Bethlehem

 It's Christmas-time!  No it isn't really, the beginning of Advent on December 1 is really the beginning of Christmas, though some would wait for December 6, the feast of Saint Nicholas, and, okay, Christmas season can start with Thanksgiving.  But lately Christmas starts with Hallowe'en, even earlier according to department stores. Today I saw two lit Christmas trees in peoples' windows, so I figured I'd blog about what is known in the carols as "little town of Bethlehem."

Actually Bethlehem wasn't that little. It was a city, about five miles from Jerusalem, a couple hours' walk, and quite prosperous around the year 1.  It was located on a ridge, originally well fortified, and had a Roman aqueduct to bring in water for its thriving population.  However, during the second century AD the Romans laid waste to much of Judea, putting down rebellions, and Bethlehem did not really recover for centuries.

In the nineteenth century, when there was an interest in creating a historical and archaeological context for events in the Bible, those who visited Bethlehem found what could only be called a village, not a city (much less a fortified city), and it was easy to go from there to the hamlet with shepherds' huts and one inn as seen in today's Christmas cards.

Bethlehem was important to the Gospel writers because it was remembered as the hometown of King David, a millennium earlier.  The prophecies about the Messiah had always said that he would be of the House of David, so it was important that Jesus be born there.  On the other hand, he clearly reached adulthood in Nazareth, according to all four Gospels.

The Gospel of Matthew has his family living in their house in Bethlehem, where they welcomed the Magi a year or so later, before fleeing from the murderous King Herod to Egypt as refugees and only settling in Nazareth after their return.  The Gospel of Luke on the other hand has Mary and Joseph owning a house n Nazareth the whole time and only going to Bethlehem to pay their taxes.  Shepherds visited them at the stable where they stayed.  Then they went home again, not worried a bit about Herod.  (The Gospels of Mark and John do not mention Jesus's birth,)

 In the Middle Ages, the church of the Nativity was an important shrine in the Holy Land, where pilgrims would visit.  It was supposedly built over the famous stable of Bethlehem (Gospel of Luke).  At the base is a cave or grotto, believed to be the original stable, though Luke doesn't actually mention a cave.  The church's origins are in the fourth century, under Emperor Constantine, though it was rebuilt and added to numerous times over the centuries.  It is still there, with Byzantine and Crusader elements the most prominent.  There is an attached monastery of Armenian Christians, dating to the twelfth century, as well as smaller communities of Catholic and Greek Orthodox monks.  Bethlehem itself has now become a major town, with a primarily Palestinian population, that is happy to welcome Christian tourists.

 There is an article about Bethlehem, focusing especially on its aqueduct, in the Winter 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. 

 © C. Dale Brittain 2025