁰  they all went out after Israel. ¹¹  They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

Joshua 18:22

18:22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ¹² 

Nehemiah 11:31

11:31 Some of the descendants of ¹³  Benjamin settled in Geba, ¹⁴  Micmash, Aija, Bethel ¹⁵  and its villages,

¹ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).

² tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

³ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

⁴ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

⁵ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

⁶ sn Called the name of the place. In view of the previous naming of Bethel in Gen 28:19, here Jacob was confirming or affirming the name through an official ritual marking the fulfillment of the vow. This place now did become Bethel, the house of God.

⁷ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew.

⁸ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

⁹ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”

¹⁰ tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”

¹¹ tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”

¹² map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹³ tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the Syriac Peshitta וּמִבְּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and some of the descendants of”; cf. NLT) rather than the MT reading וּבְנֵי (uvÿne, “and the sons of”).

¹⁴ tc Heb “from Geba.” It is preferable to delete the preposition “from” read by the MT.

¹⁵ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.