Beth-aven
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(house of vanity, falsehood, worthlessness, probably of idolatry) (Josh. 7:2) — a city to the north of the tribe of Benjamin, near Ai, to the east of Bethel, near the wilderness (18:12), lying between the Jordan and the hill country. The prophet Hosea calls Bethel, that is, “house of God,” by the name Beth-aven, i.e., house of idolatry, because it had once been a house of God but afterward turned aside to the service and worship of idols, and thus became a house of worthlessness (Hos. 4:15; 5:8).