Bethlehem

Bethlehem (see below) is a city on the west bank of the River Jordan, five miles south of Jerusalem. Its population in 2017 was 28,591.

The name Bethlehem means House of Bread. The district was known for its agriculture.

Bethlehem is first mentioned in the Old Testament as the place where Rachel, the wife of the patriarch Jacob, was buried (see Genesis 35:19). 

It was called the City of David because of its association with Israel’s second king. David was born in Bethlehem, the prophet Samuel anointed him king there, and David never lost his affection for the city.

Jesus Christ was born inauspiciously in a cave in Bethlehem thus fulfilling a prophecy in the Jewish sacred book of Micah and laid in an animal's feeding trough. 

In 326 Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, erected the Church of the Nativity over the grotto said to be the birthplace of Jesus. Today a successor church, built by Roman Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century still stands.

Between 1099 and 1187 the Crusaders controlled Bethlehem. 

In 1571 the town was annexed by the Ottoman Empire. 

On Christmas Eve 1865, a young minister stood on the hill overlooking Bethlehem where the shepherds had watched their flocks on the night Jesus was born. The impression of that starry night never left Phillips Brooks. Three years later he was asked to write a hymn for the children of his Philadelphia parish for their Christmas service. The words "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" were already in his mind. Brook’s church organist, Lewis Redner, set the words to music, declaring that the tune was "a gift from heaven." Brooks became an outstanding preacher and possibly the most highly esteemed American clergyman of his day. His deep earnestness, eloquence and poetic insight, made a strong impression on his listeners.

Once In Royal David's City was also written about Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was part of the British-administered Palestine mandate from 1922 to 1948, when it joined Jordan. 

During the Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, including Bethlehem. This marked a significant turning point for the city, as it came under Israeli control and faced new challenges and restrictions.

The Oslo II Accord, signed on September 28, 1995, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led to the transfer of administrative control of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority. The process of transferring control took place in phases, and on December 21, 1995, Bethlehem and other West Bank cities officially came under the civil and security control of the Palestinian Authority.

Sources Songfacts, Hutchinson Encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia