Bethlehem has great significance to the Christian religion as it is the place where Jesus of Nazareth is said to have been born. The city's populated area and its attached suburbs are immediately adjacent the traditional site of Rachel's tomb which is important in Judaism. Bethlehem is also home to one of largest communities of Palestinian Christians remaining in the Middle East.
There is a Christian church still existing, built by Constantine the Great (A.D. 330), called the "Church of the Nativity," over a grotto or cave called the "holy crypt," and said to be the "stable" in which Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. Close to it is another grotto, where Jerome the Latin father is said to have spent thirty years of his life in translating the Scriptures into Latin. (See Vulgate).
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The city, located in the "hill country" of Judah, was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11).
It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2),
Beth-lehem-judah (1 Sam. 17:12), and "the city of David" (Luke
2:4). It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel
died and was buried "by the wayside," directly to the north of
the city (Gen. 48:7). The valley to the east was the scene of
the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which
she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the
town. Here was David's birth-place, and here also, in after
years, he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Sam. 16:4-13); and
it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes
brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in
the cave of Adullam (2 Sam. 23:13-17). But it was distinguished
above every other city as the birth-place of "Him whose goings
forth have been of old" (Matt. 2:6; comp. Micah 5:2). Afterwards
Herod, "when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men," sent
and slew "all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all
the coasts thereof, from two years old and under" (Matt. 2:16,
18; Jer. 31:15).
In the 1947 resolution by the United Nations General Assembly to partition Palestine, Bethlehem was included in the special international enclave of Jerusalem to be administered by the United Nations. Jordan occupied the city during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Jordan retained control of the city until 1967, when Bethelem was captured by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank.
Recently, with the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bethlehem has been the site of many sub-conflicts. In May 2002, the Church of the Nativity was occupied by Palestinian gunmen, and fleeing civilians. According to senior Tanzim commander Abdullah Abu-Hadid, the church was specifically chosen due to its abundant supplies of food, water, and as a focal point for international outcry. [1] It became the site of a 5-week stand-off between the Israel Defense Forces. The number of people inside was estimated between 120 and 240 including at least 40 gunmen. Several groups of civilians were allowed out of the church during the 5 week siege [1]. During the seige several Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli snipers. The seige ended with an agreement for 13 militants to be sent via Cyprus to various European counties and another 26 to be sent to Gaza. The rest were set free. The IDF stated that 40 explosive devices were found and removed from the compound after the standoff was concluded.
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[1] Since that time, Bethlehem has been roadblocked (at the point of Rachel's Tomb). The city was placed periodically under strict curfew, so that virtually no one could appear outdoors, creating a ghost town effect.
Bethlehem's mayor, Hanna Nasser, says an estimated 2,000 Christians in Bethlehem have emigrated during the period of 2000 - 2003. Fifty years ago, Bethlehem was overwhelmingly Christian. Today, Christians are 11,000 of a total population of 28,000. [1]
In the Bible
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Some text originally from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed