Bethel and Dan: Forgotten Temples Quiz

Answer: house of God

The name Bethel is actually two words - Beth El. Beth is the construct form of Bayith (or Bayit) which simply means house. This is a common prefix for place-names in Hebrew (for example - Bethlehem, Bethany). El means God or god. It is a name of YHWH and also the name of the high deity of the Canaanites. El is etymologically related to the name of the Babylonian god of the heavens - Ilu.

Babylon, or Babel, was called by the Babylonians Bab-Ilu: The Gate of Ilu.

Bethel may have been considered a city of idolatry by many of the prophets, but this is not the etymology of its name.

Finally, the only city of angels I know of is Los Angeles, California.

Answer: One of the tribes of Israel

According to Joshua 19:47 and Judges 18:27-29 Dan was not founded by the Hebrews but was rather conquered from the Canaanites and then renamed. The tribe that conquered and settled the area was the tribe of Dan, named after their ancestor Dan, the son of Jacob.

There was no Canaanite deity named Dan.

Answer: Shiloh

Shiloh is a completely different place. It is mentioned in first Samuel as the resting place of the Arc of the Covenant during the dawn of the Israelite monarchy.

Luz is the former Canaanite name of the city of Bethel according to Judges 1:23.

Bochim is believed to be either another name for Bethel or a site next to Bethel. It is mentioned in Judges 2:1. The Septuagint (the very ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek) clearly identifies Bochim as being Bethel. In question #9 the significance of the name Bochim will be further clarified.

Beth-aven is a common name used by the prophets to refer to Bethel (for an example, see Hosea 10:5). Aven (or awen) means sorrow or iniquity. Beth-awen is translated house of idolatry in the King James Version translation. The name is probably derived from a pun on the possible name Bethon (House of strength/vitality).

Answer: Laish or Leshem

According to Joshua 19:47, the Canaanites used to call Dan, Leshem. In Hebrew leshem is the name of a certain precious gem stone. According to Judges 27-29, they used to call Dan, Laish. Laish is a poetic word for lion in Hebrew. See Deutoronomy 33:22 for more connections between Dan and lions.

Kiriath-arba is the former name of Hebron and Kiriath-sepher is the former name of Debir, a town in the vicinity of Hebron. (Jud. 1:10-11).

Jebus and Salem are former names of Jerusalem, of course. (for examples, see Judges 19:10 and Psalms 76:2).

Luz is the former name of Bethel (Judges 1:23), and it means in Modern Hebrew - Hazelnut (I don't know if it had that meaning in Biblical times or not). Egoz, simply means nut in Hebrew. It's also the name of one of the Israeli Special Forces units that were responsible for counter terrorism in Lebanon. There, now I feel like I sufficiently smothered you with useless trivial facts.

Answer: In the inheritance of Benjamin, adjacent to the border with Ephraim.

Joshua 16:1-2; 18:12-13,22.
Thus, putting it in the south of the northern kingdom (Israel), between two prominent tribes, and not far from the border with Judah - a perfect location for an administrative and religious center.

Answer: in the far north of Eretz Israel

Dan is situated in the far north, in what is today called the Golan Heights. Today you can visit the impressive excavation site of the ancient city. It is no mere chance that the two main temples of Israel were in the south and the north of the kingdom. This allowed Jeroboam and all subsequent kings of Israel to control the kingdom through two strategically placed religious centers.

Answer: all of these

Even though Genesis 32 mentions Penuel as the site of Jacob's angelic encounter, it is also said to have taken place in Bethel according to Hosea 12:5.
In Genesis 28:11-19 the Bible tells the story of Jacob's ladder. According to that story it is Jacob who names that city Bethel and institutes divine worship there.
In Judges 20:17-18 you will find Bethel as the gathering point for Israel before the near destruction of Benjamin on account of the sins of Gibea - not Israel's finest hour.
Bethel is the location of other Biblical stories as well - like the slaying of forty two children by two she-bears because they taunted the prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 2:23-24) I bet you forgot about that one!

Answer: King Josiah

King Hezekiah did institute religious reforms during his reign (2 Kings 18:4) but it was King Josiah several generations later that centralized all the worship of YHWH in Jerusalem alone once and for all. He did this by taking extreme measures - desecrating all other places of worship, including burning human bones on the Bethel alter! (2 Kings 23:15-18)

Answer: ritual crying

Bochim, one of the names of Bethel actually means 'crys' in Hebrew. There are also several places in the Bible that associate Bethel with crying (Genesis 35:8; Judges 20:18,23,26). These appear to be of distinct etiological nature and therefore some scholars assume that ritual crying was part of the temple cult in Bethel. Ezekial mentions pagan ritual crying by the temple in Jerusalem as well (Ezekial 8:14).

It is true that Israel and Judah sinfully committed human sacrifice in their religious rituals, but no where does the Bible imply that this was done in Bethel. The place most associated with human sacrifice in the Bible is the Henom Valley, next to Jerusalem.

Answer: Moses

According to Judges 18:30 the first priest of Dan was Jonathan son of Gershom son of Moses. In the Majority of Massoretic manuscripts (though not all) it is written Manasseh instead of Moses, therefore some translations write Manasseh. Yet in Hebrew the difference between Moses and Manasseh is just one letter - a 'nun' (pronounced noon).

In this case the nun is suspended above the line in the Massoretic Text. Rashi himself writes that this is a later scribal amendment added out of honor for Moses.