KJV ORIGINAL
And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
And he named that place Bethel, though the city had originally been called Luz.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
This verse tells us that Jacob renamed the place where he had his powerful dream about God, calling it Bethel (meaning 'House of God') instead of its original name, Luz.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs after Jacob's famous dream of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending, where God promised to be with him and bless his descendants. Jacob had been fleeing from his brother Esau and stopped to rest for the night at this location. The renaming from Luz to Bethel reflects Jacob's recognition that this ordinary place had become sacred through his encounter with God.
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