Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Galilean Bethlehem is mentioned only once in the Bible, in Josh. 19:15,
together with other towns of the territory of Zebulon in the lower Galilee.
It is mentioned in rabbinic sources as "Beit Lehem Ha-Gelilit" and as "Bet
Lehem Tsoriyah" (Bethlehem of Tyre). The name was retained by the Arab
village of Baitlahm, and now by the Israeli village of Beit Lehem
Ga-Gelilit.

The very idea of more than one place having the same name is not rare. In
the Bible, there are also more than one Aphek, Hazor, Geba, Ophrah,
Beth-shemesh, Gath and many others.

David was definitely from Bethlehem of Judah. However Jesus is constantly
identified as a Galilean, his family lived in Nazareth and he grew up there,
and his birth in Bethlehem of Judah is explained in Matthew (or is it Luke?)
by a rather strange story of the census for which each family had to return
to their ancestral home - even if they had been away for so long that they
no longer had any kin there (which is why they needed an inn). After which,
Jesus' birth in Bethlehem is not mentioned again. So to a critical reader,
this might seem sort of contrived. So comes the theory that Jesus was
"really" born in the Galilee, and the writers of the Gospels "added in" the
story of his birth in Bethlehem to strengthen his claim as the Davidic
Messiah. This is not a new idea. And as long as there is also a "Bethlehem"
near Nazareth, why not assume that he was actually born there, and that this
is the source of the tradition of his being born in Bethlehem?

Now I'm not trying to convince anyone of this theory, just to explain the
idea behind it. For those who believe that the Gospels (or any part of the
Bible) are literally true, this might seem problematic. It is not my
intention to argue against anybody's beliefs. Debates on faith, and
certainly on the Gospels, are off limits for this list.


Yigal Levin




-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Oun Kwon
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 10:38 AM
To: Hebrew
Subject: [b-hebrew] Galilean Bethlehem?

In a webblog
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/secret-of-birth-place-of-jesus.htm
l

I read

*"There are two Bethlehem's. One is a city in Southern Israel and one is a
small village on a hill over looking the stunning Alonei Abba woods. The
Jezreel Valley is where King David grew up and his father Jesse owned lands.
David did a lot of his early courting in this area from the Sea of Galilee
to Mount Carmel. ....

...  Eventually I found the second Bethlehem, Beit Lehem HaGlilit; literally
"the Galilean Bethlehem" ...."*

It also gives link to
http://www.Bethlehem-of-Galilee.org....

Bethlehem in Judea was David's hometown (that's where Yeshua was born
according to G-Mt and G-Lk).

The article effectively saying that what Gospel was a fiction, a
make-believe, a lie.

To me Galilean Bethlehem as David's hometown and Yeshua's birth place is
either revolutionary or a specious baloney.

Can you give some light on this claim, please?

Oun Kwon.
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