Judges 1:22

THE FAILURE OF THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH

"And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and Jehovah was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city beforetime was Luz). And the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with thee. And he showed them the entrance into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day."

This paragraph recounts the capture and destruction of Bethel by the `House of Joseph,' the use of which name suggests that the half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim cooperated in this venture. It is of interest that God blessed their efforts, despite their use of treachery in the capture of Bethel. It seems not to have entered the minds of the Josephites that in their making a covenant with the traitor, they themselves were violating the commandment of the Lord.

The city of Bethel was in the mountains north of Jerusalem, having an elevation of 2,880 feet above sea level.