Bethuel (Hebrew for “house of God”), in the Hebrew Bible, was an Aramean man (Gen. 28:5), the youngest son of Nahor and Milchah (Gen. 22:21-22), the nephew of Abraham, and the father of Laban and Rebekah. (Gen. 22:23; Gen. 28:5.) 12th century Hebrew Bible script The Semitic languages are a family of languages spoken by more than 250 million people across much of the Middle East, where they originated, and North and East Africa. ... The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a supernatural Supreme Being in accordance with Christianity. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. ... The Aramaeans, or Arameans, were a Semitic, nomadic people who originated or had lived in the Syrian Desert and the Fertile Crescent. ... (1. ... Abraham (אַבְרָהָם Father/Leader of many, Standard Hebrew Avraham, Latin Abrahamus, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇrāhām; Arabic ابراهيم IbrāhÄ«m) is the patriarch of Judaism, recognized by Christianity, and a very important prophet in Islam. ... In the Book of Genesis, Laban (לָבָן White, Standard Hebrew Lavan, Tiberian Hebrew Lāḇān) is the brother of Rebekah and the father of Leah and Rachel. ... Rebekah or Rivka (רִבְקָה Noose or Snare, Standard Hebrew Rivqa, Tiberian Hebrew Riḇqāh) was a biblical matriarch and the wife of Isaac. ...

Bethuel was also a town in the territiory of the tribe of Simeon, west of the Dead Sea. (1 Chron. 4:30.) Some scholars (e.g., Albright) identify it with Bethul (Josh. 19:4) and Bethel in southern Judah (Josh. 8:17; 12:16), to which David gives booty. (1 Sam. 30:26-27.) This entry incorporates text from Eastons Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation. ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea (Arabic البحر الميت,Hebrew ים המלח) is the lowest exposed point on the Earths surface. ... William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891 - September 19/20, 1971) was an evangelical Methodist archaelogist, biblical authority, linguist and expert on ceramics. ... Bethel (Hebrew for House of El) // Bible Bethel (Israel) is a city in ancient Israel, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. ... Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (יהודה Praise, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of historic Palestine, an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank, and, in a few geographical definitions of Judea... Michelangelos David. ...

In the Hebrew Bible

The man Bethuel appears nine times in nine verses in the Hebrew Bible, all in Genesis. Adherents of the documentary hypothesis often attribute most of these verses to the Jahwist source (E.g., Richard Elliott Friedman. The Bible with Sources Revealed, 66, 68, 69. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003; Genesis with sources highlighted, at Wikisource) and the remainder to the priestly source. (E.g., Friedman at 71, 76.) Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin), also called The First Book of Moses, is the first book of Torah (five books of Moses), and is the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of... The documentary hypothesis is a hypothesis proposed by many historians and academics in the field of linguistics and source criticism that the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) are in fact a combination of documents from different sources rather than authored by one individual. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Jehovist. ... Richard Elliot Friedman is a writer and Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at UCSD. He is also Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization: Hebrew Bible; Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. ... The Priestly Source (P) is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis. ...

Bethuel lived in Padan-aram. (Gen. 25:20.) Bethuel's uncle Abraham sent his senior servant to the land of his birth to find a wife for his son Isaac. (Gen. 24:2-4.) By the well outside the city of Nahor, in Aram-naharaim, the servant met Bethuel’s daughter Rebekah. (Gen. 24:10-15.) The servant told Rebekah’s household his good fortune in meeting Bethuel’s daughter, Abraham’s relative. (Gen. 24:47-48.) Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter was decreed by the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be a wife to your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” (Gen. 24:50-51.) In the Bible, Padan-aram refers to the plain of Aram, or the plain of the highlands, (Gen. ... An angel prevents Abraham from sacrificing Isaac in this illumation from a 14th century Icelandic manuscript. ... (1. ... See Aramaea and Arameans. ...

Some scholars note that after meeting Abraham’s servant, Rebekah “ran and told all this to her mother’s household” (Gen. 24:28), that Rebekah’s “brother and her mother said, ‘Let the maiden remain with us some ten days’” (Gen. 24:55), and that “they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, ‘O sister! May you grow into thousands of myriads.” (Gen. 24:59-60.) Some scholars thus hypothesize that mention of Bethuel in Gen. 24:50 was a late addition to the preexisting story. Other scholars argue that these texts indicate that Bethuel was somehow incapacitated. Still other scholars attribute the emphasis on the mother's role to a matralineal family structure.

A generation later, Isaac sent Jacob back to Padan-aram to take a wife from among Bethuel’s granddaughters, rather than from among the Canaanites. (Gen. 28:1-2.) Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (יַעֲקֹב Holder of the heel, Standard Hebrew YaÊ¿aqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic يعقوب YaÊ¿qÅ«b), later known as Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל Prince with God, Standard Hebrew Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew YiÅ›rāʾēl; Arabic اسرائيل Isrāʾīl) is a Biblical... Canaan or Knáan (Arabic کنعان, Kanʻān, Hebrew כְּנַעַן / כְּנָעַן, KÉ™náʻan / KÉ™nāʻan; Septuagint Greek Χανααν, Khanaan) is an ancient term for a region roughly corresponding to present-day Israel, the West Bank, western Jordan, southern and coastal Syria and Lebanon continuing up until the border of modern Turkey. ...

In Rabbinic Interpretation

In the Talmud, Rabbi Isaac called Bethuel a wicked man. (B. Talmud Yevamot 64a; see also Genesis Rabbah 60:12 (wicked); 63:4 (a rogue); Leviticus Rabbah 23:1 (a deceiver); Song of Songs Rabbah 2:4 (a trickster); Zohar, Bereshit 1:136b (sinful); Rashi to Gen. 25:20 (wicked).) The midrash identified Bethuel as a king. (Numbers Rabbah 14:11.) The Talmud (תלמוד) is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. ... Genesis Rabba, (Breshit Rabba in Hebrew), is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. ... The Zohar (Hebrew זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... Rashi Rashi (February 22, 1040 – July 17, 1105) is the acronym of Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (or: Shlomo Yitzchaki). ... Midrash (pl. ...

In the Talmud, Rab in the name of Rabbi Reuben b. Estrobile cited Laban’s and Bethuel’s response to Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:50-51 that “The matter was decreed by the LORD” as a proof text for the proposition that God destines a woman and a man for each other in marriage. (B. Talmud Mo'ed Katan 18b; see also Genesis Rabbah 68:3.) Rabbi Joshua b. Rabbi Nehemiah in the name of Rabbi Hanina b. Isaac said that the decree with regard to Rebekah that Laban and Bethuel acknowledged came from Mount Moriah. (Genesis Rabbah 60:10.)

Noting that Genesis 24:55 reports that the next day, Rebekah’s “brother and her mother said, ‘Let the maiden remain with us some ten days’” (Gen. 24:55), the Rabbis asked: “Where was Bethuel?” The midrash concluded that Bethuel wished to hinder Rebekah’s marriage, and so he was smitten during the night. (Genesis Rabbah 60:12.) The Rabbis said that Abraham’s servant did not disclose Bethuel’s fate to Isaac. (Genesis Rabbah 60:15.)

In his retelling of the story, Josephus reported that Rebekah told Abraham’s servant, “my father was Bethuel, but he is dead; and Laban is my brother; and, together with my mother, takes care of all our family affairs, and is the guardian of my virginity.” (Antiquities 1:16:2 §248.) Josephus (c. ... Antiquities of the Jews was a work published by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the year A.D. 93. ...