Reference: Bethlehem
Hastings
The name of two places in Palestine.
1. Bethlehem of Judah, otherwise Ephrath or Ephrathah, now represented by the town of Beit Lahm, 5 miles S. of Jerusalem. On the way thither Rachel was buried (Ge 35:19; 48:7). Hence came the two Levites whose adventures are related in Jg 17; 19. It was the home of Elimelech, the father-in-law of Ruth (Ru 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 (1Sa 16:1-18; 17:12; 20:6 etc.). The Philistines had here a garrison during David's outlawry (2Sa 23:14; 1Ch 11:16). Here Asahel was huried (2Sa 2:32), and hence came Elhanan, one of the mighty men (2Sa 23:24; cf. 2Sa 21:19). Rehoboam fortified it (2Ch 11:6), and here the murderers of Gedaliah took refuge (Jer 41:17). Whether the Salma referred to in 1Ch 2:51,54 as 'father of Bethlehem' (whatever that expression may exactly mean) be the same as the Salmon who was father of Boaz (Ru 4:20)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And thus died Rachel, and was buried in the way to Ephrata which now is called Bethlehem.
And after I came from Mesopotamia, Rachel died upon my hand in the land of Canaan, by the way: when I had but a field's breadth to go unto Ephrata. And I buried her there in the way to Ephrata which is now called Bethlehem."
And Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: Twelve cities with their villages.
After this man, one Ibozan of Bethlehem judged Israel; and he had thirty sons and thirty daughters, and sent also his thirty daughters out; and took thirty others in, for his sons. read more. And when Ibozan had judged Israel seven years, he died and was buried at Bethlehem.
In the time when the judges judged, there fell a dearth in the land. Wherefore a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went for to sojourn in the country of Moab with his wife and two sons.
And then the LORD said unto Samuel, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have cast him away from reigning over Israel? Fill a horn with ointment, and come: I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have spied me a king among his sons." But Samuel answered, "How shall I go? For Saul shall hear it and will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with thee, and say thou goest to offer to the LORD. read more. And call Jesse to the offering, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: And thou shalt anoint him whom I say unto thee." And Samuel did as the LORD bade him. And when he came to Bethlehem, the elders of the town were astonished at his coming, and said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?" And he said "Yea, for I am come to offer unto the LORD. Cleanse yourselves and come with me to the offering." And he purified Jesse and his sons, and bade them to the offering. And when they were come, he looked on Eliab and said, "The LORD's anointed is before him." But the LORD said unto Samuel, "Look not on his fashion nor on the height of his stature, for I have refused him. Because it is not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance: but the LORD beholdeth the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, "Neither hath the LORD chosen this." Then Jesse made Shammah come, and he said, "Neither hath the LORD chosen him." Then made Jesse seven of his sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said, "The LORD hath chosen none of these." Then said Samuel to Jesse, "Are here all thy children?" And he said, "The youngest is yet behind. Behold, he keepeth the sheep." Then Samuel said unto Jesse, "Send and fetch him for we will not sit down, till he be come hither." And he sent and brought him in. And he was brown with goodly eyes, and well favoured in sight. And then the LORD said, "Up and anoint him: for this is he." And Samuel took the horn with the ointment and anointed him in the presence of his brethren. And the spirit of the LORD came upon David, from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul; and an evil spirit, sent of the LORD, vexed him. Then said his servants unto him, "Behold, an evil spirit sent of God vexeth thee. Let our lord therefore command his servants to seek a man that is a cunning player with a harp. And then when the evil spirit sent of God cometh upon thee, that he may play with his hand and thou shalt be eased." And Saul said unto his servants, "Seek me a man that can well play, and bring him to me." Then answered one of his servants and said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that can play upon instruments, and is an active fellow and a man of war and prudent and well made, and the LORD is with him."
And this David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, named Jesse; which Jesse had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul among the people.
If thy father miss me, then say, 'David asked leave of me, that he might go to Bethlehem to his own city, for there is holden a yearly feast for all his kin.'
And they took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and came in the dawning to Hebron.
And there was yet the third battle in Gob, with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of the Jair slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite: the staff of whose spear was as great as a weaver's cloth beam.
And David was then in a hold. And the soldiers of the Philistines were then in Bethlehem.
Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty. Then Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem;
The sons of Salma: Bethlehem and Netophathi, that were the glory of the house of Joab, and half the Manathites and of the Zorites.
And went from thence, and sat them down at Geruth Chimham, which lieth beside Bethlehem, that they might go into Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans:
And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, art little among the thousands of Judah: Out of thee shall come one, unto me, which shall be the governour in Israel: whose outgoing hath been from the beginning, and from everlasting.
When Jesus was born at Bethlehem in Jewry in the time of Herod the king, Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem,
And they said unto him, "In Bethlehem in Jewry; for thus it is written by the Prophet, 'And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Jewry, art not the least concerning the Princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come the captain, that shall govern my people Israel.'"
and sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child. And when ye have found him, bring me word, that I may come and worship him also."
Then Herod, perceiving that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, as many as were two years old and under according to the time which he had diligently searched out of the wise men.
And Joseph also ascended from Galilee, out of a city called Nazareth, into Jewry: unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and lineage of David:
And it fortuned, as soon as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is happened, which the Lord hath showed unto us."
Saith not the scripture that Christ shall come of the seed of David: and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was?"