Beth-aven

(house of nothingness , i.e. of idols ), a place on the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel, ( Joshua 7:2 ; 18:12 ) and lying between that place and Michmash. ( 1 Samuel 13:5 ; 14:28 ) In ( Hosea 4:15 ; 5:8 ; 10:5 ) the name is transferred to the neighboring Bethel, --once the "house of God" but then the house of idols of "naught."