Sorry if this has been discussed before.
Also I haven't done a ton of research but was recently curious about the name Bethel after by little bro asked me about it.
WTS claims it means "House of God". However, just from a few quick searches it has several meanings and connotations. Many are pagan in nature. Wouldn't the WTS want to choose a name that was more spotless in nature without room for duel meanings?
Tidbits from Wikipedia:
Semitic root
A Semitic, possibly Phonecian word meaning 'sacred stone/pillar" was the etymological root of the Greek Baetylus.
- For traditions of other such stones named Bethel and a god named Bethel see also Bethel (god).
"House of God" is definitely an arrogant approach to the naming of the JW compound, but apparently the name Bethel is also a God and a false God at that.
So far, on our end (ex-jw's), we can say yes, Bethel is an apt name, for they are an organization that sets themselves (FDS/GB) up as God.
Bethel (Israel) is a city in ancient Israel, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. Its location is generally identified with the modern Palestinian village of Beitun in the West Bank. Its name is preserved in the adjacent Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Judah (Joshua. 8:17; 12:16). It seems to be the same as the place called Bethul or Bethuel, a city of the tribe of Simeon. According to Biblical scripture, running from the wrath of his brother
Esau, the patriarch Jacob rests and falls asleep on a stone for a pillow in this exact spot. In the dream that follows, Jacob sees a ladder leading up to Heaven, with angels going up and down on the ladder to and from Heaven. Jacob awakes, and realizes that God's presence is in this exact spot. He anoints his "Pillar Stone" here and later God commands him to build an altar here. Much later, the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Jeroboam) set up a Golden Calf here, (and another one in Dan), along with changing the Feast of Tabernacles to the eighth month instead of the seventh, and appointed non-Levites (or at least not the elder Levites) as priests in an attempt to keep Israelites from moving back down south to Jerusalem, thus losing tax money.
A Bethel is the name given to the meeting place as well as the local group that meets in each city.
The name Beth-El, though assumed to have originated from Jacob, actually is deemed by Biblical critics and scholars to have originated from an older source. The name Bethel is actually an ancient Canaanite deity which can be found in Jeremiah 48:13. This etymology is much more likely than the source given by Jacob.
"a ladder to heaven and God's exact presence at that spot", another correlation can be applied to the WTS arrogance claiming to be the one true religion.
Yet, the city of Bethel, was, to make a long story short, good at first, and then very very bad. A city that worshiped a golden calf,etc.,etc., ...a city associated with sin. Why would God's one true religion here on earth choose a name associated with such things?
If you go to biblegateway.com and type in the word Bethel it pulls up every scripture with that word in it.
You find some scripture where the word is in a positive context, but many in a negative context. Here's a few examples:
Hosea 10:15
Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great.
Amos 3:14
"On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
Amos 5:5
do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.
Hosea (Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5, 8) calls it in contempt Beth-aven, i.e., "house of hurtfulness."
Amen, Hosea, I agree with you.
