King James Bible Dictionary

A nut-bearing tree, the almond.

1. 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.)

2. 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.

separation; departure; an almond

(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 Isr'lites 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.