Although Moses, in compiling the Genesis account, speaks of the town near which Abraham camped as “Bethel,” the subsequent record shows its original Canaanite name to have been “Luz.” (See LUZ No. 1.) Jacob spent the night near the city when traveling from Beer-sheba to Haran, and after having a dream of a ladder reaching to the heavens and hearing God’s confirmation of the Abrahamic promise, he thereafter set up a pillar and called the name of the place Bethel, although “Luz was the city’s name formerly.” (Ge 28:10-19)

Centuries later, upon the entry of the nation of Israel into Canaan (1473 B.C.E.), the name Bethel is again used to refer to the city previously called Luz rather than to the camping site of Abraham and Jacob. In the account of the attack upon Ai, the record indicates that the Canaanite men of Bethel endeavored to support the men of that neighboring city, but to no avail. If not at that point, then at a later time Bethel’s king met defeat by Joshua’s forces. (Jos 7:2; 8:9, 12, 17; 12:9, 16) Bethel thereafter appears as a boundary city between the territories of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. It is listed as assigned to Benjamin, but the record shows that it was the house of Joseph (of which Ephraim was a part) that effected the conquest of the city. (Jos 16:1, 2; 18:13, 21, 22; Jg 1:22-26) From this point forward the name Luz is no longer applied to the city.