Bethuel ( – ''Bəṯūʾēl''), in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, was an
Aramean
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...
man, the youngest son of
Nahor and
Milcah
Milcah ( ''Mīlkā'', related to the Hebrew word for "queen") was the
daughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor, according to the genealogies of Genesis. She is identified as the grandmother of Rebecca in biblical tradition, and some texts of ...
, the nephew of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, and the father of
Laban Laban is a French language, French surname. It may refer to:
Places
* Laban-e Olya, a village in Iran
* Laban-e Sofla, a village in Iran
* Laban, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* 8539 Laban, main-belt asteroid
People
...
and
Rebecca.
Bethuel was also a town in the territory of the
tribe of Simeon
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon (; he, ''Šīm‘ōn'', "hearkening/listening/understanding/empathizing") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Book of Judges locates its territory inside the boundaries of the Tribe of ...
, west of the
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
. Some scholars identify it with Bethul and
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
in southern
Judah, to which
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
gives part of the spoils of his combat with the
Amalekites
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or th ...
. Bethel, a wisdom school, was in Padam Aram (the field of Aram) which is in Syria. Aram is a son of Shem.
Hebrew Bible
The man Bethuel appears nine times in nine verses in the Hebrew Bible, all in
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
. Adherents of the
documentary hypothesis often attribute most of these verses to the
Jahwist source, and the remainder to the
priestly source.
Bethuel the Syrian lived in
Padan-aram
Paddan Aram or Padan-aram ( he, , ''Padan ʾĂrām'') was a region referring to the northern plain of the former kingdom Aram-Naharaim. Paddan Aram in Aramaic means ''the field of Aram'', a name that distinguishes the flatland from the mountainou ...
, and is a descendant of
Terah
Terah or Terach ( he, תֶּרַח ''Teraḥ'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis. He is listed as the son of Nahor and father of the patriarch Abraham. As such, he is a descendant of Shem's son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in Gen ...
. Bethuel's uncle Abraham sent his senior servant to Padan-aram to find a wife for his son
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...
. By the well outside the city of
Nahor, in
Aram-naharaim
Aram-Naharaim ( he, אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם ''ʾĂram Nahărayīm''; syc , ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, ʾAram Nahrayn; "Aram between (the) rivers") is the biblical term for the ancient land of the Arameans referring to the region along the great ...
, the servant met Bethuel's daughter Rebekah. The servant told Rebekah's household his good fortune in meeting Bethuel's daughter, Abraham's relative. 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.”
After meeting Abraham's servant, Rebekah “ran and told all this to her ''mother’s'' household”, that Rebekah's “''brother and her mother'' said, ‘Let the maiden remain with us some ten days’”, 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.” Some scholars thus hypothesize that mention of Bethuel i
Gen. 24:50was a late addition to the preexisting story. Other scholars argue that these texts indicate that Bethuel was somehow incapacitated. Other scholars attribute the emphasis on the mother's role to a matrilineal family structure. Despite the obvious importance of Rebekah's mother in the narrative of this bible passage, scholars have yet to reveal the name of Rebekah's mother. Some sources indicate that the name of Rebekah's mother is not revealed because she was not of the same tribe.
A generation later, Isaac sent
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
back to Padan-aram to take a wife from among Bethuel's granddaughters, rather than from among the
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
ites.
Rabbinic interpretation
In the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, Rabbi Isaac called Bethuel a wicked man. The
midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
identified Bethuel as a king.
The Book of Jasher lists the children of Bethuel as Sahar, Laban, and their sister Rebecca.
In the Talmud, Rab in the name of Rabbi Reuben b. Estrobile cited Laban's and Bethuel's response to Abraham's servant 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. 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.
Noting that reports that the next day, Rebekah's “brother and her mother said, ‘Let the maiden remain with us some ten days’” (), 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.
In his retelling of the story,
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
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.”
See also
*
Bethuel M. Webster (1900–1989), American lawyer and founder of
Webster & Sheffield
Webster & Sheffield, formerly Webster, Sheffield, Fleischmann, Hitchcock & Chrystie, was a major "white shoe" law firm in New York City from 1934 to 1991.
Webster & Sheffield dissolved in 1991, 57 years after it was established.Susan Heller Ander ...
Notes
{{reflist
Book of Genesis people
Hebrew Bible cities
Vayeira
Arameans