Bethlehem
City
A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1 Sam. 17:12), and “the city of David” (Luke 2:4). It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried “by the wayside,” directly to the north of the city (Gen. 48:7). The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town. Here was David’s birth-place, and here also, in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Sam. 16:4-13); and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in the cave of Adullam (2 Sam. 23:13-17). But it was distinguished above every other city as the birth-place of “Him whose goings forth have been of old” (Matt. 2:6; comp. Micah 5:2). Afterwards Herod, “when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,” sent and slew “all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under” (Matt. 2:16, 18; Jer. 31:15).
Bethlehem bears the modern name of Beit-Lahm, i.e., “house of flesh.” It is about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 2,550 feet above the sea, thus 100 feet higher than Jerusalem.
There is a church still existing, built by Constantine the Great (A.D. 330), called the “Church of the Nativity,” over a grotto or cave called the “holy crypt,” and said to be the “stable” in which Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. Close to it is another grotto, where Jerome the Latin father is said to have spent thirty years of his life in translating the Scriptures into Latin.
Named in 32 verses
- Genesis 35:19 Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).
- Genesis 48:7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried
- Judges 12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
- Judges 12:10 Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.
- Ruth 1:19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”
- Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of ba
- Ruth 2:4 Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.”
- Ruth 4:11 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah,
- 1 Samuel 16:4 Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
- 1 Samuel 17:15 Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
- 1 Samuel 20:6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem, his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for
- 1 Samuel 20:28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem.
- 2 Samuel 2:32 They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was in Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all night, and the day broke on them at Hebron.
- 2 Samuel 23:14 David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
- 2 Samuel 23:15 David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
- 2 Samuel 23:16 The three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to D
- 2 Samuel 23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty: Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
- 1 Chronicles 11:16 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem at that time.
- 1 Chronicles 11:17 David longed, and said, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
- 1 Chronicles 11:18 The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, took it, and brought it to David; but Dav
- 1 Chronicles 11:26 The mighty men of the armies also include Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
- 2 Chronicles 11:6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
- Ezra 2:21 The children of Bethlehem, one hundred twenty-three.
- Nehemiah 7:26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah: one hundred eighty-eight.
- Jeremiah 41:17 They departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt
- Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
- Matthew 2:5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
- Matthew 2:6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a governor who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”
- Matthew 2:8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship
- Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in al
- Luke 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of
- Luke 2:15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which th