Greek word · G965

Βηθλεέμ

bēthleem

Bethlehem

Hebrew Bêt leḥem, 'house of bread' (some scholars suggest an older name honouring a deity Lahmu, but this is uncertain). It was a small town in the hill country of Judah. 'Of Judea' names its region.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Βηθλέεμ, ἡ, indecl. (Heb. בֵּית לֶחֶם, house of bread),

Bethlehem, a town 6 m. S. of Jerusalem: Matthew 2:1, 5 6, 8, 16, Luke 2:4, 15 John 7:42.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 2:1

Range of meaning

Hebrew Bêt leḥem, 'house of bread' (some scholars suggest an older name honouring a deity Lahmu, but this is uncertain). It was a small town in the hill country of Judah. 'Of Judea' names its region.

Against the English

Translations agree. What English readers usually miss is why the phrase 'of Judea' matters, as explained below.

Used elsewhere in the period

Bethlehem was the home of Ruth and Boaz and of David's father Jesse (1 Sam 16:1; 17:12, 'an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah'). David was anointed there. Micah 5:2 promises a ruler from Bethlehem Ephrathah, and Matthew quotes it in 2:6 as 'Bethlehem, land of Judah.' A second Bethlehem lay in Zebulun in Galilee (Josh 19:15). A place called Bit-Lahmi in a 14th-century BC Amarna letter is probably the same town.

From the study of John 7:42

Range of meaning

Bethlehem ('house of bread' in Hebrew) was a small Judean settlement south of Jerusalem. Kōmē means a village or unwalled country town, as opposed to a polis (city).

Against the English

BSB, WEB and NASB 'village' is exact. KJV and NIV 'town' slightly enlarge it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Micah 5:2 (Hebrew 5:1): 'But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, small among the clans of Judah, from you shall come out for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.' 1 Samuel 16:1, 17:12: David's father Jesse is 'the Bethlehemite', 'an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah'. Matthew 2:4–6 shows the chief priests and scribes reading Micah 5:2 as naming the Messiah's birthplace. The Aramaic Targum of Micah 5:1, a later translation-with-commentary that probably preserves older interpretation, says outright: 'from you shall come forth before me the Messiah.'

From the study of Matthew 2:5

Range of meaning

A Greek spelling of Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (Bêt leḥem), traditionally 'house of bread'. Some scholars suggest the name may originally have honored a deity named Lahmu, but this is uncertain. It was a small village south of Jerusalem, also called Ephrathah (Gen 35:19; Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2).

Against the English

No real difference. English simply keeps the name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Bethlehem is David's hometown (1 Sam 16:1–13; 17:12). John 7:42 shows a popular belief that 'the Christ comes from David's offspring and from Bethlehem, the village where David was'. Later rabbinic tradition (Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 2:4) also links the Messiah's birth to 'Bethlehem of Judah'.

Where it appears

Matthew · 5

  1. Matthew 2:1 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

    Here: Hebrew Beit Lechem, 'house of bread,' a small town about 9 km (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. It was David's hometown, which is why Micah 5:2, quoted in 2:6, points there for the coming ruler.

  2. Matthew 2:5 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

    Here: This is the Hebrew name Bêt-leḥem written in Greek letters, and it does not change its ending. It is David's home village about 9 km (5–6 miles) south of Jerusalem, and naming it points straight to the royal line of David.

  3. Matthew 2:6 βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”

    Here: The name means "house of bread" in Hebrew. It was David's home village (1 Samuel 16–17), so any Jew hearing it would think of David's line.

  4. Matthew 2:8 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”

    Here: The village about 9 km (6 miles) south of Jerusalem, named by the scribes in 2:5–6 from Micah 5:2 as the birthplace of the ruler. Herod sends the Magi exactly where the prophecy points.

  5. Matthew 2:16 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

    Here: The small Judean village about 9 km (6 miles) south of Jerusalem, named by the scribes from Micah 5:2 as the Messiah's birthplace (2:5–6). Herod uses their own Scripture answer to aim his soldiers.

Luke · 2

  1. Luke 2:4 Βηθλέεμ, Bethlehem,

    So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

    Here: Greek spelling of Hebrew Bêt-leḥem. It was David's birthplace and his father Jesse's home (1 Sam 16–17), about 8–9 km south of Jerusalem.

  2. Luke 2:15 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

John · 1

  1. John 7:42 Βηθλέεμ Bethlehem

    Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

    Here: Bethlehem in Judea, about 9 km (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. It was David's hometown, and Micah 5:2 names it as the place a future ruler of Israel would come from.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.