Biblical Hebrew Blog by ClassicalHebrew.com

The city of Bethel is located north of Jerusalem and is identified as what is now the Arab village Bitan. It is first mentioned as a place near which Abraham first settled when arriving in Canaan, and is mentioned throughout Israelite history in the Bible. The archaeological findings date as far back as the 21^st century BCE.

According to the Book of Genesis, Bethel, literally “The House of God,” which was originally named Luz, was thus named by the Patriarch Jacob. It was there that Jacob, when sleeping on the road after escaping from his brother, Esau, saw a vision of a ladder reaching up into the heavens and angels ascending and descending on it. It was during this vision that he was promised the land of Israel for his descendants, and he proceeded to make a vow to God: “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going . . . so that I return to my father’s house in peace, then YHWH shall be my God” (Genesis 28:20-21).

Later in the History of Israel, the city was conquered by Joshua and became part of the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. Bethel was a major city in the times of the Judges and of the prophet Samuel, and an important place of worship. Bethel gained a special status upon the division of the United Kingdom in the days of Jeroboam, and was one of the two major places of worship where the golden calves were placed (along with the northern city of Dan).

Bethel was not destructed during the Assyrian attack against the Israelite kingdom, but it was conquered by the Judean king Josiah, who destroyed the cultic center as part of his religious reformation (circa 622 BCE).

Bethel was resettled after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile and thrived throughout the Second Temple Period, and was probably still sparsely populated until the Byzantine period.
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“The Land of Israel” is the Hebrew (or Jewish) name used to denote the area in south-west Asia along the coast of the Mediterranean sea, “the southern Levant.” The borders of this area have been subjected to many changes, the widest including areas in Trans-Jordan and reaching all the way to the Euphrates river. However, the borders of the biblical Israel are usually the sea on the west and the Jordan river on the east.

In biblical times, Israel was called “Canaan,” thus named for the Canaanites populating it. Subsequent to the partition between the monarchies of Judea and Israel, Israel came to denote the northern part of the region and Judah the southern. However, in the Second Temple period the general name “Israel” regained its meaning as the entire region. The name “Palestine” first appears in the 5^th century BCE in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotos, and was adopted by the Muslims following their conquest in the 7^th century CE.

Known as “the land of milk and honey,” Israel is rich with agricultural produce and natural resources. It is blessed with seven species of fruits and crops typical of the region – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranate, olives and dates. Due to the fact that Israel lies on part of the Syrian-African rift, there is a variation of natural settings and climates within a small geographic area: maritime planes, different mountain ridges, the Negev desert, many streams leading water to the Mediterranean sea, the sea of the Galilee (“Kineret”), and the Dead Sea, which is not only a unique natural phenomenon but is also the lowest place below sea level in the world.

For water for agricultural and every-day purposes, Israel is dependant on rain and natural springs, as the Book of Deuteronomy tells us: “a land of hills and valleys, drinking rain water” (Deuteronomy 11:11). Due to this fact, the Bible sees the dependence on rain as a religious one, indicating the care of God for his people, as the next verse tells us: “A land which your God YHWH cares for, the eyes of your God YHWH are always watching it.”

Israel has been inhabited since pre-historic times, with archaeological finds revealing every-day life in pre-history and early historical periods, as well as many finds from the biblical period and later on. It was the home of nomads roaming the desert as well as agrarian societies working the fertile land. From a religious aspect, Israel was the birth-place of Judaism and Christianity and an important part of the Muslim empire, and is considered holy by all three of these religions.

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Hebron (also known as Kiryat Arba or Mamreh) is a city of a rich biblical history going back to the era of the Patriarchs. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, one of the places in which he settled was the Hebron area, which he sanctified by building an altar to YHWH: “And Abraham moved his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebrom and there he built an altar to YHWH” (Genesis 13:18).. Hebron is also where Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, in the cave of Machpela. Both in Jewish and in Muslim tradition Hebron is considered “the city of Abraham,” and both in Hebrew and in Arabic its name is derived from the word “friend,” because Abraham is considered to be the friend of God.

When the Israelites returned from Egypt, Hebron was conquered by Caleb the son of Jephunneh, one of the spies sent to Canaan by Moses and the only one other than Joshua who lived to enter the land. Hebron was conquered from the giants who had formerly inhabited the city, and became a central part of Judean territory.

Hebron was especially important at the beginning of David’s reign, when, for seven years, it served as his capital before Jerusalem: “In Hebron he [David] reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all of Israel and Judah thirty three years” (2 Samuel 5:5). Hebron continued to be a central part of Jewish history throughout the First Temple Period, and it is the place of Absalom’s revolt against David, a city fortified by king Rehoboam, and apparently an important cultural and administrative center throughout this period. The city was conquered again by Judah the Maccabi during the Second Temple Period.

The most substantial archeological finding from biblical Hebron are the handles of jars dedicated to king Hezekiah bearing the name of the city, thus showing that it was under Judean rule and that the inhabitants gave taxes and gifts to the king in Jerusalem.

Hebron

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