Bethlehem is a village about six miles south of Jerusalem.

In the Old Testament, Rachel died near Bethlehem while giving birth to Jacob's youngest son Benjamin (Gen 35:19). Ruth gleaned grain in the fields of a man named Boaz near Bethlehem. The two were married and became the great-grandparents of David. Bethlehem was David's family home and the place where Samuel anointed him to be king (1 Sam 16:4-13). Generations later the prophet Micah promised that a future ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem (Mic 5:2).

Hills of Bethlehem

In New Testament times Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus. Luke relates that Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, but went to Bethlehem to register during a census because Joseph was a descendant of David. There Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, because there was no room in the inn (Luke 2). Matthew says that a star led wise men from the east to Bethlehem to visit Jesus. When King Herod learned of the birth of a new king, he ordered that all the male children in and around Bethlehem be slain; but Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with Jesus (Matt 2).