Bethlehem
City · Bethlehem → Bethlehem, West Bank
Ruth gleaned here and Boaz redeemed her. From this small town came David, and the promise of a ruler to come.
People
- Rachel
- Ruth
- Boaz
- Jesse
- David
- Samuel
- Jesus
At a glance
- Realm
- Judah
- Role
- Town of Boaz and David, birthplace of the Messiah
- Peoples
- Israel (tribe of Judah)
- First mention
- Genesis 35 (Ephrath)
The story
Bethlehem was a small town in the hills of Judah, known of old as Ephrath, where Rachel was buried on the road south. In its barley fields Ruth the Moabitess gleaned and was redeemed by Boaz, and so a foreign widow was grafted into the line of the kings.
From Bethlehem came Jesse’s youngest son, whom Samuel anointed with oil while he was still a shepherd boy, and David never forgot the water of its well. Micah named this least of Judah’s towns as the place from which the Ruler of Israel would come, and there the Christ was born.