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Bethlehem
by Michael
F. Bird
In the aftermath of the Babylonian conquest of Judah and Jerusalem, the Jewish
community was left without a king — a situation that would gradually give rise
to messianic expectations about the restoration of the Davidic dynasty.
Bethlehem is familiar to readers of the Bible principally
because that city was prophesied to be the location where a new Davidic king
would be born and, according to the story of the nativity, it is the place of Jesus’s birth (see Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-18; Luke 2:1-20; John 7:42).
What was the significance of
Bethlehem in ancient Israel?
Bethlehem of Judah is located 8 kilometers (5 miles)
south-southwest of Jerusalem with an elevation of 762 meters (2500 feet).
The city is situated within the hill country of Judah,
part of a central mountain range that runs north-south through much of Palestine (the ancient Roman name for the region).
But note that there is another Bethlehem located in
Galilee, a village in the tribal territory of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15).
The origins of Judean Bethlehem are uncertain, but archaeological records
indicate that it existed as far back as the fourteenth century B.C.E.
Excavations of the city have shown evidence of Bronze
and Iron Age settlements.
The city is first mentioned in the Bible in connection
with the nearby Ephrath as the burial place for Rachel, the wife of the
patriarch Jacob (Genesis 35:19, Genesis 48:7).
Salma, a grandson of Caleb, is called the “father of
Bethlehem” (1 Chronicles 2:51) and is associated
with its founding.
The city was probably established as an Israelite settlement
during the time of Judges (ca. 12th-11th
centuries B.C.E.).
Bethlehem is most well-known for its association with
epic violence and Davidic kingship.
Bethlehem was the home of an Ephraimite Levite and his
concubine, and her murder sparked an intertribal war that resulted in the near
destruction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19-20).
But it was not all blood and gore! Bethlehem had a close
association with the Davidic monarchy and the hope for a new David in the postexilic era.
In the book of Ruth, Elimelek and Naomi were from
Bethlehem, and Naomi returned to Bethlehem from Moab with her widowed
daughter-in-law Ruth, who soon married her kinsman-redeemer Boaz.
In that story, Boaz and Ruth were the ancestors of King
David (Ruth 4:17-22).
The prophet Samuel anointed David as King of Israel in
Bethlehem (1Samuel 16:1-13).
In the postexilic period, the prophet Micah prophesied that God was going to
raise up a new Davidic king from the city of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
Thus, Bethlehem was the place where David’s reign began
and from which a new Davidic king would again come.
Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem?
The evangelists Matthew and Luke both narrate that Jesus
was born in Bethlehem.
However, many scholars conclude that Jesus was probably
born in Nazareth rather than in Bethlehem, arguing that New Testament authors often tended to portray Jesus as the
fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures; therefore, they may have made up the
story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem as a way of interpreting Micah 5:2 in hindsight.
In addition, an empire-wide census that required everyone to return to their
hometowns strikes many scholars as implausible (Luke 2:1-4).
Then again, Bethlehem did not figure widely in Jewish
messianic hopes, and there was no absolute necessity to spin a story about
Jesus born in Bethlehem in order to legitimize him as Messiah (Mark and Paul do
not seem to know of any tradition about Jesus born in Bethlehem and yet still
think of Jesus as the Messiah).
And while an empire-wide census is certainly unlikely,
the need to return to ancestral lands to claim property or to register for taxation
was not unprecedented.
In any event, according to some New Testament writers,
Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
This claim also related Jesus implicitly to the tradition
of Davidic kingship, which had messianic overtones.
Michael F. Bird, "Bethlehem", n.p. [cited 6 Oct
2019]. Online: https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/places/main-articles/bethlehem
The city of Bethlehem, located several kilometers south of Jerusalem, was an Israelite town where David was anointed king of Israel and, according to Christian tradition, was also the birthplace of Jesus.
The city of Bethlehem, located several kilometers south of Jerusalem, was an Israelite town where David was anointed king of Israel and, according to Christian tradition, was also the birthplace of Jesus.
Did you know…?
· In Hebrew, beth-lehem means literally “house of bread.”
· The birth of Jesus
probably took place around 6 B.C.E. rather than 1 C.E.
· The Greek
word kataluma more properly means “guest room” rather
than “inn.”
· Jesus was born in
a stable, not because all the hotels were full but because the guest room of
the relatives with whom Joseph and Mary were staying was already overcrowded
with guests.
· Today Bethlehem (Bet Lahm in Arabic) is located in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories
and has a population of 25,000.
Michael
F. Bird
Lecturer, Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry
Lecturer, Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry
Michael Bird is lecturer in
theology at Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry in Melbourne,
Australia. He is the author of The Saving Righteousness of God (Wipf
& Stock, 2007), Jesus Is the Christ: The Messianic Testimony of the
Gospels (IVP Academic, 2013), and A Bird’s-Eye View of Paul (Intervarsity
Press, 2008).
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