📖 Biblical Definition
The name Jacob gave to the altar he built at Bethel after returning from Paddan-aram. Genesis 35:1-7: God commanded Jacob to go up to Bethel and make an altar there, recalling the night God had appeared to him as he fled from Esau (the original Bethel encounter, Gen 28:10-22, where Jacob saw the ladder reaching to heaven). Jacob put away the foreign gods his household had been carrying, purified them, and went up to Bethel. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-bethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother (35:7). The name El-Bethel means God of the house of God — identifying the deity by the place where He had manifested Himself. The pattern recurs throughout the patriarchal narratives: place-names become theological markers, recording where and how God revealed Himself. Jacob's return-to-Bethel completes the circle that began with his fleeing.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828: a memorial name marking divine encounter at a sacred place.
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An appellation joining the title of God with the place He revealed Himself, signifying that the dwelling is sanctified by His presence and not by the structure itself.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 35:7 — "And he built there an altar, and called the place El-bethel: because there God appeared unto him."
Genesis 28:19 — "And he called the name of that place Bethel."
Genesis 31:13 — "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar."
Genesis 35:3 — "Let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern thought treats sacred places as mere geography, severed from the God who sanctifies them.
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The world reduces holy ground to tourism, stripping the encounter from the location. Bethel becomes a ruin to photograph, not a covenant to remember.
Even the church often forgets that God's presence—not architecture—makes a place holy. El-Bethel reminds us the building means nothing without the God who appeared there.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
El (God) joined to Beth-El (House of God).
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H410 — El — God, mighty, strength
H1008 — Beyth-El — House of God
Usage
"He named the altar El-Bethel after the God who met him there."
"El-Bethel teaches that the place is holy only because the Lord came down."
"Jacob built El-Bethel as a covenant memorial, not a tourist site."