Location

Edward Robinson identified Bethel with the modern Arab village of Beitin in 1838 based on geographical references in the Bible, Eusebius’ Onomasticon, and the writings of Jerome and others (Kelso, Excavation of Bethel, 1–3; Ross, “Is Beitin the Bethel of Jeroboam?”; Rainey, “Bethel is Still Beitin“; Rainey, “Looking for Bethel”). Livingston challenges this identification, suggesting instead that Bethel should be identified with the modern city el-Birah (Livingston, “Traditional Site “; Livingston, “The Last Word”). Robinson’s traditional identification remains the dominant view.

The site of Bethel is located in the central hill country (now in the West Bank) about 10 miles north of Jerusalem and 1.5 miles east of Ai (et-Tell). It is situated at the intersection between a key north—south road from Hebron to Shechem and the main east—west road from the central hills to the Jordan Valley. It was a frontier city on the boundary between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, which eventually marked the border between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.