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See also:BETHLEHEM (Heb. " See also:House of See also:Bread," or, according to a more questionable See also:etymology, " of [the See also:god] Lakhmu ") , a small See also:town in See also:Palestine, situated on a See also:limestone See also:ridge (2550 ft. above See also:sea-level), 5 M . S. of See also:Jerusalem . The neighbourhood produces See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:olives and vines in abundance . It was occupied in very See also:early times, though the references in See also:Judges xvii., xix., and Ruthl are of doubtful date . It was the early See also:home of See also:David and of See also:Joab (2 Sam. ii . 32) . It was fortified by See also:Rehoboam, and in the neighbouring See also:inn of Chimham the murderers of Gedaliah took See also:refuge (Jer. xli . 17) . See also:Micah (v . 2) and other writers speak of it as See also:Bethlehem-Ephrathah: perhaps Ephrathah was the name of the See also:district . Almost See also:complete obscurity, however, was gathering See also:round it when it became (according to Matt. u. and See also:Luke ii.) the birthplace of Jesus . The traditional See also:scene of the Nativity, a grotto on the eastern See also:part of the ridge, is alleged to have been desecrated during the reign of See also:Hadrian by a See also:temple of See also:Adonis .
In 330 it was enclosed by a See also:basilica built by the orders of the See also:emperor See also:Constantine
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This basilica (S
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Maria a Praesepio), which is still See also:standing, was restored and added to by Justinian, and was later surrounded by the three convents successively erected by the See also:Greek, Latin and Armenian Churches (see de See also:Vogue, See also:Les Eglises de la Terre Sainte)
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Captured by the Crusaders in the llth See also:century, Bethlehem was made an episcopal see; but the bishopric sown sank to a titular dignity
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Beside the grotto of the Nativity other traditional sites are shown within the See also: [There is a tiny village of the same name in See also:Zebulun, 7 M . N.W. of See also:Nazareth (Josh. xv . 19).] See bibliography under PALESTINE . For the See also:modern town see See also:Palmer, "Das jetzige Bethlehem," in the Zeitschrift of the Deutsche Palestina-Verein, xvii. p . 89 . (R . A . S . |
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