Bethel (bĕth'ĕl), house of God. Joshua 18:13.. A town about twelve miles north of Jerusalem. It was visited by Abraham, Genesis 12:8, Genesis 13:3; marked by Jacob after his vision of the ladder, Genesis 1:28-19, Genesis 31:13; dwelling-place of Jacob, Genesis 1:35-8; name applied to Luz, Judges 1:1-23. See Joshua 16:2, Genesis 28:19; Samuel judged there, 1 Samuel 7:16; a place of calf-worship, 1 Kings 12:29, 2 Kings 10:29; called Beth-aven—i.e., "house of idols," Hosea 10:5 (in verse 8 simply Aven); taken by Judah, 2 Chronicles 13:19; home of prophets, 2 Kings 1:2-3; of a priest, 2 Kings 17:28, 2 Kings 23:15, 2 Kings 23:19; was desolate, Amos 3:14, Amos 1:5-6; settled by Benjamites after the captivity, Nehemiah 11:31; named about seventy times in the Old Testament; not noticed in the New Testament; now called Beitin (nine miles south of Shiloh), a village of about 25 Moslem hovels, standing amid ruins which cover about four acres.