So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
Jacob had named this spot years before. Now God has met him a second time, and he gives it the same name again. So what had changed, if not the word?
The Name Comes from the Meeting
The name records what happened there: God spoke with him. One writer points to the difference in this second meeting — God came down to him — and to the name God revealed as He did so:
The Christian's FriendJacob has his "Bethel." God had spoken to him from the top of the ladder, but now He comes down... He had been a "supplanter," a man who took another's place by scheming; his name, as a man, was "Jacob," but God will not give him that name. "Israel" is God's name for him... He has revealed Himself as "God Almighty," and Jacob is able to name the place "the house of God."
Why the Name Is Given Twice
Some readers treat the two namings as proof that two separate stories were joined together here. One writer answers that the account itself calls the place Bethel before Jacob even arrives:
J. N. DarbyGod appeared to Jacob when he left the land of Canaan, and he called the place "Bethel." On his return, God tells him to go up there, already calling it Bethel. Then God appears to Jacob there a second time, and Jacob confirms the name "Bethel." He had two reasons for it. But the second part of the story calls the place Bethel before he even gets there. The case is very simple and very clear, and there is no reason to speak of these as two separate, independent accounts.
Another writer says the second naming reads like a first, because Jacob spoke the first one without understanding it:
F. W. GrantAnd now God reveals Himself as Almighty, as He did with Abraham, and confirms to Jacob the promise He had made to Abraham. Jacob sets up his pillar of stone and pours his drink offering and oil on it. He too names the place again — Bethel, as if he had never named it before. And he had not named it with understanding before.
The Pillar Without a Bargain
Jacob had set up stones before, and one writer counts three of them. He reads each pillar by what Jacob was trusting at the time:
Leslie M. GrantThen Jacob sets up his third pillar, which is his second at Bethel. His first was one of confidence in himself; his second was the pillar of broken confidence, showing that human nature cannot be trusted. This third is the pillar of confidence in God. This time he makes no vow, but pours a drink offering and oil on the pillar, which shows his genuine appreciation of the faithfulness and grace of God. He had named the place before, but naming it a second time surely shows that the meaning of this name has become vital and real to him.
Two Visits, Two Impressions
Another writer contrasts what struck Jacob on each of his two visits:
C. E. StuartOn his first visit to Bethel, the holy character of the place struck him — God was in it. On his second visit, the grace and faithfulness of God filled his mind. So when he set the pillar up again, his first act expressed what he felt — feelings stirred by what God had just said to him.
What Makes a Place God's House
Bethel means "house of God," yet no building stood there. One writer traces the title to God recording His name in mercy on that spot — and later on a bare threshing floor:
J. G. BellettWherever He records His name there is His house. Ornan's threshing floor was given the same honour long afterwards that Luz is given here, and on the same ground... For it was the place, like this Bethel of Jacob's, where mercy had triumphed over judgment, where God was revealing Himself in the abundance of His grace, and there faith sees the house of God.
One writer warns that calling a place God's house and submitting to its order are two different things:
Leslie M. GrantHe raised a pillar up and called it God's house, but he still kept going the wrong way. I expect many people have some respect for God's house and yet have no intention of submitting to the order of God's house... On the spot where Jacob raised the pillar there was a wilderness, but it was where God was. That is the important thing about God's house: it is where God Himself is.
Summary
- Named — Jacob calls the place Bethel, "house of God," because God spoke with him there. The meeting gives the name, not the monument.
- Named again — the repeat is no contradiction. The account calls the site Bethel before Jacob arrives; he only confirms it.
- Named knowingly — the second naming reads like a first, because Jacob spoke the first one without understanding it.
- Named without conditions — the earlier pillar came with a vow. This one carries a drink offering: confidence in God, not in himself.
- Named as a claim — respect for God's house is easy; submitting to its order is the harder lesson. What makes a spot matter is that God Himself is there.