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 | Matthew 2:1-6 quotes Micah 5:2 as one proof that Jesus was the anticipated Messiah. Micah predicted that out of Bethlehem would "come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." The picture drawn by Matthew is of an engaged couple who were living in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth. | ||||||||
| Luke 2:1-7 describes Joseph and Mary as residents of
Nazareth in the Galilee. They had to travel the approximately 90 miles
(140 km) south from Nazareth in the Galilee to
Bethlehem in Judea in order to take part in the Roman census and taxation. Jesus was born while
they were in Bethlehem. This version of the Christmas story seems a little strange,
for many reasons:
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| Mark 6:1 contradicts Matthew by identifying Nazareth as Jesus' birthplace as his "hometown." John 7:41-43 also contradicts Matthew. It has people in a crowd rejecting Jesus as the Messiah because the Messiah was expected to come from Bethlehem in Judea, whereas Jesus was known to come from Galilee. But both are compatible with Luke's account, assuming that Joseph and Mary returned quickly from Bethlehem in Judea to Nazareth. | ||||||||
| There are numerous references in New Testament that identify Jesus as coming from Nazareth. The early Christians were called "Nazarenes." Jesus was called "Jesus of Nazareth" or "Jesus the Nazarene" or "Jesus the Nazorean" - and never "Jesus of Bethlehem." 8 |
Perhaps the most important reason to suspect the accuracy of Matthew and Luke is that Bethlehem in Judea did not exist as a functioning town between 7 and 4 BCE when Jesus is believed to have been born. Archaeological studies of the town have turned up a great deal of ancient Iron Age material from 1200 to 550 BCE 2 and material from the sixth century CE, but nothing from the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE. According to Aviram Oshiri, this included the "...Church of the Nativity and associated Byzantine and medieval buildings. But there is a complete absence of information for antiquities from the Herodian period--that is, from the time around the birth of Jesus." 3 So, it appears that Bethlehem was deserted at the time that Jesus was born.
As usual, there is a division within Christianity along conservative/liberal lines:
| Conservative Christians usually believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. Since the Gospels of Matthew and Luke both refer to Bethlehem in Judea, then that must have been Jesus' place of birth. It is confirmed by the passage in Micah 5:2 which implied that the Messiah would be born there. |
| Some liberal Christians are convinced by the lack of archaeological evidence in Bethlehem, Judea and the presence of archaeological evidence in Bethlehem, Galilee that he was probably born in the Galilee. Further, according to theologians Don Cuppitt and Peter Armstrong, "...our first principle of historical criticism must be: be wary of any details in the gospels which have close parallels in the Old Testament." 4 Their reasoning was that Christians in the first century CE diligently searched the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) for references for the coming Messiah. They would have found the reference to Bethlehem, Judea, in Micah 5:3 and assumed that Jesus must have been born there. So, the authors of Matthew and Luke would have followed this tradition. |
An alternate birth location:
A new possibility has been suggested recently. There appears to have been a small hamlet in Galilee that was also called Bethlehem -- "Bethlehem HaGalilit" in Hebrew. It was located very close to Nazareth.
Bruce Chilton, author of "Rabbi Jesus" comments:
"Bethlehem in Hebrew means 'house of bread,' a common name for settlements with mills capable of producing fine flour, rather than the course grade most Israelites used for their daily needs. In 1975, amid the musty, damp and badly lit back shelves of the University Library in Cambridge, I first learned of a Galilean Bethlehem, near Nazareth, from an obscure study of the Talmud published during the nineteenth century. I was surprised by the dearth of discussion of this place in New Testament studies as the possible site of Jesus' birth, especially since a northern Bethlehem is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Joshua 19:15)....Now, however, archeological excavations show that Bethlehem in Galilee is a first-century site just seven miles [12 km] from Nazareth, so my former reserve can be put aside. There is good reason to surmise that the Bethlehem to which Matthew refers was in Galilee." 5
Aviram Oshiri writes:
"I had never before questioned the assumption that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. But in the early 1990s, as an archaeologist working for the IAA, I was contracted to perform some salvage excavations around building and infrastructure projects in a small rural community in the Galilee. When I started work, some of the people who lived around the site told me how Jesus was really born there, not in the south. Intrigued, I researched the archaeological evidence for Bethlehem in Judea at the time of Jesus and found nothing. This was very surprising, as Herodian remains should be the first thing one should find. What was even more surprising is what archaeologists had already uncovered and what I was to discover over the next 11 years of excavation at the small rural site--Bethlehem of Galilee." 3
Excavations between 1992 and 2003 have uncovered the remains of a large church and monastery built circa 500 CE. Oshri said: "There is no doubt in my mind that these are impressive and important evidence of a strong Christian community established in Bethlehem a short time after Jesus' death." He is certain that the structures are Christian because of the oil lamps with crosses, baptismal font, bronze cross, and pig bones found on the site. He expects that recognition of Bethlehem in Galilee as the birth place of Jesus may take a long time. He said: "Business interests are too important. After all this time, the churches do not have a strong interest in changing the nativity story."
He is probably right. With the fabulous success of The Da Vinci Code, and the newly preserved and translated Gospel of Judas, and the rising interest in Gnosticism -- one of the three main divisions within the early Christian movement -- Christians are probably not in a mood to relocate Jesus' birth from its traditional location. It has been a settled issue for over a millennium and a half.
Funds for Oshiri's archaeological study have run out. He is attempting to raise additional support so that the investigations can continue. 7
References:
- Terry Hulbert, "Jesus' Birth," Ancient Sandals, at: http://www.ancientsandals.com/
- "Iron Age (1200 - 550 BCE)," Boston University, at: http://www.bu.edu/
- Aviram Oshri, "Where was Jesus Born?," Archaeology magazine, Volume 58 Number 6, 2005-NOV/DEC, at: http://www.archaeology.org/
- Don Cupitt and Peter Armstrong, "Who was Jesus," British Broadcasting Corp., (1977), Page 45. Out of print; You may be able to order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Bruce Chilton, "Rabbi Jesus," Doubleday, (2000), Page 8. Read reviews or order this book
- Jonathan Cook, "The search for the real Bethlehem," Aljazeera, 2004-DEC-20, at: http://english.aljazeera.net/
- Aviram Oshiri, "The archaelogical [sic] research of Bethlehem of Galilee & Jesus birth place," at: http://www.bethlehem-of-galilee.org/
- "Bethlehem in biblical lore," The Jerusalem Post, (2000), at: http://info.jpost.com/
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Last updated 2006-APR-17
Author: B.A. Robinson
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