Bethel

“El” = name of the senior god in Canaanite religion. The site was probably holy to El before the patriarchs. Jacob’s encounter reinterprets the site for YHWH worship, but does not create it out of thin air.

1. Archaeology: Bethel was a sacred site long before Israel

Archaeology at Beitin (commonly identified with Béthel) shows:

Occupation – 3rd millennium BCE, well before Abraham.

Remains reflect:

• altars

• high places

• standing stones

• sacred enclosures

These are typical Canaanite religious installations.

So when Jacob arrives in Genesis 28, he is not inventing a holy site.

He is redefining one already considered sacred.

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