To descry Beth-el. — The word perhaps implies a regular siege, and it is so understood by the LXX. (Cod. Alex.) and the Vulgate.
Luz. — We are also told that this was the original name of the city in Genesis 28:19; but there seems to be in that verse a distinction between the city and the place of Jacob’s dream. (Comp. Joshua 16:2.) The name means either “hazel,” or “sinking,” i.e., a valley depression.