Bethlehem
בֵּית לֶחֶם
Where was biblical Bethlehem? At Bethlehem, about 9 km south of Jerusalem. I mark it certain.
Ruth the Moabite came here with Naomi at the start of the barley harvest and gleaned behind the reapers of Boaz. A few generations later Samuel came quietly to the house of Jesse and anointed his youngest son, the shepherd boy no one had thought to call in from the field.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Bethlehem, about 9 km south of Jerusalem
- How sure
- Certain The name, the sources and the finds all agree.
- Other names
- Beit Lechem, Bethlehem of Judah, Ephrath, Ephratah, Bayt Lahm
- Location
- 31.7054° N, 35.2024° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The name never broke. In Arabic the town is still Bayt Lahm. It sits on the watershed road south of Jerusalem, and that fits every reference in the Tanach. Rachel dies "on the road to Ephrat, which is Bethlehem." Micah promises a ruler from "Bethlehem Ephrata." David, hiding in the cave of Adullam, longs for a drink from the cistern by Bethlehem's gate.
The ground adds a small witness. A clay seal found in the City of David reads "Bat Lehem." Someone in this Judean town was sending goods up to Jerusalem in the age of the kings.
The ancient town lay on the ridge where the Church of the Nativity stands today. Galilee had a second Bethlehem, in the tribe of Zebulun, but that is a different town.
Ruth's story ends here too. She married Boaz in Bethlehem, and their son Obed was the grandfather of David. David carries two lines. One is the royal line of Judah. The other is Ruth, the convert who chose this people. Both run through this town.
Bethlehem is high ground. David's walk down to face Goliath was a long one. I have hiked it myself, from Bethlehem down to the Elah Valley, with my son Dovi. It takes four to five hours.
Watch: David and Goliath
Walking Tanach, Episode 3. Retells Ruth's gleaning and David's anointing, with a threshing demo.
Visiting today
The Church of the Nativity stands on the ancient ridge. Rachel's Tomb is at the town's northern entrance. The Walking Tanach episode David and Goliath, opens with Bethlehem in the distance.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Bethlehem on the interactive map →
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