Bethlehem
“House of bread”
Summary
An ancient town in Judah, birthplace of David and of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the messianic prophecy of Micah.
☩Name and Location
Bethlehem means 'house of bread,' an appropriate name for a town in a fertile region that produced grain, olives, almonds, figs, and vines. It is located about five miles south of Jerusalem on a long gray limestone ridge running east to west, at an elevation of approximately 2,550 feet above sea level. The town also bore the ancient name Ephrath or Ephrathah, meaning 'fruitful.' To distinguish it from a smaller Bethlehem in Zebulun, it was often called Bethlehem-Judah.
☩Patriarchal and Judges Period
Bethlehem first appears in Scripture in connection with Rachel's death and burial 'in the way to Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem.' Jacob set a pillar upon her grave, which tradition locates near where the Bethlehem road branches from the Jerusalem-Hebron highway. During the period of the judges, Bethlehem figures in the story of the Levite whose concubine was abused at Gibeah, and in the narrative of Micah's priest Jonathan.
☩Ruth and Boaz
The book of Ruth is set entirely in and around Bethlehem, providing a pastoral glimpse of life in the town. Naomi returned from Moab to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth at the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth gleaned in the fields belonging to Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi's deceased husband, and eventually married him. Their great-grandson was David, and through this lineage came Jesus Christ, making this love story integral to redemptive history.
☩City of David
David was born in Bethlehem and tended his father Jesse's flocks on the surrounding hills. Here Samuel anointed him king in place of Saul. When Bethlehem was occupied by a Philistine garrison, David longed for water from 'the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate,' and three of his mighty men broke through the enemy lines to bring it to him—water he poured out as an offering to the Lord. Luke calls it 'the city of David' precisely because of this heritage.
☩Birthplace of the Messiah
The prophet Micah declared that though Bethlehem was 'little among the thousands of Judah,' from it would come forth One to be ruler in Israel, 'whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.' This prophecy was well known in Jesus' day, so when the Magi came asking where the Christ was to be born, the chief priests and scribes immediately quoted Micah. Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Joseph, of David's lineage, had to register there for the Roman census, and the town had no room except in a stable where the Savior was laid in a manger.
☩Massacre of the Innocents
When the Magi did not return to report the child's whereabouts, Herod the Great, in a jealous rage, ordered all male children in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under to be killed. Joseph, warned by an angel, had already fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Matthew sees in this tragedy the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children.
Related Verses24 mentions
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Bethlehem," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Bethlehem," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 3.Philip Schaff and Johann Herzog (ed.), "Bethlehem," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. II (Funk and Wagnalls, 1908–1914).
- 4.George Morrish, "Bethlehem," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).