Pictures and information about Bethlehem the birth place of Jesus Christ
B E T H L E H E M
Hebrew and Aramaic for “house of bread” town in the
West
Bank, near
Jerusalem, controlled since
1967 by Israel though administered
since 1995 by the Palestinian Authority. The town is specified in the Bible as
the birthplace of both David (king of
Judah and
Israel) and Jesus Christ.
Originally called Aphrath, the town is also referred to as Bethlehem-Judah to
distinguish it from another Bethlehem (see Joshua
19:15-16) in the
territory of the tribe of Zebulun.
Bethlehem is first
mentioned in the Old Testament as the place where Rachel, the wife of the
patriarch Jacob, was buried (see Genesis 35:19). According to the Book of Ruth,
it later became the home of King David's ancestors and of David himself (see 1
Samuel 17:12). In the Book of
Micah, Bethlehem is mentioned as the
birthplace of the future Messiah (see Micah 5:2).
With the
exception of Saint Mark, the authors of the Gospels claim
Bethlehem as the birthplace
of Christ and the town is thus regarded by Christians as a holy place. Bethlehem
contains one of the oldest churches in the world, the Church of the Nativity,
built by Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome, in 330 AD on the traditional
site of the nativity. Despite rebuilding by the Roman Emperor Justinian I in the
6th century, much of the original church still stands, and the shrine is visited
continuously by pilgrims from all branches of Christianity. The town is also
known as Bayt Lahm.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "`But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so
that I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
