View source for Bethel

{{Short description|Ancient Israelite city mentioned in the Bible, located in the modern-day West Bank}}
{{About||the deity|Bethel (god)|other uses|Bethel (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Bethel_MET_DP116361.jpg|thumb|The ruins of [[Beitin]], the site of ancient Bethel, during the 19th century]]
'''Bethel''' ({{langx|he|בֵּית אֵל|translit=Bēṯ ʾĒl}}, "House of [[El (deity)|El]]" or "House of God",<ref name="Bleekerp257">Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257.</ref> also [[transliteration|transliterated]] ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; {{langx|el|Βαιθήλ}}; {{langx|la|Bethel}}) was an ancient [[Israelites|Israelite]] city and [[sacred space]] that is frequently mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nj09AWrgpnkC&pg=PA2|title=The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity|first=Jules|last=Gomes|date=13 May 2006|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110189933 |page=1}}</ref>
Bethel is first referred to in the Bible as being near the place where [[Abraham|Abram]] pitched his tent. Later, Bethel is mentioned as the location of [[Jacob's Ladder]] that Jacob named Bethel "House of God". The name is further used for a border city located between the territory of the [[tribe of Benjamin]] and that of the [[tribe of Ephraim]], which first belonged to the Benjaminites and was later conquered by the Ephraimites. In the [[4th century]], [[Eusebius]] and [[Jerome]] described Bethel as a small village that lay 12 [[Roman miles]] north of [[Old City of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] to the right or the east of the road leading to [[Nablus|Neapolis]].<ref name="Robinsonp449">Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. 449–450.</ref>
Most scholars identify Bethel with the modern-day village of [[Beitin]], located in the [[West Bank]], {{convert|5|km|mi|sp=us}} northeast of [[Ramallah]].<ref name="Brodsky">Harold Brodsky (1990). "Bethel". In the ''Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary''. 1:710-712.</ref> After the fall of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusader kingdom]], Bethel was left in ruins under the rule of [[Saladin]], remaining uninhabited for centuries until the mid-19th century when modern-day Beitin was established.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Elitzur |first=Yoel |title=Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History |publisher=The Hebrew University Magness Press ; Eisenbrauns |year=2004 |location=Jerusalem ; Winona Lake, Virginia |pages=59–60}}</ref> In 1977, the biblical name was applied to the [[Israeli settlement]] of [[Beit El]], founded nearby. In several countries, particularly the [[United States]], the name has been given to various locations (see [[Bethel (disambiguation)]]).
==Identification==
Bethel is widely identified by most scholars with the modern Arab village of [[Beitin]], situated in the central part of the [[West Bank]].<ref name="Brodsky" />
Among the earliest proponents of this identification was biblical scholar and traveler [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]], in his work ''[[Biblical Researches in Palestine]]'' (1838–52). Robinson based this assessment on the location described in ancient texts, and on the philological similarities between the modern and ancient name, arguing that [[Place names of Palestine|the replacement]] of the Hebrew ''el'' with the Arabic ''in'' was not unusual.<ref>{{cite book |title=Confronting the Past: Archaeological and Historical Essays on Ancient Israel in Honor of William G. Dever |last=Rainey |first=Anson F. |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-57506-117-7 |pages=270 |editor-last=Gitin |editor-first=Seymour |chapter=Looking for Bethel: An Exercise in Historical Geography |editor-last2=Wright |editor-first2=J. Edward |editor-last3=Dessel |editor-first3=J. P. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oYearm8YobQC&pg=PA270}}</ref> This viewpoint was later reaffirmed by another early scholar, [[Henry Baker Tristram]].<ref name="Baker Tristram">{{cite book |last=Baker Tristram |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Baker Tristram |url=https://archive.org/details/landisraelajour00trisgoog |title=The Land of Israel |publisher=[[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]] |year=1876 |page=[https://archive.org/details/landisraelajour00trisgoog/page/n193 162] |quote=Bethel Beitin ruins.}}</ref> The final 'l' in the name "Bethel" endured until the [[Crusades|Crusader]] period. The name "Beitin," with the /n/ ending, was not documented until the 19th century, possibly coming into use after the Early Middle Ages.<ref name=":1" />[[File:Bethel, 72.Holy land photographed. Daniel B. Shepp. 1894-1.jpg|250px|thumb|Beitin in 1894, from the book ''Holy Land'' photographed by Daniel B. Shepp]]A minority view was proposed by David Palmer Livingston and John J. Bimson, who proposed an alternative identification, suggesting that Bethel might be equated with [[al-Bireh]], while positing Beitin as biblical [[Taybeh, Ramallah|Ophrah]]. However, Ophrah is commonly identified with the nearby village of [[Taybeh, Ramallah|Taybeh]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} These proposals have been rejected by Jules Francis Gomes, who wrote that "The voices of Livingston and Bimson have hardly been taken seriously by those who worked on the excavations of Bethel."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gomes |first=Jules |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nj09AWrgpnkC&pg=PA2 |title=The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity |date=13 May 2006 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9783110189933 |page=5}}</ref>
==Biblical references==
===Book of Genesis===
[[File:El sueño de Jacob, por José de Ribera.jpg|thumb|Depiction of Jacob's dream at Bethel, by [[Jusepe de Ribera]].]]Bethel is mentioned several times in the [[Book of Genesis]]. It is first mentioned in [[Lech-Lecha]] ({{bibleverse|Genesis|12 and 13}})<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 12 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> as a place near the place where [[Abraham|Abram]] stayed and built an altar on his way to Egypt and on his return. It is said to be close to [[Ai (Canaan)|Ai]] and just to the west of it. More famously, it is mentioned again in {{bibleverse|Genesis|28}},<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 28:19 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.28.19?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> when Jacob, fleeing from the wrath of his brother [[Esau]], falls asleep on a stone and [[Jacob's Ladder|dreams of a ladder]] stretching between Heaven and Earth and thronged with [[angel]]s; God stands at the top of the ladder, and promises Jacob the land of [[Canaan]]; when Jacob awakes he anoints the stone ([[baetyl]]) with oil and names the place Bethel.<ref>"Bethel" in M. G. Easton, ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1894</ref>
Another account, from {{bibleverse|Genesis|35}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 35 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.35?lang=bi&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> repeats the covenant with God and the naming of the place as El-Bethel, and makes this the site of Jacob's own change of name to Israel. Both versions state that the original name of the place was [[Luz (biblical place)|Luz]], a Canaanite name.
===Book of Joshua===
Bethel is mentioned again in the book of {{bibleverse|Joshua 7:2, 8:9|multi=yes}} as being close to [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]] and on the west side of it; in this episode [[Joshua]] sent men from [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]] to capture Ai. At {{bibleverse-nb|Joshua|16:1}} it is again said to be next to Luz, near [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]], and part of the territory of the descendants of Joseph (that is [[Manasseh (tribal patriarch)|Manasseh]] and [[Ephraim]], cf. {{bibleverse|Joshua|16:4}}).
===Book of Judges===
In the book of {{bibleverse|Judges|1:22}} the descendants of Joseph capture the city of Bethel, which again is said to have previously been called Luz. At {{bibleverse|Judges|4:5}} the prophetess [[Deborah]] is said to dwell at Bethel under the palm-tree of Deborah (presumably a reference to {{bibleverse|Genesis|35:8}}, where another [[Deborah (Genesis)|Deborah]], the nurse of Jacob's mother [[Rebecca]], is said to have been buried under a tree at Bethel). Bethel is said in {{bibleverse|Judges|4:5}} to be in [[Mount Ephraim]].
In the narrative of [[Levite's concubine]], in {{bibleverse|Judges|20:18}}, where the Hebrew Beth-El is translated in the [[King James Version]] as the "House of God", the people of Israel go to Bethel to ask counsel of God when they are planning to attack the [[Tribe of Benjamin]] at the battle of Gibeah. They make a second visit ({{bibleverse|Judges|20:26}}) after losing the battle.
Bethel was evidently already an important religious centre at this time; it was so important, in fact, that the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was kept there, under the care of [[Phinehas]] the grandson of [[Aaron]] ({{bibleverse|Judges|20:27}} f). At {{bibleverse|Judges|21:19}}, Bethel is said to be south of [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]].
===Book of Samuel===
At the next mention of the Ark, in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|4:3}}, it is said to be kept at Shiloh.
In the book {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|7:16}}, it is said that the prophet [[Samuel]], who resided at [[Ramah in Benjamin|Ramah]], used to make a yearly circuit of Bethel, [[Gilgal]] and [[Mizpah in Benjamin|Mizpah]] to judge Israel. At I Samuel 10:3, Samuel tells [[Saul]] to go to Bethel to visit the 'Hill of God,' where he will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a 'psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp.' It appears that there was a Philistine garrison there at that time. Bethel is mentioned again in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|13:2}} and {{bibleverse|2 Samuel|30:27}}.
===First Book of Kings===
After the kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms on the death of King [[Solomon]] (c.931 BC), [[Jeroboam]], the first king of the northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], made two [[golden calf|golden calves]] ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|12:28}} ff) and set one up in Bethel, and the other in [[Dan (ancient city)|Dan]] in the far north of his kingdom. This was apparently to make it unnecessary for the people of Israel to have to go to Jerusalem to worship in the temple there. It seems that this action provoked the hostility of the Judaeans. A story is told at {{bibleverse|1 Kings|13:1}} ff of how a man from [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] visited the shrine at Bethel and prophesied that it would eventually be destroyed by [[Josiah]].
===Second Book of Kings===
According to {{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:1}}ff, the prophets [[Elijah]] and [[Elisha]] visited Bethel on a journey from [[Gilgal]] to Jericho shortly before Elijah was taken up to heaven alive ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:11}}). Later, when Elisha returned alone to Bethel, he was taunted by some young men (not 'young boys' as it is translated in some English Bibles){{Citation needed|reason=What authority says to translate it this way?|date=September 2020}} as he climbed up to the shrine, and cursed them; whereupon 42 of the young men were mauled by bears ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|2:23}} ff).
Bethel is next mentioned in connection with the tenth king of Israel, [[Jehu]] (c. 842–815 BC). Despite his killing of the prophets of [[Baal]] and destruction of their temple, it is said that Jehu continued to tolerate the presence of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|10:29}}). The shrine at Bethel apparently avoided destruction in the Assyrian invasions of the Kingdom of Israel in c. 740 and 722, but was finally completely destroyed by King [[Josiah]] of Judah (c. 640–609 BC).
===Books of Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah===
The shrine is mentioned with disapproval by the prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] (c. 750):
{{Blockquote|text=Do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.|title=[[Book of Amos|Amos]]|source=5:5}}
[[Amaziah (Book of Amos)|Amaziah]], a priest of Bethel, expels Amos from the shrine:
{{Blockquote|text=Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.|title=[[Book of Amos|Amos]]|source=7:13}}
A few years later, the prophet [[Hosea]] (8th century BC) speaks (at least according to modern translations) of the "wickedness" of Bethel ({{bibleverse|Hosea|10:15}}) and [[Jeremiah]] (6th century BC) speaks of the "shame" which it brought on Israel ({{bibleverse|Jeremiah|48:13}}). {{bibleverse|Hosea|13:1–3}} describes how the Israelites are abandoning [[Adonai]] for the worship of Baal, and accuses them of making or using images for 'idol' worship. Chief among these, it appears, was the image of the bull at Bethel, which by the time of Hosea was being worshipped as an image of Baal.<ref>{{Cite book |title= The Social Roots of Biblical Yahwism, Part 2 |author= Stephen L. Cook |publisher= Society of Biblical Literature |year=2004 |page= 90}}</ref>
===Books of Ezra and Nehemiah===
Bethel is mentioned in {{bibleverse|Ezra|2:28}} and {{bibleverse|Nehemiah|7:32}} as being resettled at the time of the [[Return to Zion|return of the exiles from Babylon]].
==History and archaeology==
{{Further|Beitin}}
[[File:Bethel 1912.jpg|thumb|Bethel, 1912]]
[[William F. Albright]] first excavated a test pit in Bethel in 1927, while Extensive excavations were conducted at Beitin by Albright and James L. Kelso in 1934, which continued under the direction of Kelso in 1937, 1954, 1957, and 1960.<ref name="Kelso">{{cite book |last1= Kelso |first1= James Leon |last2= Albright |first2= William Foxwell |author-link2= William F. Albright |title= The Excavation of Bethel (1934-1960) |publisher=[[American School of Oriental Research]] in Jerusalem |location= Cambridge, Mass. |series= Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research |volume= 39 |year=  1968 |doi= 10.2307/3768539 |jstor= 3768539 |issn= 0066-0035 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=o9RwPQAACAAJ |access-date=5 January 2021}}</ref>
During his excavation campaigns, James Kelso found a clay stamp in contextually challenging debris near a Middle Bronze Age wall on the site’s south-west side in 1957.<ref>Van Beek and Jamme (1958), 'An inscribed South Arabian Clay Stamp From Bethel', in ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' 151: 9-16.</ref> Intriguingly, this find bore a striking resemblance to one [[James Theodore Bent|Theodore Bent]] brought back from al-Mašhad [[Wadi Dawan|Wādī Dawʿan]] ([[Hadhramaut]], [[Yemen]]) in 1894. Indeed, such was the similarity, some scholars considered that the Bethel stamp was actually the Bent find and that the latter’s wife, [[Mabel Bent]], had somehow, and for some reason, deposited the object there after her husband’s untimely death in 1897.<ref>Jamme (1990), 'The Bethel Inscribed Stamp Again: A Vindication of Mrs. Theodore Bent', in ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' 280: 89-91.</ref> Bizarrely, neither of the stamps (or the single one) have been traced for decades, and the only evidence that can be seen today is a [[Squeeze paper|squeeze]] made of the Bent stamp, which is now in the [[Eduard Glaser]] Collection, Vienna.<ref>Squeeze A727 (https://glaser.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/gl/rec/110007437/0).</ref>
Recent excavations at Elevation Point 914, a prominent hill located 900 meters east of the village of Beitin, by Aharon Tavger have uncovered several Middle Bronze and Iron II remains which have led excavator at E.P. 914 to propose this place as the ancient cult site of Bethel, and perhaps the location of Abram’s altar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tavger |first=Aharon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDQ7zgEACAAJ |title=The History of the Jacob Cycle (Genesis 25-35) |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2021 |isbn=978-3-16-159927-9 |editor-last=Hensel |editor-first=Benedikt |pages=201–222 |chapter="And He Called the Name of that Place Bethel" (Gen 28: 19): Historical-Geography and Archaeology of the Sanctuary of Bethel}}</ref><ref name="Lipschits2">{{cite book |last=Lipschits |first=Oded |title=Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein |publisher=Penn State Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-57506-787-2 |editor-last=Lipschits |editor-first=O. |pages=233–246 |chapter=Bethel Revisited |editor-last2=Gadot |editor-first2=Y. |editor-last3=Adams |editor-first3=M. J. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/35303818}}</ref>{{rp|243}}
=== Chalcolithic period ===
Human settlement at the site of Beitin dates back to the [[Chalcolithic]] period. Archaeological excavations in 1950 uncovered flint tools, pottery and animal bones from that time.
=== Bronze Age ===
[[File:Jeroboam's Temple in Bet El IMG 1944.JPG|thumb|Early Bronze Age Canaanite ritual site, cut through the [[High place|bamah]] by Middle Bronze Age II city wall. Tel Beit El, Beitin, 2017.]]In the [[Early Bronze Age]] (around 3200 BCE) normally nomadic populations settled in the area. [[Canaan|Canaanite]] tombs, houses and olive presses were discovered to the north and southeast of the village. The remains of a Canaanite temple were also excavated by archaeologists.<ref name="TWP">{{cite journal |date=2007-07-09 |title=Site of the Week: Beitin |url=http://thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=762&ed=68&edid=68 |url-status=dead |journal=This Week in Palestine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426002133/http://thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=762&ed=68&edid=68 |archive-date=2012-04-26 |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref>
In the [[Middle Bronze Age]] (around 1750 BCE) its status was elevated from a village to a fortified Canaanite town which is believed to be [[Hebrew Bible|biblical]] [[Luz (biblical place)|Luz]].<ref name="JMCC">{{cite web |title=Palestinian Cultural Sites: Beitin-Ramallah |url=http://www.jmcc.org/palculture/sites.htm#beitin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310193404/http://www.jmcc.org/palculture/sites.htm#beitin |archive-date=2007-03-10 |access-date=2011-12-19 |publisher=Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC)}}</ref><ref name="STFJ">[http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/048discuss.html Luza, also Bethel - (Beitin)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003050538/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/048discuss.html|date=2013-10-03}} Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.</ref> Two city gates dating to this period have been excavated, one in the northeast and the other northwest of the wall.<ref name="TWP" /> A second temple was built in Luz during this period, but was destroyed as a result of an earthquake.<ref name="TWP" />
The [[Late Bronze Age]] city at Bethel was destroyed at some point during the late 13th or early 12th century BCE.<ref name="Lipschits">{{cite book |title=Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein |last=Lipschits |first=Oded |publisher=Penn State Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-57506-787-2 |pages=233–246 |editor-last=Lipschits |editor-first=O. |chapter=Bethel Revisited |editor-last2=Gadot |editor-first2=Y. |editor-last3=Adams |editor-first3=M. J. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/35303818}}</ref>{{rp|235}}
=== Iron Age ===
{{Expand section|date=September 2023}}
During the Early Iron Age, a newer settlement was established.<ref name="Kelso" />{{rp|xiv}} This settlement was continuously inhabited during the early and later phases of the Iron Age, although the exact date of its destruction remains uncertain.<ref name="Kelso" />{{rp|51–52}}
=== Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and medieval periods ===
Bethel/Beitin was again inhabited and fortified by [[Bacchides (general)|Bacchides the Syrian]] in the time of the [[Maccabees]].<ref name=Robinsonp449/>
During the [[First Jewish–Roman War|Great Jewish Revolt]], [[Vespasian]] captured Bethel in the summer of 69 CE.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=535}}</ref>
Robinson notes that after the writings of Eusebius and Jerome, he found no further references to Bethel in the written historical record. However, he notes that the ruins at Beitin are greater than those of a village and seem to have undergone expansion after the time of Jerome, noting also the presence of what appear to be ruins of churches from the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Middle Ages]].<ref name="Robinsonp449" /> The town appears on the 6th century [[Madaba Map]] as '''Louza''' ({{langx|grc|Λουζα}}), also known as Bethel ({{lang|grc|Βεθηλ}}, ''Bethēl'')".
=== Early Muslim period ===
[[File:בית אל - מראה-JNF000848.jpeg|thumb|A domed structure in Bethel, 1945]]
The church fell into ruin after the [[Islam|Islamic]] [[Rashidun army]] [[Early Muslim conquests|conquered]] the area.<ref name="STFJ" />
=== Crusader & Ayyubid periods ===
The church was rebuilt by the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]] in the 12th century.<ref name="STFJ" />  During the Crusader period, the village was given as [[fief]] by [[Baldwin V of Jerusalem]] to the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]].<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/11/mode/1up 11]</ref> After the Crusaders were defeated by the [[Ayyubid]] forces of [[Saladin]] in 1187, the church was destroyed and the village was abandoned.<ref name="STFJ" />
==See also==
*Bayt-Allah, another name for the [[Kaaba]] in Mecca
*[[Bethel (god)]], name of a god or an aspect of a god from the Assyrian to Hellenistic periods
*[[Allon Bachuth]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Citation|title=Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions|first1=C. J.|last1=Bleeker|first2=G.|last2=Widengren|publisher=BRILL|year=1988|isbn=978-90-04-08928-0}}
* Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite
* {{Citation|title=The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity|first1=Jules Francis|last1=Gomes|publisher=Walter de Gruyter & Co|year=2006|isbn=978-3-11-018993-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kelso |first1=James Leon |last2=Swauger |first2=James L. |title=The excavation of Bethel (1934-1960) |date=1968 |publisher=American Schools of Oriental Research |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9RwPQAACAAJ}}
* {{Citation|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1838–52: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838|author-link=Edward Robinson (scholar)|first1=Edward|last1=Robinson|author-link2=Eli Smith|first2=Eli|last2=Smith|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|date=1856}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Bethel (biblical village)}}
{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|31.9226|35.245|display=title|format=dec}}
[[Category:Ancient Israel and Judah]]
[[Category:Former populated places in West Asia]]
[[Category:Hebrew language]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)]]
[[Category:Golden calf]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Samuel]]
[[Category:Saul]]