The Hebrew Bible, which says that the city of Bethlehem was built up as a fortified city by Rehoboam, identifies it as the city David was from and where he was crowned as the king of Israel . The Gospels of Matthew and Luke identify Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus. Population.
Year | Population |
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2007 | 25,266 |
Thousands of Christian pilgrims streamed into Bethlehem Monday night to celebrate the birth of Jesus . It’s the major event of the year in that West Bank town. But Israeli archaeologists now say there is strong evidence that Christ was born in a different Bethlehem , a small village in the Galilee .
In Luke, Joseph and Mary’s trip to Bethlehem is undertaken in order to satisfy an imperial command that all individuals return to their ancestral towns “that all the world should be taxed.” Since Mary was pregnant with Jesus at the time the command had to be carried out, this explains why Jesus was born in the town of
The birthplace of Jesus Christ is only a bus or taxi ride away from the Old City of Jerusalem within the West Bank. Lots of tourists walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, but these days you have to walk on a big road. You cannot just walk across the fields because you have to pass through a military checkpoint.
Bethlehem lies 10 kilometres south of the city of Jerusalem, in the fertile limestone hill country of the Holy Land. Since at least the 2nd century AD people have believed that the place where the Church of the Nativity , Bethlehem, now stands is where Jesus was born.
Nazareth is known as “the Arab capital of Israel”. In 2019 its population was 77,445. The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are Muslim and 30.9% Christian. Nof HaGalil (formerly Nazareth Illit (lit. Nazareth .
Nazareth النَّاصِرَة an-Nāṣira נָצְרַת Natzrat | |
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Website | www. nazareth .muni.il |
Matthew also says that after Herod dies from an illness, Joseph, Mary and Jesus do not return to Bethlehem . Instead, they travel north to Nazareth in Galilee, which is modern-day Nazareth in Israel.
Jewish tradition forbade burial within the walls of a city, and the Gospels specify that Jesus was buried outside of Jerusalem, near the site of his crucifixion on Golgotha (“the place of skulls”).
Galilee , Hebrew Ha-galil, northernmost region of ancient Palestine , corresponding to modern northern Israel . Its biblical boundaries are indistinct; conflicting readings leave clear only that it was part of the territory of the northern tribe of Naphtali.
The Virgin Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would hence have given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice. From Rome, the Christ’s Nativity celebration spread to other Christian churches to the west and east, and soon most Christians were celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25 .
By placing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem , the evangelists are thought to have refashioned history theologically, in accordance with the promises, so as to make it possible to designate Jesus, on the basis of his birthplace, as the long-awaited shepherd of Israel (cf. Micah 5:1-3; Matthew 2:6).
Dec . 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus’s birth ; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth . 25 became known as Jesus’s birthday .
The cities of Bethlehem , Ramallah and Jericho see large numbers of tourists including on organised tours and there have been no recent reports of any serious incidents involving foreigners. It is advised you exercise a high degree of caution in East Jerusalem and on the following routes in the West Bank: Route No.
Jesus ‘ name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua.
Jesus | |
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Born | c. 4 BC Kingdom of Judea, Roman Empire |
Died | AD 30 or 33 (aged 33–36) Jerusalem, Judea, Roman Empire |
Cause of death | Crucifixion |
Parent(s) | Mary Joseph |