BETHLEHEM

House of bread, 1. A celebrated city, the birthplace of David and of Christ. It was in the tribe of Judah, six miles south by west of Jerusalem, and probably received its appellation from the fertility of the circumjacent country. This also gave it its ancient name Ephrath, fruitful, Ge 48:7 Mic 5:2. It was beautifully situated on an oblong ridge, twenty-seven hundred feet above the level of the sea, and affording a fine view in every direction. The hills around it were terraced, and clothed with vines, fig trees, and almonds; and the valleys around it bore rich crops of grain. It was fortified by Rehoboam, 2Ch 11:6, but was comparatively an unimportant place, Mic 5:1, and is not mentioned by Joshua or Nehemiah among the cities of Judah. Its memory is delightfully associated with the names of Boaz and Ruth; it is celebrated as the birthplace and city of David, 1Sa 17:12,15 20:6 2Sa 23:14-17 but above all, it is hallowed as the place where the Redeemer was born. Over that lovely spot the guiding star hovered; there the eastern sages worshipped the King of kings, and there where David watched his flock and praised God, were heard the songs of the angelic host at the Savior’s birth, Lu 2:8. Bethlehem is now called Beit-lahm, and contains about three thousand inhabitants, almost exclusively nominal Christians. Half a mile north is the spot pointed out by traditional as Rachel’s tomb, Ge 35:16-20; and about two miles south-west are the great reservoirs described under Solomon’s Pools. 2. An unknown place in Zebulun, Jos 19:15 Jud 12:10, in distinction from which the city of David was often called Bethlehem-Judah.

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Bethlehem. Bethlehem
House of bread. (1.) 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. (See VERSION.)

(2.) A city of Zebulun, mentioned only in Josh. 19:15. Now Beit-Lahm, a ruined village about 6 miles west-north-west of Nazareth.

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BETHLEHEM. 1. A city southwest of Jerusalem Jud 17:7; 19:18
* Called EPHRATAH and EPHRATH Ge 48:7; Ps 132:6; Mic 5:2
* And BETH-LEHEM-JUDAH Jud 17:7-9; 19:1,18; Ru 1:1; 1Sa 17:12
* Rachel dies and is buried at Ge 35:16,19; 48:7
* The city of Boaz Ru 1:1,19; 2:4; 4
* Taken and held by the Philistines 2Sa 23:14-16
* Jeroboam converts it into a military stronghold 2Ch 11:6
* The city of Joseph Mt 2:5,6; Lu 2:4
* Birthplace of Jesus Mic 5:2; Mt 2; Lu 2:4,15
* Herod murders the infants of Mt 2:16-18

2. A town of Zebulun, six miles west of Nazareth Jos 19:15
* Israel judged at Jud 12:10

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(house of bread). One of the oldest towns in Palestine, already in existence at the time of Jacob’s return to the country. Its earliest name was EPHRATAH, OR EPHRATH or EPHRATAH. See (Genesis 35:16,19; 48:7) After the conquest Bethlehem appears under its own name, BETHLEHEM-JUDAH. (Judges 17:7; 1 Samuel 17:12; Ruth 1:1,2) The book of Ruth is a page from the domestic history of Bethlehem. It was the home of Ruth, (Ruth 1:19) and of David. (1 Samuel 17:12) It was fortified by Rehoboam. (2 Chronicles 11:6) It was here that our Lord was born, (Matthew 2:1) and here that he was visited by the shepherds, (Luke 2:15-17) and the Magi. Matt 2. The modern town of Beit-lahm lies to the east of the main road from Jerusalem to Hebron, six miles from the former. It covers the east and northeast parts of the ridge of a long gray hill of Jura limestone, which stands nearly due east and west, and is about a mile in length. The hill has a deep valley on the north and another on the south. On the top lies the village in a kind of irregular triangle. The population is about 3000 souls, entirely Christians. The Church of the Nativity, built by the empress Helena A.D. 330, is the oldest Christian church in existence. It is built over the grotto where Christ is supposed to have been born. A town in the portion of Zebulun, named nowhere but in (Joshua 19:15) Now known as Beit-lahm .

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Beth″le‐hem (�), n. [[Heb. bēth-lekhem house of food; bēth house + lekhem food, lākham to eat. Formerly the name of a hospital for the insane, in London, which had been the priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem. Cf. Bedlam.]] 1. 1. A hospital for lunatics; — corrupted into bedlam.
2. 2. (Arch.) In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the eucharist is made. Audsley.