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Luz
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luz (separation; departure; an almond, almond tree, bone, spine)
RELATED: Bethel, Canaan, Hittites |
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(1) A nut-bearing tree, the almond.
(2) The ancient name of a royal Canaanitish city near the site of Bethel ( Genesis
28:19 ; 35:6 ), on the border of Benjamin ( Joshua 18:13 ). Here Jacob halted,
and had a prophetic vision. (See BETHEL.)
(3) A place in the land of the Hittites, founded ( Judges 1:26 ) by "a man who
came forth out of the city of Luz." It is identified with Luweiziyeh, 4 miles
north-west of Banias.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
separation; departure; an almond
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(almond tree). It seems impossible to discover with precision
whether Luz and Bethel represent one and the same town--the former the Canannite,
the latter the Hebrew, name--or whether they were distinct places, though in close
proximity. The most probable conclusion is that the two places were, during the
times preceding the conquest, distinct, Luz being the city and Bethel the pillar
and altar of Jacob that after the destruction of Luz by the tribe of Ephraim the
town of Bethel arose. When the original Luz was destroyed, through the treachery
of one of its inhabitants, the man who had introduced the Israelites into the
town went into the "land of the Hittites" and built a city which he named after
the former one. ( Judges 1:28 ) Its situation, as well as that of the land of
the Hittites," has never been discovered, and is one of the favorable puzzles
of Scripture geographers.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
(luz): The Hebrew word means "almond tree" or "almond
wood" (OHL, under the word). It may also mean "bone," particularly a bone of the
spine, and might be applied to a rocky height supposed to resemble a backbone
(Lagarde, Uebersicht., 157 f). Winckler explains it by Aramaic laudh, "asylum,"
which might be suitably applied to a sanctuary (Geschichte Israels). Cheyne (EB,
under the word) would derive it by corruption from chalutsah, "strong (city)."
(1) This was the ancient name of Bethel (Genesis 28:19 ; Judges 1:23 ; compare
Genesis 35:6 ; 48:3 ; Joshua 16:2 ; 18:13). It has been thought that Joshua 16:2
contradicts this, and that the two places were distinct. Referring to Genesis
28:19, we find that the name Bethel was given to "the place," ha-maqom, i.e. "the
sanctuary," probably "the place" (Genesis 28:11, Hebrew) associated with the sacrifice
of Abraham (Genesis 12:8), which lay to the East of Bethel. The name of the city
as distinguished from "the place" was Luz. As the fame of the sanctuary grew,
we may suppose, its name overshadowed, and finally superseded, that of the neighboring
town. The memory of the ancient nomenclature persisting among the people sufficiently
explains the allusions in the passages cited.
(2) A Bethelite, the man who betrayed the city into the hands of the children
of Joseph, went into the land of the Hittites, and there founded a city which
he called Luz, after the ancient name of his native place (Judges 1:26). No satisfactory
identification has been suggested.
W. Ewing
Tags:
bethel, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, city, define, luweiziyeh, luz
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