Bethlehem

Bethlehem is located about 5 miles to the southwest of Jerusalem. The city sits on the border of a well-watered and fertile region and a dry area that leads to the wilderness of Judea. No springs exist in the city. Cisterns are used for collecting and storing water.

The name Bethlehem has been translated in a variety of ways including "house of fighting" and "house of Lahamu," a god. The most popular translation is "house of bread."

The Armana letters mention a Bit-Lahmi, which might well be Bethlehem. If so, this would be the earliest mention (before 1300 B.C.E.) of the city outside the Bible.

The earliest mention of Bethlehem in the Hebrew Bible is in Gen. 35:19 which states that Rachel was buried on the way to Bethlehem. The Levite who became priest to the tribe of Dan was from Bethlehem (Judg. 17:7) as was the doomed concubine of another Levite (Judg. 19:1). The account of Ruth occurs in and around Bethlehem (Ruth 1:1,19,22; 2:4; 4:11). Bethlehem achieved its greatest fame as the home of David, Israel's greatest king (1 Sam. 16:1, 17:12). In the 5th century B.C.E. some of the returning exiles settled in Bethlehem (Ezra 2:21, Neh. 7:26).

Photograph from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97