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Bethlehem: Not an “Occupied” Town
This past Christmas Day (2024), I heard many news reports about tourist travel to Bethlehem being almost nonexistent due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. But in every news report, that small town in Israel was referred to as “occupied Bethlehem.” That is because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, which new reports also always refer to as “occupied.”
But is Bethlehem and the West Bank in general really “occupied,” or are they just part of Israel? What is Israel’s claim to this area and town? This article will answer these questions by looking at what the Bible says on these matters.
Notes: Bible verses taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the Old Testament, © 2012-23, with updates in preparations for a new edition, and the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament, Third Edition (Corrected) © 1999-2024, both abbreviated ALT. Verses are not indented as is normal for block quotes for the sake of space, but they are easily identifiable by the superscript verse numbers.
Maps of Israel
Before continuing, it would be good to look at a couple of maps of Israel. The first is from Israel at the time of Jesus (first century AD). The second is a map of Israel as it looks today. Use the Dead Sea on the lower right and the Sea of Galilee on the top right to orient the maps.
It can be seen today’s West Bank is in the area in Israel that is called Judah and Samaria at the time of Christ. And it can be seen Bethlehem is in the area of Judah. That will be important as we proceed.
Bethlehem in the Bible
The word “Bethlehem” occurs 49 times in the Bible, in 47 verses (as counted in the New King James Version, NKJV). Some of these references are to people named Bethlehem not to a town. But we will look at the most pertinent passages about the town.
Genesis:
18Now it happened in her giving up her soul {for she was dying}, [that] she called his name, The Son of my Pain {Heb., Ben-Oni}, but his father called his name Benjamin [“son of my right hand”]. 19So Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephratha, this is Bethlehem [LXX, Bethleem]. 20And Jacob set up a pillar on her tomb; this is [the] pillar on [the] tomb of Rachel, until today day [fig., this day] (Genesis 35:18-20).
7“But when I was coming out of Mesopotamia of Syria, Rachel, your mother, died in [the] land of Canaan, as I was coming near to the horse-course of Chabratha of the land [of Canaan], [so as] to come to Ephratha. And I buried her in the road of the horse-course. This is Bethlehem” (Genesis 48:7).
Here is a record of the death of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel. Jacob buried her in Bethlehem. Jacob was previously renamed Israel by the LORD (Gen 32:28). He will become the progenitor of the entire Israelite nation, with his twelve sons being the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, at the start of the Israeli nation and Jewish people, there is an association between them and Bethlehem. The time period here is about 2000 BC, or about 4,000 years ago.
Joshua:
20This [is] the inheritance of [the] tribe of the sons [and daughters] of Judah….
59and Magaroth and Baethanam and Thecum, six cities and their villages; {Theco and Ephratha (this is Bethlehem [LXX, Baithleem]), and Phagor and Aetan and Culon and Tatam and Thobes and Carem and Galem and Thether and Manocho, eleven cities and their villages,} (Joshua 15:20,59)
14And the borders will go round northward to Amoth, and their termination will be at Gaephael 15and Catanath and Nabaal and Symoon and Jericho and Baethman {Heb., Bethlehem}. 16This [is] the inheritance of [the] tribe of [the] sons [and daughters] of Zebulun according to their families, [these] cities and their villages (Joshua 19:14-16).
Things get a little confused here, as there appears to be two different towns named Bethlehem. Also, the spelling is different in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) the ALT is based upon versus the Hebrew text. Also the passage in Joshua 15:59 is from an “added” passage in the LXX versus the Hebrew text, as indicated by the brace brackets. The forthcoming Second Edition of the ALT: Old Testament will be more scrupulous in identifying textual differences between the Greek and Hebrew texts than the First Edition.
But whatever the case, it is certain one of these towns named Bethlehem is the same as the commonly known one. But the important point is the time period here is about 1,300 BC, and both of these Bethlehems are indicated as being part of the territory of a tribe of Israel.
Judges:
8And after him Ibzan [LXX, Abaissan] from Bethlehem [LXX, Bethleem] judged Israel. 9And there was to him thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he sent forth outside [fig., gave away in marriage]. And he brought in thirty daughters for his sons from without. And he judged Israel seven years. 10And Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem (Judges 12:8-10).
7And there was a young man from Bethlehem of [the] family of Judah, and he [was] a Levite, and he was living as a sojourner [or, temporarily, and through verse 11] there. 8And the man departed from Bethlehem the city of Judah to live as a sojourner in whatever place he should find. And he came as far as Mount Ephraim and as far as [the] house of Micah to accomplish his journey. 9And Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem of Judah, and I go to live as a sojourner in whatever place I shall find” (Judges 17:7-9).
1And it was so in those days that there was no king in Israel. And there was a man, a Levite living as a sojourner [or, temporarily] in [the] sides of Mount Ephraim, and he took to himself a woman, a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah. 2And his concubine departed from [fig., was unfaithful to] him, and she went away from him to [the] house of her father to Bethlehem of Judah. And she was there four months (Judges 19:1-2).
Here in the Book of Judges, Bethlehem is identified as a town in Israel, with one of the judges of Israel coming from it. It is said to be in Judah, the largest tribe in Israel and in southern Israel. As we will see; that identification marks it as the town commonly known as Bethlehem. The time period of the Book of Judges is from the death of Joshua in 1376 to c. 1100 BC.
Ruth:
1And it happened, when the judges [were] judging [or, ruling], that [lit., and] there was a famine in the land. And a man went from Bethlehem [“House of Bread” – LXX, Bethleem] of Judah [LXX, Juda] to live as sojourners [or, temporarily] in [the] land of Moab, he and his wife and his sons…
19Now they [Naomi and Ruth] went both [of them] until they came to Bethlehem. And all the city was noisy on account of them, and they [i.e., the women of the city] said, “Is this Naomi?” (Ruth 1:1,19).
The narrative of the Book of Ruth begins in Bethlehem of Judah, it moves to Moab for a few verses, but then back to Bethlehem for the rest of the book. The time period here is during the time of the Judges. The book ends with a genealogy going from Ruth and Boaz to King David. That leads to the next passage.
1Samuel:
1And the LORD said to Samuel, “Until when [fig., How long] do you mourn for Saul, and I have rejected him, [for him] not to be reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and come, I will send you to Jesse [LXX, Jessai], to Bethlehem [LXX, Bethleem]; for I have seen among his sons [one] to be reigning for Me.” …
12So he sent and brought him. Now he [was] ruddy, with beauty of eyes and handsome in appearance to the Lord. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Arise, and anoint David, for he is good.” 13And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And [the] Spirit of the LORD leaped upon David from that day and above [fig., from that day forward]. And Samuel arose and departed to Ramah (1Samuel 12:1,12-13).
{LXX omits verses 12-31. Heb., 12Now David was the son of a man, a Ephrathite of Bethlehem [in] Judah, and the name to him [was] Jesse. And to him [was] eight sons. And the man had become old in the days of Saul. (1Samuel 17:12).
This is the narrative of the anointing of David to be King of Israel. His hometown is identified as Bethlehem in Judah. That is why Bethlehem became known as “The City of David” (although Jerusalem is also given that designation, 2Samuel 5:6-7). The time period of the Book of 1Samuel is from c. 1100 to 1000 BC.
2Chronicles:
5And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built walled cities in Judea. 6And he built Bethlehem [LXX, Bethleem] and Aetan and Tekoa [LXX, Thecoe] (2Chronicles 11:5-6).
King Rehoboam is said to have “built” Bethlehem, as it was previously occupied by the Philistines (1Chronicles 11:16). But it was retaken by Israel and rebuilt here and said to be in Judah. The time period is during the reign of King Rehoboam of 931-913 BC.
Ezra:
1Now these [are] the sons of the region, the ones going up from the captivity of the settlement far from home, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away to Babylon, and they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, [every] man to his city. …
21[The] sons of Bethlehem [LXX, Bethlaem], a hundred [and] twenty-three [123] (Ezra 2:1,21).
The Book of Ezra recounts the return of the Jews to Judea in 536 BC. The returners are listed by their hometowns, with 123 of the Jews having come from Bethlehem.
Nehemiah:
6Now these [are] [the] sons [and daughters] of the country, having come up from [the] captivity of the settlement, which Nebuchadnezzar [LXX, Nabuchodonosor] king of Babylon carried away, and they returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, [each] man to his city …
26Sons of Baethalem, a hundred, twenty-three [123]; sons of Netopha, fifty-six [56] {Heb., Sons of Bethlehem and sons of Netophah, 188} (Nehemiah 7:6,26).
The Book of Nehemiah records the return of Jews to Judea to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem in 430 BC. It also lists the returners by hometown, with (according to the Hebrew text) 188 coming from Bethlehem and a nearby town.
Micah:
2“And you, O Bethlehem [LXX, Bethleem], house of Ephrathah [LXX, Ephratha], are [too] few {Heb., insignificant} in number to be among [the] thousands of Judah, out of you He will come out to Me to be for a ruler in Israel. And His departures [are] from [the] beginning, from [the] days of age [fig., eternity]” (Micah 5:2).
Micah prophesied during the reigns of three kings of Judah, between 716-687 BC. From a Christian viewpoint, this is the most important verse about Bethlehem in the Old Testament. But for our purposes, this verse shows that Bethlehem was indeed a small town in Judah.
The ascription of Ephrathah to Bethlehem takes us back to Genesis, where the same name is attached to Bethlehem. Again, this was probably due to there being more than one town named Bethlehem. But here we see that this Bethlehem, associated with Ephrathah, was indeed in Judah. That is the Bethlehem we are talking about. The import of all of this will be seen next, as we move to the New Testament.
Matthew:
1Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in [the] days of Herod the king [i.e., Herod the Great, ca. 4 B.C.], look!, learned astrologers [Gr. magoi, cp. Acts 13:6] from [the] east arrived in Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is the One having been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at the rising [of the sun] [fig., in the east], and we came to prostrate ourselves in reverence [or, worship] before Him.”
3But Herod the king having heard, was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And having gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began inquiring from them where the Christ [or, the Messiah] would be born.
5So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
6‘And you, Bethlehem, [in the] land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come forth a Ruling [One], who will shepherd [or, rule] My people Israel.’” [Micah 5:2]
7Then Herod, having called the learned astrologers privately, found out from them the exact time of the appearing star [or, when the star appeared]. 8And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, but whenever you* find [Him], report back to me, in order that I also, having come, shall prostrate myself in reverence [or, worship] before Him” (Matt 2:1-7).
This passage is familiar due to it being often quoted at Christmastime, and it is why Bethlehem is so important. Here we see the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy of the Messiah (or Christ) being born in Bethlehem of Judea (or Judah). This is reinforced in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke:
4So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from [the] city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is being called Bethlehem, because of his being from [the] house and family of David, 5to register himself with Mary, the woman having been promised to him in marriage, being pregnant. 6Then it happened, in their being there [fig., while they were there], the days were completed [for] her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him in long strips of cloth and laid Him in the feeding trough [or, manger, and in verses 12,16; cp. Isa 1:3], because there was no place for them in the guest room [or, inn].
8And shepherds were in the same region staying in the fields and watching over their flock [during the] watches of the night. 9And look! An angel of [the] Lord stood over them, and [the] glory of [the] Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Stop being afraid! For listen! I bring to you* the Gospel [or, Good News] of great joy, which will be to all the people. 11Because a Savior was born to you* today in the city of David, who is Christ [the] Lord! 12And this [will be] the sign to you*: You* will find a Baby having been wrapped in long strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”
13And suddenly [there] was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army [or, host], praising God, and saying, 14“Glory to God in [the] highest, and peace on earth; goodwill among people!”
15And it happened, when the angels departed from them into heaven, and [or, that] the men, the shepherds, said to one another, “Let us go then as far as Bethlehem and see this [thing], the one having happened, which the Lord revealed to us” (Luke 2:4-15).
This is another familiar passage due to it being often quoted at Christmastime. Note that the angel refers to “the city of David” which the shepherds immediately identify as Bethlehem in Judea.
John:
40Therefore, many from the crowd having heard the word were saying, “This One is truly the Prophet.” 41Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Others were saying, “But the Christ is not coming out of Galilee, is He? 42The Scripture said the Christ is coming from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was, did it not?” [Psalm 132:11; Jer 23:5; 1Sam 16:1,13; Micah 5:2] (John 7:40-42).
.
That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem and that it was associated with David were well known at this time. But the narratives recorded in Matthew and Luke were not well known at this time. As such, there were questions about whether Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah. But He in fact was born in Bethlehem, so He did fulfill that and many other Messianic prophecies.
Philistines ≠ Palestinians
Mention was made in this article of the Philistines. Do not fall for the subterfuge that there is any historical connection between today’s so-called Palestinians and the ancient Philistines. There is not.
That subterfuge was first attempted by the Romans after the scattering of Jews after the Jewish revolt of 135 AD. Romans were implanted into the land of Israel and declared to be “Palestinians” (a corruption of the word Philistines) in an effect to claim they were the original inhabitants of the land, not the Jews.
The same subterfuge was again committed by Muslims in the 1960s. Muslims from Egypt and Lebanon were implanted into the area of Israel and declared by fiat to be Palestinians, when in fact, they had no historical connection to the land. That is how the population of the Gaza strip grew from 50,000 in 1948 to 2.5 million in 2023, from when Israel became a nation again to the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Normal population growth would not account for such a massive increase in population, but a massive implant of non-indigenous migrants would.
The fact is, Jews are the only people group with an ancient historical connection to the land area of today’s Israel. The ancient Philistines and all other original inhabitants of the land have long since become extinct. Only the Jews continue to exist today as a people group from ancient times.
For further details and documentation of these points, see Tiny Israel Amidst a Massive Sea of Muslim Lands.
Conclusion
The point of this article is that from the time of Jacob (aka Israel; c. 2000 BC) down to the time of Christ (c. 30 AD), there was a direct association between Israel and Bethlehem. The town came under the control of Israel during the conquests of Joshua (c. 1300 BC), remained under its control through the time of the Judges (c. 1300-1100 BC), it was lost for a short time to the Philistines at the time of King David (c. 1000 BC), but then regained under King Rehoboam (931 BC) and remained a part of Israel through the time of Christ (30 AD).
But most of all, Bethlehem was the hometown of King David, the most beloved king of Israel, and it was prophesied to be and became the birth place of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ.
All of that is why Jews today claim Bethlehem as a part of the nation of Israel. It is in no way “occupied” by Israelis. It is like the small town I live in outside of Pittsburgh, PA. It is not “occupied” by Pennsylvanians. It is simply a part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The wider claim of Israel to the entire area of today’s Israel will be addressed in the next issue of Darkness to light newsletter, when we look at “God’s Land Promise to Israel.”
But here, one last and vital point must be mentioned. That Jewish Messiah born in Bethlehem is not just the Messiah or Christ for the Jews. Jesus is the Christ and Savior for all peoples. As the angel declared to the shepherds, He is to be a Savior “to all the people.” But you must trust in Him to be saved and forgiven of your sins.
5And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you*, that God is light [fig., is as to His essence light], and in Him [there] is no darkness at all. 6If we should say [or, claim], “We have fellowship with Him” and are walking about [fig., conducting ourselves] in the darkness [i.e., in falsehood and unrighteousness], we are lying and are not doing the truth. 7But if we shall be walking about in the light [i.e., in truth and righteousness], as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses [or, purges] us from all sin.
8If we should say [or, claim], “We do not have sin,” we lead ourselves astray [fig., deceive ourselves], and the truth is not in us. 9If we shall be confessing our sins, He is faithful [or, trustworthy] and righteous that He shall forgive us our sins and cleanse [or, purge] us from all unrighteousness. 10If we should say [or, claim], “We have not sinned,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1John 1:5-10).
Bible verses from:
Analytical-Literal Translation of the Old Testament © 2012-23, with updates in preparations for a new edition.
Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament, Third Edition (Corrected) © 1999-2024
Bethlehem: Not an “Occupied” Town. Copyright © 2025 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry (www.zeolla.org/christian).
For a follow-up this article, see God’s Land Promise to Israel (forthcoming)
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The above article was posted on this website January 12, 2025.
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