וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשֹׁ֖ו מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בֹּֽו׃28:1 And Yitzchak (יצחק) called Ya'akov, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him:
You shall not take a wife of the banot Kenaan.
28:2 Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Betu'el (בּתוּאל) your mother's avi; and take you a wife from thence of the banot Lavan your mother's brother.
28:3 And Elohim (אלהים) Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you mayest be a multitude of people;
28:4 And give you the blessing of Avraham, to you, and to your seed with thee; that you mayest inherit the eretz wherein you art a stranger, which Elohim (אלהים) gave to Avraham.
28:5 (vii) And Yitzchak (יצחק) sent away Ya'akov: and he went to Padan Aram to Lavan Ben Betu'el (בּתוּאל) the Aramean, the brother of Rivkah (רבקה), Ya'akov's and Esav's mother.
28:6 When Esav saw that Yitzchak (יצחק) had blessed Ya'akov, and sent him away to Padan Aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife of the banot Kenaan;
28:7 (Maftir)
And that Ya'akov obeyed his avi and his mother, and was gone to Padan Aram;
28:8 And Esav seeing that the banot Kenaan pleased not Yitzchak (יצחק) his avi;
28:9 Then went Esav to Yishma'el (ישׁמעאל), and took to the wives which he had Mahalath Bat Yishma'el (ישׁמעאל) Avraham's son, the sister of Nevayot (נביות), to be his wife.
28:10 (i) Parashah 7: Vayetze (He went out) 28:10-32:3(2)
וַיֵּצֵ֥א יַעֲקֹ֖ב מִבְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ חָרָֽנָה׃
Vayetzei Ya'akov miBe'er shava'; vayelech Charanah.
And Ya'akov left Be'er Sheva, and went toward Charan.
28:11 וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם וַיָּלֶן שָם כִּי-בָא הַשֶּמֶש וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵיהַמָּקוֹם וַיָּשֶׂם מְרַאֲשֹתָיו וַיִּשְכַּב בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא׃
Vayifga bamakom vayalen sham ki-va hashemesh vayikkach me'avnei hamakom vayasem mera'ashotav vayishkav bamakom hahu.
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put [them for] his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
28:12
וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשֹׁ֖ו מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בֹּֽו׃
Vayachalom, vehineh sulam mutzav artzah, veroshov magia hashamayemah; vehineh mal'achei Elohim, olim veyoredim bov.
And he dreamed, and Hinei a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and Hinei the angels of Elohim (אלהים) ascending and descending on it.
28:13 And, Hinei, YHWH (יהוה) stood above it, and said, ANI YHWH (יהוה) Elohei Avraham avicha, and the Elohei Yitzchak (יצחק): the eretz whereon you liest, to you will I give it, and to your seed;
28:14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
28:15 And, Hinei, I [am] with you, and will keep you in all [places] whither you goest, and will bring you again into this eretz; for I will not leave you, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to you of.
28:16 And Ya'akov awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely YHWH (יהוה) is in this place; and I knew [it] not.
28:17 And he was afraid, and said:
How dreadful [is] this place! this [is] none other but the Beit Elohim (אלהים), and this [is] the gate of heaven.
28:18 And Ya'akov rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put [for] his pillows, and set it up [for] a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
28:19 And he called the name of that place Beit'el: but the name of that city [was called] Luz (seperation) at the first.
28:20 And Ya'akov vowed a vow, saying, If Elohim (אלהים) will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
28:21 So that I come again to my avi's house in peace; then shall YHWH (יהוה) be my Elohim (אלהים):
28:22 And this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be Elohim (אלהים)'s house: and of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth to you.
28:12 Yaakov ladder - The name of place Beit'el is not mention in Brit Hadashah but utopian visions of verse 12 was reveal to us.
Yochanan 1:51
And Yehoshua (יהושע) said to him: Truly, Truly, I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see Shamayim open, and the Malakim Elohim (אלהים) ascending and descending upon Ben haAdam.
It is likely that Natan'el had been meditating on this story of Yaakov's ladder (Gen_28:12). That ladder, with its ascending and descending angels, is a picture of the Master Yeshua HaMashiach Himself, the only access to heaven. The angels of Elohim will ascend and descend upon the Ben HaAdam (Son of Man). Angels are servants of Elohim, traveling like flames of fire on His errands. When Yeshua reigns as King, these angels will travel back and forth between heaven and earth, fulfilling His will.
Yeshua was saying to Natan'el that he had seen only very minor demonstrations of His Messiahship. In the future Reign of Mashiach, he would see the Master Yeshua fully revealed as Elohim's anointed Son. Then all mankind would know that Someone good did come out of Nazaret.
I am the Elohim of Beit-El, where you anointed a standing-stone with oil, where you vowed your vow to me. Now get up, get out of this land, and return to the land where you were born.' "
Historical Background of Beit'el
Beit'el is mentioned several times in Beresheet. It is first mentioned in Beresheet 12,[3] but the best-known instance is probably Beresheet 28,[4] when Yaakov, fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esav, falls asleep on a stone and dreams of a ladder stretching between Heaven and Earth and thronged with angels; Elohim stands at the top of the ladder, and promises Yaakov the land of Kenaan; when Yaakov awakes he anoints the stone (baetylus) with oil and names the place
Beit'el. Another account, from Beresheet 35[5] repeats the covenant with Elohim and the naming of the place (as El-Beit'el), and makes this the site of Yaakov's own change of name to Yisrael. Both versions state that the original name of the place was Luz, a Kenanite name.
Beit'el was an important cult-centre for the northern Kingdom of Yisrael following the break-up of the united kingdom of David and Solomon.
The Second Book of Kings describes how Yarov'am, first king of Yisrael, set up centres for his Golden Calf (עֵגֶּל הַזָהָב) cult at Beit'el on the southern boundary of his kingdom and Dan on the northern boundary, In Hebrew, the incident is known as het ha‘ēggel (חֵטְא הַעֵגֶּל) or "The Sin of the Calf". and appointed non-Levites as his priests (1 Kings 12:25–33). Yarov'am's decision to pass over the Mushite priests of Shiloh, the original cult-centre for Yisrael, deeply offended the Shiloh priesthood and seems to lie behind much of the animosity directed at Yarov'am and the Golden Calf (עֵגֶּל הַזָהָב)), which probably emanated from the Mushite priestly clan.
Beit'el escaped destruction during the Assyrian conquest of Yisrael (721 BC), but was occupied by King Josiah of Judah (c.640–609 BC), who, according to the book of Kings, destroyed the ancient Yisraelite cult centre.[6]
Beit'el was again inhabited and "fortified by Bacchides the Syrian in the time of the Maccabees."[2] Josephus tells us that Beit'el was captured by Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus.
Robinson notes that after the writings of Eusebius and Jerome, he found no further references to Beit'el 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 Middle Ages.[2]
Beit'el is also mentioned in the Book of Amos:
| “ | But do not seek Beit'el, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheva; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Beit'el shall come to nothing. | ” | |||
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—Amos 5:5,
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In September 1997, Beit El was awarded local council status. 1,200 families now reside in Beit El, most affiliated with the Religious Zionist Movement.