BETLEHEM
The articles I publish on the site are detailed and very accurate. I write to the American or Brazilian travelers as if they were right here in Israel with an Israeli private tour guide.
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Bet -house
Lehem lahem – bread
Bethlehem was called Ephrata in the (Genesis ;35 15) …. and also in the Book of Ruth 4:11
“1 Samuel 17 [NIV]
[vs: 12] Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was old and well advanced in years.
[vs: 13] Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.
[vs: 14] David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,
Bethlehem is a biblical city where the birth and growth of the one who became the most important king in Israel.
The first to turn the same cave that was Greek pagan into Venus and Adonis (Greek gods )… just like the rest of the country into a Christianity, was Constantine along with his mother Helena.
Heronymus a well-known Byzantine biblical scholar was sent to Bet lehem by the pope, he came here with 2 nuns Paula, and Astochium. Paula establishes a monastery and Heronymus was the head of the monastery.
Hieronymus was not only a Christian but a great theologian who spoke Hebrew Greek ….and knew Israel very well. .
On the inscription in the cave is written “hicde virgine Maria Jesus Christus Natus est
The manger is located just behind the atrium. The courtyard and the church itself is Byzantine from the time of Yustinianus, and it is one of the most rich in the Land of Israel, but many of the gilded ornaments and mosaics have disappeared.
To enter Heronymus cave we’ll enter through the Church of Santa Catarina, the place was sacred in the first centuries and became a burial place for many pilgrims.
The “infants” chapel is the first in the underground tunnels dedicated to infants murdered by Herod.
Following the tombs of Paula and Antiochum, the tombs are currently empty, following the tomb of Hieronymus whose bones were moved to the Church of St. Maggiore in Rome and further you can see the room where Heronymus was solitary.
The Franciscan Church of Santa Catarina was built in 1880 and is built on the remains of this Crusader’s church of the Order “Augustinian canons” only in the 14 th century it was named after Santa Catarina
The milk Grotto Church
The church is the way to the Church of the Nativity according to tradition here Miriam stayed before fleeing to Egypt from Herod.
Shepherds’ fields
Luke 2; 8-14
The church and the whole area is actually “Beit Sahour” neighborhood which is a neighborhood in Bethlehem, the Catholic church and the cave where the shepherds grazed their flocks and the angel told them about the birth of Jesus. One of the rooms was probably used for mass burial. .
According to tradition these are the shepherds’ fields where Ruth the Moabite was picking the wheat in a field that belonged to Boaz, it is impossible not to look at the fields around and think about the birth of King David, Boaz , Ruth …. past and present.
