Genesis Chapter 28 verse 19 Holy Bible
And he called the name of that place Beth-el. But the name of the city was Luz at the first.
read chapter 28 in ASV
And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.
read chapter 28 in BBE
And he called the name of that place Beth-el; but the name of that city was Luz at the first.
read chapter 28 in DARBY
And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
read chapter 28 in KJV
And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
read chapter 28 in WBT
He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
read chapter 28 in WEB
and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, `house of God,' and yet, Luz `is' the name of the city at the first.
read chapter 28 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 19. - And he called the name of that place Bethel - i.e. a house of God. Rosenmüller and Kalisch find a connection between Bethel and Baetylia, the former regarding Beetylia as a corruption of Bethel, and the latter viewing Bethel as the Hebraised form of Beetylion. Keil objects to both that the interchange of τ in βαιτύλιον, and Θ in βαιθήλ), would be perfectly inexplicable. On the site of Bethel (Beitin) vide Genesis 12:8. But the name of that city was called Luz at the first. Originally the Canaanitish town, built according to Calvin after this event, was called Luz, or "almond tree," a name it continued to bear until the conquest (Judges 1:23). From the circumstances recorded in the narrative, Jacob called the spot where he slept (in the vicinity of Luz) Bethel - the designation afterwards extending to the town (Genesis 35:6). Until the conquest both titles appear to have been used - Luz by the Canaanites, Bethel by the Israelites. When the conquest was completed the Hebrew name was substituted for the Hittite, the sole survivor of the captured city building another Luz in another part of the country (vide Judges 1:26).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(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.
