Difference between revisions of "Bethlehem"

<p> <b> BETHLEHEM. </b> —Two towns of this name are mentioned in the Old Testament. <b> 1. </b> [[Bethlehem]] (בֵּיתלֶחָם ‘house of bread’) of Zebulun, &nbsp;Joshua 19:15. The site is now occupied by a miserable village, 6 miles south-west of [[Sepphoris]] and about the same distance north-west of Nazareth, in a well-wooded district of country, planted with oaks (Robinson, Researches, iii. 113). That this Bethlehem cannot have been the scene of the Nativity, near as it is to Nazareth, is clear from the fact that both St. Matthew and St. Luke expressly place the birth of Christ at Bethlehem of Judaea. These narratives being independent of each other and derived from different sources, we have for the southern Bethlehem the convergence of two distinct traditions. These two [[Evangelists]] are joined in their testimony by the author of the Fourth Gospel, who assumes acquaintance on the part of his readers with the story of the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, the Bethlehem associated with David and his royal line. ‘Some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the [[Scripture]] said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was?’ (&nbsp;John 7:41-42). It is noteworthy that Bethlehem is never mentioned as having been visited by our Lord or in any way associated with His ministry. But all [[Christian]] history and tradition maintain that the southern Bethlehem was the scene of the Nativity. </p> <p> <b> 2. </b> Bethlehem of Judah (בּ״יְהוּדָה &nbsp;Judges 17:7; &nbsp;Judges 17:9, &nbsp;Ruth 1:1-2 etc.) or [[Judaea]] (&nbsp;Matthew 2:1, &nbsp;Luke 2:4). This town (the modern Lahm) is situated about 6 miles S.S.W. of Jerusalem, lying high up on a grey limestone ridge running from east to west, and occupying the projecting summits at each end, with a sort of saddle between. The ridge rises to a height of 2550 ft. above sea-level, and falls away in terraced slopes on all sides, the descent to the north and east being specially steep. The terraces, as they sweep in graceful curves round the ridge from top to bottom, give to the little town the appearance of an amphitheatre, and serve to make to the approaching traveller a picture which closer acquaintance does not wholly disappoint. The names by which it has been known for millenniums, and is still known, are expressive of the fertility of the place—-lehcm, ‘house of bread,’ and -Lahm, ‘house of flesh.’ The hillsides around, merging into the hill country of Judaea, though they look bare to the eye at a distance, afford pastures for flocks of sheep and goats. The valleys below and the fields lying to the east produce crops of wheat and barley, as in the days when Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz; and the terraced slopes, under diligent cultivation, bear olives, almonds, pomegranates, figs, and vines. Wine and honey are named among the most notable of its natural products, and the wine of Bethlehem is said to be preferable to that of Jerusalem. </p> <p> The modern town is highly picturesque. There is just one main street or thoroughfare, extending about half a mile, and largely occupied by workshops, which are little better than arches open to the street. The population is differently given as from 4000 to 8000 souls. [[Palmer]] (‘Das jetzige Bethlehem’ in <i> ZDP </i> V [Note: DPV Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins.] xvii. 90), writing in 1893, and founding upon personally ascertained figures, gives 8035 as the population, which he classifies in respect of religion as follows: Latins, 3827; Greeks, 3662; Moslems, 260; Armenians, 185; Protestants, 54; [[Copts]] and Syrians, 47. The small number of [[Moslems]] is said to be due to the severity of Ibrahim Pasha, who drove out the Moslem inhabitants and demolished their houses in the insurrection of 1834. It will be observed from the above enumeration that Bethlehem does not contain a single Jew. As in [[Nazareth]] so in Bethlehem, the associations with Jesus make residence repugnant to the Jews, and they have accordingly no desire to settle in the Christian [[Holy]] Places. They are, in fact, tolerated only as temporary visitors, but not as residents. ‘In the cradle of his royal race,’ says [[Canon]] Tristram ( <i> Bible Places </i> , p. 72), ‘the Jew is even more a stranger than in any other spot of his own land; and during the Middle Ages neither Crusader nor Saracen suffered him to settle there.’ The inhabitants of Bethlehem are of superior physique and comeliness. The men have a character for energy and even turbulence; the women are noticeable for their graceful carriage and becoming attire. In the crowds which throng the Church of the Holy [[Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]] at the [[Easter]] services, the women of Bethlehem, wearing a light veil descending on each side of the face, and closed across the bosom, with a low but handsome headdress composed of strings of silver coins plaited in among the hair and hanging down below the chin as a sort of necklace,—are easily recognizable, and make a favourable impression. The industries of Bethlehem, apart from the cultivation of the soil, are intimately associated with the Nativity, consisting of memorial relics and souvenirs manufactured for sale to the thousands of pilgrims and tourists who visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem every year. Models of the cave of the Nativity, figures of Christ and the Virgin, apostles and saints, are in great demand. [[Olive]] wood, and mother-of-pearl obtained from the Red Sea, with basaltic stone from the neighbourhood of the [[Dead]] Sea, are carved and wrought into useful and ornamental articles with no small degree of skill and taste. Palmer mentions ( <i> l.c. </i> p. 91) that an increasing number of the inhabitants go abroad with their products,—their mother-of-pearl carvings and other wares,—and, especially in America, find a good return for their enterprise. </p> <p> Bethlehem, notwithstanding its royal associations and its renown as the birthplace of the world’s Redeemer, has never been, and is never likely to be, more in the eye of the world than ‘little among the thousands of Judah’ (&nbsp;Micah 5:2). ‘In spite,’ says Palmer, ‘of the numerous visits of strangers and pilgrims, which are year by year on the increase, and in spite of the market-place which Bethlehem affords for the whole neighbourhood, and especially for the Bedawîn, who come from long distances from the southern end of the Dead Sea to make their purchases of clothing, tools, and weapons, and to leave the produce of their harvest and their pastures, Bethlehem appears likely to remain, unencumbered by trade and progress, what it has been for many years bygone—a shrunken, untidy village.’ Even so, it can never be deprived of its associations with the Messianic King of Israel, ‘whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (&nbsp;Micah 5:2), associations which exalt it to the loftiest eminence, and surround it with a glory that cannot fade. These associations in their salient features are now to be set forth. </p> <p> It is in the early patriarchal history that we meet first with Bethlehem, under its ancient name of Ephrath.* [Note: But see Driver, [[Genesis]] (in ‘Westminster Commentaries’), p. 311, and in Hastings’ DB iv. 193a.] ‘When I came from Padan,’ said Jacob on his deathbed, recounting to [[Joseph]] in Egypt his chequered history, ‘Rachel died by me in the land of [[Canaan]] in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem’ (&nbsp;Genesis 48:7; cf. &nbsp;Genesis 35:9 ff.). The sacred historian records that Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: ‘that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day’ (&nbsp;Genesis 35:20). Rachel’s grave is marked now by a Mohammedan wely, or monumental mosque, at the point where the Bethlehem road breaks off the road leading from Jerusalem to Hebron; and though the monument has been repaired and renewed from generation to generation, it serves still to recall a real event, and to distinguish the spot where Rachel’s ‘strength failed her, and she sank, as did all the ancient saints, on the way to the birthplace of hope’ (Dr. John Ker, <i> Sermons </i> , 8th ed. p. 153). Bethlehem becomes more definitely associated with the Messianic hope when it becomes the home of Ruth the Moabitess, the ancestress of David and of David’s greater Son. From the heights near Bethlehem a glimpse is obtained of the Dead Sea—the sea of Lot—shimmering at the foot of the long blue wall of the mountains of Moab; and the land of [[Moab]] seems to have had close relations with Bethlehem and its people in patriarchal as well as later times. With Ruth the Moabitess, through her marriage with Boaz, the ‘mighty man of wealth’ of Bethlehem-judah (&nbsp;Ruth 2:1), there entered a strain of [[Gentile]] blood,—although we remember that Lot, the ancestor of Moab, was the nephew of the great ancestor of Israel—into the pedigree of Christ according to the flesh (&nbsp;Matthew 1:5), as if in token that, in a day still far off, Jew and Gentile should be one in Him. With David, the great-grandson of Ruth, there entered the royal element into the genealogy of Jesus; and Bethlehem has no associations more sacred and tender than its associations with the shepherd king of Israel, unless it be those that link it for ever with God manifest in the flesh. The stream of Messianic hope, as it flows onwards and broadens from age to age, is not unlike that river of Spain which for a considerable part of its course flows underground, and only at intervals miles apart throws up pools to the surface, which the inhabitants call ‘the eyes’ of the Guadiana. The pools trace the onward progress of the river, till at length it bursts forth in a broad stream seeking the distant sea. So the hope of a great [[Deliverer]] from spiritual misery and death flows onward in the story of God’s ancient people, throwing up its pools in the days of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah and the prophets; and Micah indicates the direction of its flow with more explicitness than any who went before when he says: ‘But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (&nbsp;Micah 5:2). When the fulness of the time had come, the Messianic hope became the place of broad rivers and streams which we so happily know and enjoy, and the glad tidings was heard on the plains of Bethlehem, addressed to the watchful shepherds: ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord’ (&nbsp;Luke 2:10-11). </p> <p> The story of the [[Nativity]] is told by St. Matthew and St. Luke with a simplicity and delicacy and beauty which are of themselves an evidence of its historical truth. Both narratives, as has been indicated, assign to Bethlehem the high honour of being the place of the Nativity and the scene of the stupendous fact of the Incarnation. The details are too familiar to require rehearsal here. </p> <p> There is one particular handed down by early Christian tradition which may be regarded not as a variation from, but an addition to, the Evangelic narrative,—the statement made by Justin [[Martyr]] (a.d. 140–150), and repeated in the Apocryphal Gospels, that the birth of Jesus took place in a cave. Justin ( <i> Dialogue with [[Trypho]] </i> , ch. 78) relates that, since Joseph had in that village no place where to lodge, he lodged in a cave near by. Justin relates other particulars which may have come to him—he was a native of Nablûs, not 40 miles from Bethlehem—by oral tradition or from apocryphal narratives: such as that the [[Magi]] came <i> from [[Arabia]] </i> , and that Herod slew <i> all </i> the children of Bethlehem. That the stable where the [[Infant]] [[Saviour]] was born may have been a cava is quite in keeping with the practice of utilizing the limestone caves of the hill country of Judaea as places of shelter for cattle and other beasts. Those Apocryphal [[Gospels]] which deal with the infancy, notably the <i> [[Protevangelium]] Jacobi </i> and the <i> pseudo-Matthaeus </i> , make mention of the cave. Pseudo-Matthaeus (ch. 13) says, ‘The angel commanded the beast to stop, for her time to bear had come; and he directed the Blessed Mary to come down from the animal and to enter a cave below a cavern in which there was never any light, but always darkness, because it could not receive the light of day. And when the Blessed Mary had entered it, it began to become light with all lightness, as if it had been the sixth hour of the day.… And then she brought forth a male child, whom angels instantly surrounded at His birth, and whom, when born and standing at once upon His feet, they adored, saying, Glory to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will.’ The <i> Protevangelium </i> relates the story with curious imagery (ch. 18). ‘And he [Joseph] found a cave there and took her in, and set his sons by her, and he went out and sought a midwife in the country of Bethlehem. And I Joseph walked and I walked not; and I looked up into the sky and saw the sky violently agitated; and I looked up at the pole of heaven, and I saw it standing still and the birds of the air still; and I directed my gaze on the earth, and I saw a vessel lying and workmen reclining by it and their hands in the vessel, and those who handled did not handle it, and those who presented it to the mouth did not present it, but the faces of all were looking up; and I saw the sheep scattered and the sheep stood, and the shepherd lifted up his hand to strike them and his hand remained up; and I looked at the stream of the river, and I saw that the mouths of the kids were down and not drinking; and everything which was being impelled forward was intercepted in its course.’ </p> <p> The <i> Protevangelium Jacobi </i> is generally recognized as belonging to the 2nd cent., and its testimony is a valuable confirmation of the early Christian tradition. Few scholars, if any, will agree in assigning it the place of importance attributed to it recently by the fantastic theory of Conrady ( <i> Die Quelle der kanonischen Kindheitsgeschichten [[Jesu]] </i> , Göttingen, 1900), who regarda the <i> Protevangelium </i> as the source of the [[Gospel]] narrative a of the Infancy. The author of it, according to him, in an Egyptian, most likely of Alexandria, who introduces Bethlehem into the narrative not because of its place in [[Hebrew]] prophecy, but because it was formerly a seat of the worship of Isis, and he wishes to incorporate this worship with Christianity. In concert with the priests of [[Isis]] and Serapis, he aided with his inventive pen the appropriation of this sacred site by the Church, and it was from the <i> Protevangelium </i> that the writers of the First and Third Gospels drew their separate narratives of the Infancy. Conrady returns to the subject with an article full of equally curious and perverted learning in <i> S </i> K [Note: K Studien und Kritiken.] , 1904, Heft 2, ‘Die Flucht nach aegypten.’ </p> <p> It is in the 4th century that Bethlehem begins to receive that veneration as a Christian Holy Place in which it is now equalled only by Jerusalem and Nazareth. As early as Justin Martyr attention is specially directed to Bethlehem as the birthplace of the world’s Redeemer. In addition to the reference, already mentioned, to the cave, we find Justin quoting the well-known prophecy of Isaiah (33:16ff.), ‘He shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock,’ in the same connexion ( <i> Dialogue with Trypho </i> , ch. 70). Even earlier than Justin’s day it would appear that this particular cave was venerated by the followers of Christ; for, as [[Jerome]] tells in one of his letters to Paulinus, the emperor [[Hadrian]] (a.d. 117–138), in his zeal to extirpate the very remembrance of Christ, caused a grove sacred to [[Adonis]] to be planted over the grotto of the Nativity, as he caused a temple to [[Venus]] to be erected over the site of the sepulchre of our Lord. [[Origen]] ( <i> circa (about) </i> <i> Celsum </i> , i. 51) says: ‘If any one desires certainty as to the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem apart from the Gospels and Micah’s prophecy, let him know that in conformity with the narrative in the Gospel regarding His birth there is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was born and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And this sign is greatly talked of in surrounding places, even among the enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was born that Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians.’ The site is now marked by the oldest church in Christendom, the Church of St. Mary of the Nativity, built by order of the [[Emperor]] Constantine. It is a massive pile of buildings extending along the ridge from west to east, and comprising the church proper with the three convents, Latin, Greek, and Armenian, abutting respectively upon its north-eastern, south-eastern, and south-western extremities. The proportions of the church and its related structures are more commanding from its elevation and from the shabbiness of the town in comparison. The nave of the church is common to all the sects, and is shared by them together—Latins, Greeks, Armenians. From the double line of [[Corinthian]] pillars sustaining the basilica sixteen centuries look down upon the visitor, and the footsteps of nearly fifty generations of [[Christians]] have trodden the ground upon which he treads. Says Dean Stanley: ‘The long double lines of Corinthian pillars, the faded mosaics, the rough ceiling of beams of cedar from [[Lebanon]] still preserve the outlines of the church, once blazing with gold and marble, in which [[Baldwin]] was crowned, and which received its latest repairs from our own English [[Edward]] iv.’ ( <i> [[Sinai]] and [[Palestine]] </i> , p. 433). It is the subterranean vault that continues to be of perennial interest. Descending the steps from the raised floor of the eastern end of the nave, and turning sharply to the left, the visitor finds a half-sunk arched doorway which leads down by thirteen steps to the [[Chapel]] of the Nativity—the rude cave now paved: and walled with marble and lighted up by numerous lamps. This chamber is about 40 feet from east to west, 16 feet wide, and 10 feet high. The roof is covered with what had once been striped cloth of gold. At the east end there is a shrine where fifteen silver lamps burn night and day, and in the floor, let into the pavement, a silver star of Greek pattern marks the very spot of the Nativity with the inscription: ‘ <i> Hic de Virgine Mariâ Jesus Christus natus est. </i> ’ To the Christian the associations of the place make it full of impressiveness, and the visitor has no more sacred or tender recollections of holy ground than those which cluster round the Church and the Grotto of the Nativity. Not far off is a cave, cut out of the same limestone ridge, which was the abode of St. Jerome for over thirty years. Here, with the noble ladies whom he had won to the religious life, [[Paula]] and her daughter Eustochium, he laboured <i> totus in lectione, totus in libris </i> , preparing the [[Vulgate]] translation of the Holy Scriptures, which for more than a thousand years was the Bible of Western Christendom, and is a powerful tribute to his piety and learning. ‘It is the touch of Christ that has made Bethlehem’ (Kelman and Fnlleylove, <i> The Holy Land </i> , p. 234). And the touch of Christ is making itself felt still in the works of Christian philanthropy and missionary zeal that are being performed there. There are schools and other missionary agencies maintained by [[Protestants]] and Roman Catholics to instruct in His truth and to enrich with His grace the community who occupy the place of His birth. Bethlehem appears among the stations of the Church Missionary Society, and the work done there among women and girls has borne good fruit. The Germans have built an [[Evangelical]] Church, which was dedicated in 1893. There is much superstition and error among the nominally Christian inhabitants of the place, but the efforts of the [[Protestant]] and Roman [[Catholic]] missionaries have stirred up the Greek [[Orthodox]] and Armenian Christians to activity for the moral and spiritual welfare of their people. </p> <p> Literature.—Andrews, <i> Life of our Lord </i> 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , p. 82; Cunningham Geikie, <i> The Holy Land and the Bible </i> ; Stanley, <i> Sinai and Palestine </i> ; Kelman, <i> The Holy Land </i> ; Sanday, <i> [[Sacred]] Sites of the Gospels </i> ; [[G. A]]  Smith, <i> Histor. Geog. of Holy Land </i> ; <i> The Survey of Western Palestine </i> , vol. iii.; Ramsay, <i> Was Christ born at Bethlehem </i> ?; Palmer, ‘Das jetzige Bethlehem’ in <i> ZDP </i> V [Note: DPV Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins.] xvii.; articles in Kitto’s <i> Cyclop. </i> , <i> PR </i> E [Note: RE Real-Encyklopädie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] 3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , Vigonroux’s) <i> Dictionnaire de la Bible </i> , Smith’s <i> D </i> B [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] , Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, and <i> Encyclopaedia Biblica </i> . </p> <p> T. Nicol. </p>

<p> a city in the tribe of Judah, &nbsp;Judges 17:7; and likewise called Ephrath, &nbsp;Genesis 48:7; or Ephratah, &nbsp;Micah 5:2; and the inhabitants of it, Ephrathites, &nbsp;Ruth 1:2; &nbsp;1 Samuel 17:12 . Here David was born, and spent his early years as a shepherd. And here also the scene of the beautiful narrative of Ruth is supposed to be laid. But its highest honour is, that here our divine Lord condescended to be born of woman:—"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." Travellers describe the first view of Bethlehem as imposing. The town appears covering the ridge of a hill on the southern side of a deep and extensive valley, and reaching from east to west. The most conspicuous object is the monastery erected over the supposed "Cave of the Nativity;" its walls and battlements have the air of a large fortress. From this same point, the Dead Sea is seen below on the left, seemingly very near, "but," says Sandys, "not so found by the traveller; for these high, declining mountains are not to be directly descended." The road winds round the top of a valley which tradition has fixed on as the scene of the angelic vision which announced the birth of our Lord to the shepherds; but different spots have been selected, the Romish authorities not being agreed on this head. Bethlehem (called in the New [[Testament]] Bethlehem Ephrata and Bethlehem of Judea, to distinguish it from Bethlehem of Zabulon) is situated on a rising ground, about two hours' distance, or not quite six miles from Jerusalem. Here the traveller meets with a repetition of the same puerilities and disgusting mummery which he has witnessed at the church of the sepulchre. "The stable," to use the words of Pococke, "in which our Lord was born, is a <em> grotto </em> cut out of the rock, according to the eastern custom." It is astonishing to find so intelligent a writer as Dr. [[E. D]]  Clarke gravely citing St. Jerom, who wrote in the fifth century, as an authority for the truth of the absurd legend by which the cave of the nativity is supposed to be identified. The ancient tombs and excavations are occasionally used by the Arabs as places of shelter; but the Gospel narrative affords no countenance to the notion that the [[Virgin]] took refuge in any cave of this description. On the contrary, it was evidently a manger belonging to the inn or khan: in other words, the upper rooms being wholly occupied, the holy family were compelled to take up their abode in the court allotted to the mules and horses, or other animals. But the New Testament was not the guide which was followed by the mother of Constantine, to whom the original church owed its foundation. The present edifice is represented by Chateaubriand as of undoubtedly high antiquity; yet Doubdan, an old traveller, says that the monastery was destroyed in the year 1263 by the Moslems; and in its present state, at all events, it cannot lay claim to a higher date. The convent is divided among the Greek, Roman, and Armenian Christians, to each of whom separate parts are assigned as places of worship and habitations for the monks, but, on certain days, all may perform their devotions at the altars erected over the consecrated spots. The church is built in the form of a cross; the nave being adorned with forty-eight Corinthian columns in four rows, each column being two feet six inches in diameter, and eighteen feet high, including the base and the capital. The nave, which is in possession of the Armenians, is separated from the three other branches of the cross by a wall, so that the unity of the edifice is destroyed. The top of the cross is occupied by the choir, which belongs to the Greeks. Here is an altar dedicated to the wise men of the east, at the foot of which is a marble star, corresponding, as the monks say, to the point of the heavens where the miraculous meteor became stationary, and directly over the spot where the Saviour was born in the subterranean church below! A flight of fifteen steps, and a long narrow passage, conduct to the sacred crypt or grotto of the nativity, which is thirty-seven feet six inches long, by eleven feet three inches in breadth, and nine feet high. It is lined and floored with marble, and provided on each side with five oratories, "answering precisely to the ten cribs or stalls for horses that the stable in which our Saviour was born contained!" The precise spot of the birth is marked by a glory in the floor, composed of marble and jasper encircled with silver, around which are inscribed the words, <em> Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est </em> [Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.] Over it is a marble table or altar, which rests against the side of the rock, here cut into an arcade. The <em> manager </em> is at the distance of seven paces from the altar; it is in a low recess hewn out of the rock, to which you descend by two steps, and consists of a block of marble, raised about a foot and a half above the floor, and hollowed out in the form of a manger. Before it is the altar of the Magi. The chapel is illuminated by thirty-two lamps, presented by different princes of Christendom. Chateaubriand has described the scene in his usual florid and imaginative style: "Nothing can be more pleasing, or better calculated to excite devotional sentiments, than this subterraneous church. It is adorned with pictures of the [[Italian]] and Spanish schools, which represent the mysteries of the place. The usual ornaments of the manger are of blue satin, embroidered with silver. [[Incense]] is continually burning before the cradle of our Saviour. I have heard an organ, touched by no ordinary hand, play, during mass, the sweetest and most tender tunes of the best Italian composers. These concerts charm the Christian Arab, who, leaving his camels to feed, repairs, like the shepherds of old, to Bethlehem, to adore the King of kings in the manger. I have seen this inhabitant of the desert communicate at the altar of the Magi, with a fervour, a piety, a devotion, unknown among the Christians of the west. The continual arrival of caravans from all the nations of Christendom; the public prayers; the prostrations; nay, even the richness of the presents sent here by the Christian princes, altogether produce feelings in the soul, which it is much easier to conceive than to describe." </p> <p> Such are the illusions which the Roman superstition casts over this extraordinary scene! In another subterraneous chapel, tradition places the sepulchre of the Innocents. From this, the pilgrim is conducted to the grotto of St. Jerom, where they show the tomb of that father, who passed great part of his life in this place; and who, in the grotto shown as his oratory, is said to have translated that version of the Bible which has been adopted by the church of Rome, and is called the Vulgate. He died at the advanced age of ninety-one, A.D. 422. The village of Bethlehem contains about three hundred inhabitants, the greater part of whom gain their livelihood by making beads, carving mother-of-pearl shells with sacred subjects, and manufacturing small tables and crucifixes, all which are eagerly purchased by the pilgrims. </p> <p> Bethlehem has been visited by many modern travellers. The following notice of it by Dr. [[E. D]]  Clarke will be read with interest: "After travelling for about an hour from the time of our leaving Jerusalem, we came in view of Bethlehem, and halted to enjoy the interesting sight. The town appeared covering the ridge of a hill on the southern side of a deep and extensive valley, and reaching from east to west; the most conspicuous object being the monastery, erected over the cave of the nativity, in the suburbs, and upon the eastern side. The battlements and walls of this building seemed like those of a vast fortress. The Dead Sea below, upon our left, appeared so near to us that we thought we could have rode thither in a very short space of time. Still nearer stood a mountain upon its western shore, resembling in its form the cone of [[Vesuvius]] near Naples, and having also a crater upon its top which was plainly discernible. The distance, however, is much greater than it appears to be; the magnitude of the objects beheld in this fine prospect causing them to appear less remote than they really are. The atmosphere was remarkably clear and serene; but we saw none of those clouds of smoke, which, by some writers, are said to exhale from the surface of the lake, nor from any neighbouring mountain. Every thing about it was in the highest degree grand and awful. Bethlehem is six miles from Jerusalem. [[Josephus]] describes the interval between the two cities as equal only to twenty stadia; and in the passage referred to, he makes an allusion to a celebrated well, which, both from the account given by him of its situation, and more especially from the text of the sacred Scriptures, &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:15 , seems to have contained the identical fountain, of whose pure and delicious water we were now drinking. [[Considered]] merely in point of interest, the narrative is not likely to be surpassed by any circumstance of [[Pagan]] history. David, being a native of Bethlehem, calls to mind, during the sultry days of harvest, &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:13 , a well near the gate of the town, the delicious waters of which he had often tasted; and expresses an earnest desire to assuage his thirst by drinking of that limpid spring. ‘And David longed, and said, [[O]] that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!' The exclamation is overheard by ‘three of the mighty men whom David had,' namely, Adino, Eleazar, and Shamnah, &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:8-9; &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:11 . These men sallied forth, and having fought their way through the garrison of the [[Philistines]] at Bethlehem, &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:14 , ‘drew water from the well that was by the gate,' on the other side of the town, and brought it to David. Coming into his presence, they present to him the surprising testimony of their valour and affection. The aged monarch receives from their hands a pledge they had so dearly earned, but refuses to drink of water every drop of which had been purchased with blood, &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:17 . He returns thanks to the Almighty, who had vouchsafed the deliverance of his warriors from the jeopardy they had encountered; and pouring out the water as a libation on the ground, makes an offering of it to the Lord. The well still retains its pristine renown; and many an expatriated [[Bethlehemite]] has made it the theme of his longing and regret." </p>

<p> <strong> BETHLEHEM </strong> (‘house of bread’ or, according to some, ‘of the god Lakhmu’). The name of two places in Palestine. </p> <p> <strong> 1 </strong> . Bethlehem of Judah, otherwise <strong> Ephrath </strong> or <strong> [[Ephrathah]] </strong> , now represented by the town of <em> Beit Lahm </em> , 5 miles S. of Jerusalem. On the way thither Rachel was buried (&nbsp; Genesis 35:19; &nbsp; Genesis 48:7 ). Hence came the two [[Levites]] whose adventures are related in &nbsp; Judges 17:1-13; &nbsp; Judges 19:1-30 . It was the home of Elimelech, the father-in-law of Ruth (&nbsp; Ruth 1:1 ), and here Ruth settled with her second husband Boaz, and became the ancestress of the family of David, whose connexion with Bethlehem is emphasized throughout his history (&nbsp; 1 Samuel 16:1-18; &nbsp; 1 Samuel 17:12; &nbsp; 1 Samuel 20:6 etc.). The Philistines had here a garrison during David’s outlawry (&nbsp; 2 Samuel 23:14 , &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 11:16 ). Here [[Asahel]] was huried (&nbsp; 2 Samuel 2:32 ), and hence came Elhanan, one of the mighty men (&nbsp; 2 Samuel 23:24; cf. &nbsp; 2 Samuel 21:19 ). Rehoboam fortified it (&nbsp; 2 Chronicles 11:6 ), and here the murderers of [[Gedaliah]] took refuge (&nbsp; Jeremiah 41:17 ). Whether the <em> [[Salma]] </em> referred to in &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 2:51; &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 2:54 as ‘father of Bethlehem’ (whatever that expression may exactly mean) be the same as the <em> [[Salmon]] </em> who was father of [[Boaz]] (&nbsp; Ruth 4:20 ) a theory the Greek version seems to justify is doubtful. The town had some sanctity, and is indicated (&nbsp; Psalms 132:6 ) as a suitable place for the Tabernacle. The birth of the Messiah there is prophesied in &nbsp; Micah 5:2 (quoted &nbsp; Matthew 2:6 , &nbsp; John 7:42 ), a prophecy fulfilled by the birth of Christ (&nbsp; Matthew 2:1; &nbsp; Matthew 2:5 , &nbsp; Luke 2:4; &nbsp; Luke 2:15 ). Here Herod sent to seek the new-born Christ, and not finding Him ordered the massacre of the infants of the city (&nbsp; Matthew 2:8; &nbsp; Matthew 2:16 ). The modern town, containing about 8000 inhabitants, is Christian and comparatively prosperous. Within it stands the basilica of the Nativity, founded by [[Constantine]] (about 330), and restored by Justinian (about 550) and many later emperors. Within it are shown grottoes in which the various events of the Nativity are localized with the usual unreasoning definiteness. </p> <p> <strong> 2 </strong> . Bethlehem of Zebulun, a place named but once (&nbsp; Joshua 19:15 ), in enumerating the towns of that tribe. It is identified with <em> Beit Lahm </em> , 7 miles N.W. of Nazareth. It is probable that this was the home of Ibzan, the judge (&nbsp; Judges 12:8-10 ), as almost all the judges belonged to the northern tribes. </p> <p> [[R. A. S]]  Macalister. </p>

<p> 1. City of Judah, also called [[Beth-Lehem-Judah]] (&nbsp;Judges 17:7-9 ). It is first mentioned in connection with the death and burial of Rachel. &nbsp;Genesis 35:19 . The history of Ruth is also connected with Beth-lehem. &nbsp;Ruth 1:1-22; &nbsp;Ruth 2:4 . David was anointed in the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, so that apparently it was the place of David's birth, &nbsp;1 Samuel 16:4; &nbsp;1 Samuel 17:12,15; and this accounts for its being called in &nbsp;Luke 2:11 the 'city of David.' It was also the birth-place of Jesus: though it was "little among the thousands of Judah," it the better agreed with His humiliation. Beth-lehem, signifying 'house of bread,' is a very appropriate name for a place whence the Saviour should proceed as a man — He who was the living bread that came down from heaven. </p> <p> Apparently it was originally called EPHRATH, &nbsp;Genesis 35:16,19; &nbsp;Genesis 48:7; and was afterwards called EPHRATAH, &nbsp;Ruth 4:11; &nbsp;Psalm 132:6 . It is once called [[Beth-Lehem Ephratah]]  that is, <i> the fruitful, </i> for the ruler of [[Israel]] was to come from thence. &nbsp;Micah 5:2; &nbsp;Luke 2:4,15; &nbsp;John 7:42 . This led to the massacre of the infants by Herod. &nbsp;Matthew 2:16-18 . </p> <p> In &nbsp;1 Chronicles 2:51,54; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 4:4 , 'father of Beth-lehem' may signify 'prince of Beth-lehem.' It is identified with <i> Beit Lahm, </i> 35 12' E 31 42' N , situated 6 miles south of Jerusalem, on a narrow ridge which runs from the central range of hills. The ridge is cut into terraces, which are covered with olives and vines. There are now about 5,000 inhabitants, almost all called Christian, with convents for the Latins, Greeks, and Armenians. An enormous pile of buildings called the 'Church of the Nativity' is connected with the convents. </p> <p> 2. Town in Zebulun, mentioned only in &nbsp;Joshua 19:15 , also called <i> Beit Lahm, </i> 35 10' E 32 44' N , described as a most miserable village. (It is not known which of the above places is referred to in &nbsp;Judges 12:8,10 .) </p>