Genesis 28:19

And he called the name of that place Bethel,.... The house of God, which he took this place to be: but the name of that city [was called] Luz at the first; which signifies an almond or hazel nut,

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. Jacob ... took the stone, ... - a monument, a cippus (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12).

Either of that city which was nearest to the field in which Jacob lay; or of that city which afterwards was built in or near to this place, and was known by the name of Bethel.

Genesis 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city [was called] Luz at the first.Ver. 19. Bethel,] i.e., The house of God; yet afterwards for the calf worshlp there set up by Jeroboam, it became Bethaven. See the note there. God grant that Anglia , once called Regnum Dei , never become Thronus Satanae , the place "where Satan’ s seat is". And let all true hearted Englishmen with one mind and one mouth say, Amen and Amen.

(19) Beth-el . . . Luz.—In Joshua 16:1-2, we find that Luz and Beth-el were distinct places, though near one another; and with this agrees the present passage. For plainly, Jacob and his attendants did not go inside the city, but slept on the open ground; and as they would carry their provisions with them, they would need no supplies from its Canaanite inhabitants. Probably at the time of Joshua’s conquest Beth-el was rather a holy place than a town, and when Ephraim seized upon Luz and put the people to the sword (Judges 1:23-25), the victors transferred the name of Beth-el to it. Thus the spot where Jacob slept would not be the town of Beth-el, but some place a mile or two away from it.

Verse 19. He called the name of that place Beth-el] That is, the house of God; for in consequence of his having anointed the stone, and thus consecrated it to God, he considered it as becoming henceforth his peculiar residence; see on the preceding verse. This word should be always pronounced as two distinct syllables, each strongly accented, Beth-El. Was called Luz at the first.] The Hebrew has אולם לוז Ulam Luz, which the Roman edition of the Septuagint translates Ουλαμλουζ Oulamlouz; the Alexandrian MS., Ουλαμμους Oulammaus; the Aldine, Ουλαμμαους Oulammaous; Symmachus, Λαμμαους Lammaous; and some others, Ουλαμ Oulam. The Hebrew אולם ulam is sometimes a particle signifying as, just as; hence it may signify that the place was called Beth-El, as it was formerly called Luz. As Luz signifies an almond, almond or hazel tree, this place probably had its name from a number of such trees growing in that region. Many of the ancients confounded this city with Jerusalem, to which they attribute the eight following names, which are all expressed in this verse: - Solyma, Luza, Bethel, Hierosolyma, Jebus, AElia, Urbs sacra, Hierusalem dicitur atque Salem. Solyma, Luz, Beth-El, Hierosolyma, Jebus, AElia, The holy city is call'd, as also Jerusalem and Salem. From Beth-El came the Baetylia, Bethyllia, Βαιτυλια, or animated stones, so celebrated in antiquity, and to which Divine honours were paid. The tradition of Jacob anointing this stone, and calling the place Beth-El, gave rise to all the superstitious accounts of the Baetylia or consecrated stones, which we find in Sanchoniathon and others. These became abused to idolatrous purposes, and hence God strongly prohibits them, Leviticus 26:1; and it is very likely that stones of this kind were the most ancient objects of idolatrous worship; these were afterwards formed into beautiful human figures, male and female, when the art of sculpture became tolerably perfected, and hence the origin of idolatry as far as it refers to the worshipping of images, for these, being consecrated by anointing, c., were supposed immediately to become instinct with the power and energy of some divinity. Hence, then, the Bactylia or living stones of the ancient Phoenicians, &c. As oil is an emblem of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, so those who receive this anointing are considered as being alive unto God, and are expressly called by St. Peter living stones, 1 Peter 2:4; 1 Peter 2:5. May not the apostle have reference to those living stones or Baetyllia of antiquity, and thus correct the notion by showing that these rather represented the true worshippers of God, who were consecrated to his service and made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and that these alone could be properly called the living stone, out of which the true spiritual temple is composed?

19. Beth-el] That is, The house of God: see Genesis 35:1; Genesis 35:6. This place was one of the most famous sanctuaries in Canaan. It was selected by Jeroboam as one of the High Places at which he set up the calves of gold (1 Kings 12:29-33). For its repute and popularity as a sanctuary and place of pilgrimage, see Amos 7:13 : close by the altar of Bethel would stand the pillar connected with its worship, and associated with this story of Jacob. The site has been identified with the modern Beitin. Luz] The old city’s name mentioned also in Genesis 35:6, Genesis 48:3, Judges 1:23, not identical with, but close to Bethel, Joshua 16:2. The narrative does not suggest that Jacob’s dream was in the vicinity of a town.

19. Bethel… Luz — The spot where Abraham built his altar and Jacob had his dream was certainly not in a city, but, doubtless, on the mountain east of the city. See Genesis 12:8.