Bethlehem, Palestine
Bethlehem
The home town of King David and the place where Jesus was born. A small hill town the Bible comes back to again and again.
Biblical significance
Bethlehem enters the Bible long before the Nativity. Rachel was buried on the road into town, Ruth gleaned in its barley fields, and Samuel anointed a shepherd boy named David here as king.
Micah promised that from this least of Judah's clans a ruler would come, and Luke and Matthew both place the birth of Jesus in the town. The Church of the Nativity, built by Justinian over a Constantinian foundation, still stands above the cave venerated since the second century.
Beyond Manger Square, Bethlehem is a living Palestinian city with one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world, olive-wood workshops, and the Shepherds' Fields at Beit Sahour just to the east.
Scripture
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Open in YouVersion →Excerpts from the World English Bible. Full text opens in the YouVersion Bible app.
Best time to go
Late autumn or spring. Christmas is extraordinary but heavily booked; note the Orthodox and Armenian dates in January.
Visitor notes
Reached from Jerusalem in about 30 minutes via Checkpoint 300; bring your passport. Manger Square is walkable and best visited early morning.
Coordinates
31.7054, 35.2024
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