Was Jesus Born in a Sheep Cote?

 

Stone sheep cote in Zanuta, West Bank

Photo: Emil Salman

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

According to one tradition Jesus was born in a migdal eder, a sheep cote. In Hebrew, a migdal (מִגְדָּל) is a “tower” and eder (עֵדֶר) refers to a herd or flock. There were many such places in the Ancient Near East. They looked like the sheep cotes in this post.

The Bible scholar Alfred Edersheim interpreted the Micah 4:8 reference to the tower as a prophecy indicating that the Messiah would be revealed from the "tower of the flock" (migdal eder) which he claimed is connected with Bethlehem.

Likewise, Professor Samuel Klein believed that Jesus was born in a place where sheep were kept based of mention of a "shepherd's field" in Luke 2:8-20. And in God's economia, it was to Bethlehem shepherds that the birth of the Messiah was first annonnced.

In the Ancient Near East dry stack sheep cotes served as housing for the shepherd. This is reflected in Judges 5:16: "Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." 

2 Samuel 7:8 also describes the sheep cote as a dwelling place (naveh).

Sheep cotes similar to the one shown above are found in many parts of Europe and are called by different names: tholos, girna, caciara, and keyl. The last word, found in Wales, is provocatively similar to the Altaic kyr ayil, meaning a "sheep village" or "the shelter to which the ram (krios) leads the sheep."

Shepherds used sheep cotes as shelters for many centuries. In archaic times, these structures served as seasonal housing for the shepherd and his family as they moved their livestock between higher summer elevations and lower winter pastures. More recently, sheep herders maintain permanent homes in valleys and only a few men move with their flocks to the seasonal sheep cotes.

The dry stack sheep cotes pictured below are common in Ireland, Italy, Wales, Serbia and Croatia. 

This dry stack tholos in Abruzzo, Italy serves as a home and a sheep cote.

Note that where the man is standing is where the shepherd often sleeps.

He becomes the door that guards the way to the sheep.

This practice was familiar to Jesus who said, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." (John 10:9-15)

This sheep cote in Anatolia served as a shelter and as a place of worship.

The shearing of sheep was surrounded by religious ceremony. Sheep shearing and sacred shrines are associated in Genesis 38.

"After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. It was told to Tamar, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

Sheep shearing sometimes involved animal sacrifice and feasting on a large scale, as is evident in 2 Samuel 13:23-25.

Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had shearers in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. Absalom came to the king and said, "Behold now, your servant has shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant." But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you." Although he urged him, he would not go, but blessed him.

Related reading: Sheep Cotes as Sacred Spaces; Shepherd Priests; The Antiquity of Bethlehem

The Antiquity of Bethlehem

 

The famous Ain Sakhri lovers figurine was found near Bethlehem. It was shaped around 11,000 years ago from a pebble.

Archaeologists have made discoveries in the area of Bethlehem that indicate that humans have lived there for at least 100,000 years. Evidence of human habitation in the area of Bethlehem is well-attested along the north side of Wadi Khareitun where there are three rock shelters: Iraq al-Ahmar, Umm Qal’a, and Umm Qatafa. These caves were homes in a wooded landscape overlooking a river. At Umm Qatafa archaeologists have found the earliest evidence of the domestic use of fire in Palestine.

An unscathed 4,000-year-old tomb was accidently discovered in the city of Bethlehem during renovation being carried out on a local house. Construction workers were led to the tomb through a hole found near the Church of the Nativity. The tomb dates between 1,900 and 2,200 BC. The tomb was located about a meter below the surface. Burial items such as jars, plates, and beads were retrieved from the tomb, along with the remains of two individuals.

Shelter and Water

100,000 years ago, humans found shelter in the many caves around Bethlehem. They drew water from the 'En 'Eitam spring, located near Solomon's Pools, about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Bethlehem. They also drew water from the springs in the hills around Bethlehem. There are several springs, including the Al-Hawiya spring and the historical Al-Ein spring.

Bethlehem and the Horite Hebrew  

The book of Ruth identifies the royal House of David with the Horite Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem. The name has two meanings. The Hebrew Beth Lehem means “House of Bread” and the Arabic Bēt Lahm means “House of Meat.” Both are accurate descriptions of the ancient Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem. The priests of Bethlehem offered grain offerings daily, and less often, they sacrificed lambs. The meat was distributed to the needy. The place of Jesus’ birth speaks of his identity as the "Lamb of God" and the "Bread of Life."

Bethlehem was a Horite Hebrew settlement according to I Chronicles 2:54 and I Chronicles 4:4. The Horite Hebrew were a caste of priests who believed in and served God Father and God Son. They are the oldest known caste of priests with a history that extends back long before the emergence of Judaism. The oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship is at Nekhen on the Nile and dates to c. 4000 BC.

The Horite Hebrew priests served rulers at royal temples and shrines, circumcised, performed purification rituals, and were responsible for oversight of royal burials. They made grain and oil offerings to God and sometimes sacrificed calves and lambs. By David’s time they had dispersed throughout the ancient world. They carried their religious beliefs and practices wherever they went.

Horite Hebrew priests were found among the Arameans of Mesopotamia, the Edomites of the hill country south of Judah, among the Moabites (Ruth’s people), among the Nilotic peoples, the Afro-Arabian clans known as Dedanites and Midianites, and among the people of Judah.

They married within their clans (endogamy) and the priestly office was hereditary. This explains why 2 Samuel 8:18 states that David’s sons were priests.

I Chronicles 4:4 gives the name Hur (HR) as the founding patriarch of Bethlehem. Hur is a Horus name. Rahab of Jericho was the wife of Salmon, the son of Hur. Salmon (or Salma) is a Horite Hebrew name associated with Bethlehem. In 1 Chronicles 2:54, Salmon is called a "father” of Bethlehem. Rahab was the grandmother of Boaz who married Ruth. Ruth was the great grandmother of King David of Bethlehem.

After David became king, he brought the Ark "from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah” (Saul’s hometown) to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:1-12). However, for three months the ark rested in David’s hometown of Bethlehem in the house of Obed-Edom. This indicates a direct connection between the priest of Bethlehem and the Horite Hebrew ruler-priests of Edom listed in Genesis 36.

The Obed-Edom connection also testifies to the great antiquity of David’s royal lineage. Genesis 36:31 lists the descendants of Seir the Horite Hebrew, and notes: “These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned.”

The book of Micah also refers to the long-held expectation of Messiah’s coming from Bethlehem. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." (Micah 5:2)

This verse designates Bethlehem of Judah as the setting for the story of Ruth. Bethlehem of Judah is an agricultural zone in the West Bank fed by rain and water runoff from the Judean Hills. This identification is important because there is another Bethlehem in Galilee, near Nazareth. Both were agricultural areas with Hebrew settlements. The Israeli archaeologist, Aviram Oshri, spent nearly eleven years excavating artifacts in Bethlehem of the Galilee. He has suggested that Jesus was born in that Bethlehem, not in Bethlehem of Judea.

Israel has many micro-climates and the Book of Ruth says that Elimelech and Naomi left Bethlehem because of a famine. The main cause of famines was drought. The Bethlehem of Judah is much more prone to drought than the Bethlehem of Galilee because of its hilly terrain and climate. The crops in Judah’s hill country were planted in the valleys and were entirely dependent on rainfall and runoff from the hills.

The Priest Division of Abijah

The Hebrew married only members of their caste. The marriage of Mary of Bethlehem and Joseph of Nazareth is an example of the Hebrew endogamous marriage custom. Their marriage represented the connection between the priestly order of Abijah in Bethlehem and the priestly order of ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez) in Nazareth. Abijah was the eighth priestly division and Happizzez was the eighteenth division. 

During the time of Mary and Joseph, the twenty-four priestly divisions served in the Temple at Jerusalem in a rotation system. A list of priestly divisions is found in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. However, this system was already in place among the early Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley. During the Predynastic period (c.4000-3000 BC) and the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2130 BC), the Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley were organized into "phyles". Each phyle served a two-week duration before returning home. The later organization of priests in Israel appears to have developed from the phyle system.

According to Luke's Gospel Mary was in Nazareth when the Angel told her about God's Son. But Mary's hometown was Bethlehem. She was the daughter of Joachim, priest of Bethlehem. If she was in Nazareth, it was for the wedding. That means that her conception of Jesus by divine overshadowing took place very near to the wedding ceremony. No wonder people were scandalized!

Shipment From Bethlehem to Jerusalem

This 2700-year royal seal (bulla) was found during archaeological excavations in Jerusalem. The coin-size seal bears the name “Bethlehem” in ancient Hebrew. The seal indicates that a shipment was sent from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in the seventh year of a king's reign. The king was either Hezekiah or Josiah.

Three lines of ancient Hebrew script appear on the bulla:

בשבעת Bishivʽat

בת לים Bat Lechem

למלך [Lemel]ekh

The bulla makes it clear that a town called Bethlehem existed in the time of the Temple built by Solomon. Eli Shukron, of the Israel Antiquities Authority explained, "This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period (1006-586 B.C.), which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods."

Related reading: Bulla Bearing the Name of Bethlehem; Was Jesus Born in a Different Bethlehem?; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem

The Historical Mary: What We Know

 

Dr Alice C. Linsley

Each year as Christmas approaches films appear with a Biblical theme. This year, Netflix has a movie about Mary, the mother of Jesus. I have not watched the film, but I suspect that Mary will be portrayed as a young unmarried mother of Palestine who did not know what was happening to her. I hope to set the record straight since information about Mary and her priest ancestors is available. 

The Biblical and historical data that helps us to understand Mary's social status is extensive. Even those who held her in low regard had to admit that she was a descendant of kings and governors. Concerning Mary, Sanhedrin 106a says: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”

The marriage of Mary of Bethlehem and Joseph of Nazareth represents an endogamous marriage pattern. The Hebrew married only members of their caste. Their marriage represented the connection between the priestly order of Abijah in Bethlehem and the priestly order of ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez) in Nazareth. Abijah was the eighth priestly division and Happizzez was the eighteenth division. During the time of Mary and Joseph, the twenty-four priestly divisions served in the Temple at Jerusalem in a rotation system. A list of priestly divisions is found in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. However, this system was already in place among the early Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley. During the Predynastic period (c.4000-3000 BC) and the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2130 BC), the Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley were organized into "phyles". Each phyle served a two-week duration before returning home. The later organization of priests in Israel appears to have developed from the phyle system.

Mary was a descendant of the Hebrew ruler-priests who married only within their caste. When Joseph took Mary as his second wife, he was marrying a temple-dedicated virgin of high status. Her high status is depicted in some icons that show her holding a spindle.

The Virgin Mary holds a spindle, the symbol of a Rabitu, a Bronze Age title for a queen mother.

It is likely that Mary was dedicated to the Temple by her parents, as was Samuel dedicated by his parents Hannah and Elkanah. The duties of the Temple virgins included singing and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. They ministered to women who came for ritual purification. The women performed practical tasks such as drawing water, baking bread, and brewing beer. They were skilled weavers who produced veils and vestments. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew describes how Mary and the other Temple virgins were spinning purple thread in the Women's compound when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. 

Mary is designated almah in the Scriptures. The Hebrew word almah (עַלְמָה) is derived from a verb meaning “to conceal” or “to hide away”. Temple virgins were alamot because they were cloistered until they married. In Antiquitates judaicae, the historian Flavius Josephus (c.37-100 AD) refers to the cloisters in Book XV, Chapter 11. The King James Version refers to the alamot as “damsels”. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. (KJV, Psalm 68:25)

Some temple-dedicated virgins chose not to marry. Entering the service of the Temple made that choice possible. Some daughters were denied marriage for political reasons. Some were released from their vows and returned to their fathers' houses. Some who were released, married. Depending on the vow, some who married remained celibate. This was the case mainly with cousin brides who were not expected to produce an heir. As a righteous man, Joseph honored Mary’s vow of celibacy. He already had a proper heir by his first wife.

Mary's conception of Jesus was by divine overshadowing as the Angel Gabriel explained (Lk. 1:35). This is exactly what the early Hebrew anticipated concerning the Son of God, and it is a significant detail of the ancient Messianic mystery. The Magnificat expresses Mary's wonder at being appointed to this unique role, especially because her lineage was deemed unworthy of honor by the Jewish elites after the time of Herod the Great. One of Mary’s ancestors Matthias (Mattat), the 61st High Priest and a descendant of David, was deposed and had limited political influence with the House of Zadok. The ancestral family of Jacob ben Mattat, once a favorite of Herod the Great, appears to have been ostracized from Jewish political life.

That Jesus was the son of Mary is not doubted. He took his flesh from the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Anna and Joachim. As a descendant of the Hebrew ruler-priests who married only within their caste, Mary's bloodline is traceable to the early Hebrew (4000-2000 BC) who expected one of their temple virgins to conceive the Son (HR) by divine overshadowing, exactly as the Angel Gabriel explained to Mary.

Mary's Perpetual Virginity

According to the tradition received from the early Christians and the Church Fathers, Mary was the daughter of a priest named Joachim and his wife Anna. Although Mary’s mother is not mentioned in the Bible, we know of her from other sources. The earliest known record is found in the second century Protoevangelium of James.

 
Mary is believed to have been a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ. This belief, known as the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity, was officially declared at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 553 AD.

Writing in 210 AD, Hippolytus of Rome believed, “But the pious confession of the believer is that . . . the Creator of all things incorporated with Himself a rational soul and a sensible body from the all-holy Mary, ever-virgin, by an undefiled conception, without conversion, and was made man in nature, but separate from wickedness. . .” (Against Beron and Helix: Fragment VIII)

Athanasius wrote in 360 AD against those “who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary” (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70).

Writing in 374 AD, Epiphanius of Salamis, affirmed the creedal faith: “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of the holy ever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit” (The Man Well-Anchored 120).

Others who believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity include Ambrose of Milan (339-97 AD), John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), Jerome (347-420 AD), and Augustine (354-430 AD). Many Protestant reformers affirmed their belief in the doctrine, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli. In England the belief was held by Hugh Latimer (1487-1555 AD), Thomas Cranmer, (1489-1556 AD), John Jewel (1522-1571 AD), and Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626 AD).

Related reading: Mary's Perpetual Virginity and Authority; Just Genesis: Another Look at Genesis 3:13-15; The Virgin Mary's Ancestry; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Denying Marriage: A Cunning Royal Strategy; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Temple Women

Jesus' Ruler-Priest Ancestors

 

Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth is in Galilee. Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth priestly division, ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez). Matthew 2 explains that "Nazarene" is derived from the prophecy "He will be called a Nazorean", but this has no source in the Hebrew Bible. The term is from the Akkadian language, the oldest known Semitic language. Na-Zor in Akkadian means "belonging to the Zorites". In 1 Chronicles 2:54, Salma of Judah is called the “father” of the Zorites. 1 Chronicles 2:5 states that Salma is also the "father of Bethlehem". So, the prophecy connects Jesus to both Nazareth and Bethlehem. These are the ancestral settlements of Jesus' Hebrew ancestors.

In 1962 excavators discovered in the ruins of a synagogue at Caesarea a small piece of a list of the twenty-four priestly divisions. This third to fourth-century marble fragment is inscribed with the names of the places where four of the divisions resided, including Nazareth, the residence of Happizzez. Until that discovery there was no record of Nazareth's existence before the sixth century A.D., other than in the New Testament and some Christian literary sources.

Since Jesus grew up in Nazareth, it is not surprising that his closest followers were Galileans. It was to Galilee that Jesus returned after His resurrection. At the Last Supper He informed his disciples: "After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Matt. 26:32) This reminds us that Jesus was fully human. He expresses a desire to return home one last time before ascending to the Father.

Luke 2:4 indicates that Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to participate in a census. The Romans kept records of the growth of the Jewish population, and they knew that Jewish identity was (and still is) traced through the mother. Bethlehem was Mary's hometown. Her father, Joachim, was a shepherd-priest of Bethlehem. Mary clearly was of the Hebrew ruler-priest lines. This is acknowledged even by those who hated her, as it is written in the Talmud: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.” (Sanhedrin 106a)

Related reading: The Virgin Mary's Ancestry, The Divisions of Priests, Which Bethlehem Was Jesus' Birthplace?; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem; The Hebrew Were a Caste

The Obed-Edom Connection

 

These Egyptian winnowing shovels date to 1300-1200 BC (roughly the time of Boaz), making them a good indication of the tools he might have used at his threshing floor in Bethlehem.

Alice C. Linsley

John the Forerunner’s father, Zechariah, was a priest of the division of Abijah (Luke 1:5, 8). Abijah's was the eight division of priests. John’s mother, Elizabeth, was also of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste. Hebrew priests only married the daughters of Hebrew priests (caste endogamy).

There are at least four men named Zechariah or Zecharias among the temple gatekeepers in 1 Chronicles 26 which also mentions that "God had blessed Obed of Edom." These Hebrew men are called "porters" (2 Chron. 23:4) or "keepers of the threshold" of the temple (2 Sam 18:26; 2 Ki 7:10,11). Psalm 84:10 speaks of the preference to be a "doorkeeper in the house of the Lord" rather than to "dwell in the tents of the wicked." Besides opening and closing the doors, they were responsible for the care of the sacred vessels (2 Ki 12:9; 22:4; 23:4). Their clan chiefs drew lots for which gates they would guard.

Ruth was the mother of Obed, a name associated with the early Horite Hebrew of Edom. Details about the clan of Seir the Horite are found in Genesis 36. 

Korah refers to a priest who has ritually shaved before serving in the temple. Korah's descendants are praised in 1 Chronicles 26, where they are grouped with the gatekeepers of Obed-Edom. Obed was the father of Jesse, the father of David. We note that David’s sons are identified as priests in 2 Samuel 8:18.

Naomi and Ruth were the wives of Hebrew priests who were living in Moab. When Ruth returned to Bethlehem with Naomi, she became the wife of Boaz, a ruler of Bethlehem. Boaz fathered Obed, but by levirate marriage law Obed was the heir of Ruth's late husband.

Ruth’s great grandson was David of Bethlehem. He had royal kin in Moab which explains why he sent his parents to the citadel of the king of Moab for protection while he was being pursued by Saul (1 Sam. 22:3).

According to I Chronicles 2:54 and I Chronicles 4:4, Bethlehem was a Hebrew settlement associated with Hur (HR/Hor/Horite). The priests who resided there believed in God Father and made grain offerings to the High God and his son, HR ("Horus" in Greek). Horus names are found among the early Hebrew. In ancient Egyptian HR means "Most High".

After David became king, he brought the Ark "from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah” (Saul's hometown) to Jerusalem (II Sam. 6:1-12). However, for three months the Ark rested in David’s hometown of Bethlehem on the property of Obed-Edom. 

Genesis 36:31 states that there were kings in Edom long before there was a king in Israel. This suggests the antiquity of David's royal lineage. That lineage is traced back to Abraham whose territory was entirely in ancient Edom, and Edom is where Aaron was buried.

Edom was called Idumea by the Greeks, meaning "land of red people". Esau of Edom is described as red (Gen. 25), and David is described as red (1 Sam. 16:12). Given that the Hebrew married only within their caste, we should expect certain physical traits to consistently appear among them.

Related reading: Adam Was a Red Man; Seth and the Red Hippo; Is It Possible to Speak of the Proto-Gospel?; The Wives' Settlements Marked the Boundaries; Abraham's Faith Lives in Christianity

Job the Horite Hebrew

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1)

Alice C. Linsley 

The land of Uz is named for the Horite Hebrew clan of Uz. Uz was a son of Dishan, a son of Seir the Horite Hebrew ruler who is mentioned in the Genesis 36 list of Edomite rulers. The relationship of the Uz clan to Seir the Horite is shown on the diagram above.

Seir was a ruler in ancient Edom long before there was a king in Israel (Gen. 36:31) The Edom-Horite Hebrew connection is evident in Lamentations 4:21 - "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwells in the land of Uz…”  

In the book of Job, the last of Job's kinsmen to speak is Elihu, whose name means "word of God". El – is an ancient word for God, and Hu refers to the authoritative word in ancient Egyptian. (Pyramid Texts Utterance 251, and Utterance 697). Here we find a concept of the Divine Word that is similar to the Logos of John's Prologue.

Elihu was of the clan of Buz. Buz, Huz and Uz represent a three-clan Hebrew confederation. 1 Chronicles 5:14 says that the son of Buz was Jahdo (Yahdo), and Jahdo's son was Yeshishai, the Aramaic form of Yeshua/Jesus.

Most Old Testament scholars believe the book of  Job was written between the 7th and 4th centuries BC long after the time that Job would have lived. However, the book reflects more ancient Horite Hebrew customs and beliefs. Job is portrayed as a righteous ruler-priest who offers sacrifices daily to cover the sins of his family members. His connection to Seir the Horite ruler of Edom also connects him to the royal house of David whose hometown of Bethlehem was a Horite Hebrew settlement. That is why the Ark of the Covenant rested for 3 months on the property of Obed-Edom in Bethlehem. Obed was the first-born son of Boaz and Ruth. He is the grandfather of David. 

In 1 Chronicles 26:4 some of the Temple doorkeepers are designated "sons of Obed-Edom". Salmon, who married Rahab, is called the "father" (elder/chief) of Bethlehem in 1 Chronicles 2:54, and Hur (Hor) is named a "father" of Bethlehem in I Chronicles 4:4.

Edom is described in the Bible as one of the ancient seats of wisdom. The wisdom of the Horite Hebrew extended to medicine, astronomy, metal work, stone masonry, mining, animal husbandry, writing, commerce, navigation, agriculture, and architecture.

Related reading: Who Were the Horite Hebrew?; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers; The Horite Hebrew Wisdom of Elihu; Righteous Job and His Kin; Job's Friends and Their Contribution to the Message of Job

Who Was Boaz?

Alice C. Linsley

Boaz was a wealthy Hebrew nobleman of Bethlehem. He was married, owned property, deliberated at the town gate, and acting as a levir, he took Ruth as his second wife. It was common for high-ranking Hebrew chiefs to have two wives. Other Hebrew rulers with two wives include Lamech, Terah, Abraham, Esau, Jacob, Amram, Moses, Elkanah (Samuel's father), Ashur (1 Chronicles 4:5), Mered (1 Chronicles 4); Joash (2 Chronicles 24:1–3), Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:26), and Shaharaim of Moab (1 Chronicles 8:8). Caleb fathered children by his wives Azubah and Jerioth.

The firstborn son of Boaz and Ruth was Obed. His name may be related to the ancient Akkadian word ebebu, designating a pure one. Obed was the grandfather of David. In 1 Chronicles 26:4 some of the Temple doorkeepers are designated "sons of Obed-Edom", indicating a connection between Bethlehem and Edom. For three months the Ark of the Covenant rested in David’s hometown of Bethlehem in the house of Obed-Edom and was guarded by Jaar of Bethlehem, a weaver.

Ruth was from Moab. Since the Hebrew rulers only married within their Hebrew clans and there were Hebrew ruler-priests in Moab, it is very likely that Ruth and Boaz were blood relatives. Both were descendants of Terah. Boaz's ancestry is traced from Hezron, Ram, and his father Salma/Salmon (Ruth 4; 1 Chronicles 2). Ruth's ancestry is traced from Terah, Haran, and Lot, the father of Moab, and probably Shaharaim. Shaharaim was a Horite Hebrew priest living in Moab.

Ruth did not convert to Judaism, because Judaism did not exist at the time of Boaz and Ruth (c.1290-1090).

Boaz is likely derived from the Akkadian Bu-Uz-Kir which means “being of the land belonging to Uz.” Uz was a grandson of Seir, the Horite Hebrew (Gen. 36). Seir and Uz ruled in Edom before there was ever a king in Israel. This is significant because it suggests that the Hebrew clans of Edom held land in Bethlehem.

Abraham's territory was entirely in ancient Edom (Idumea). It extended between the settlements of his two wives, Sarah and Keturah. Sarah resided in Hebron and Keturah resided in Beersheba to the south. Both places are shown on this map.

Related reading: The Edomites and the Color Red; Temple Guilds; The Extent of Edomite Territory; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem; Ruth at the Threshing Floor

Who Were the Wise Men?

Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1900) 

Alice C. Linsley

A friend recently asked me if the Wise Men might have been astrologers; perhaps Zoroastrians from Persia. This notion has been circulating for some time, but it does not fit the evidence.

The Wise Men were astronomers. Astrology, as we think of it, didn't exist in the first century AD. It developed later. They knew Sidereal astronomy. It is real science, based on observation of the arrangement and movement of the fixed stars and planets. This science originated among Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors who had recorded information about the fixed stars and clock-like motion of the planets and constellations for thousands of years. By 4245 BC, the priests of the Upper Nile had established a calendar based on the appearance of the star Sirius that becomes visible to the naked eye once every 1,461 years. Apparently, they had been tracking this star and connecting it to seasonal changes and agriculture for thousands of years. The priest Manetho reported in his history (241 BC) that Nilotic Africans had been “star-gazing” as early as 40,000 years ago. They shared this knowledge with the kings of Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians shared the knowledge with the ancient Greeks. Plato claimed that the Africans had been tracking the heavens for 10,000 years. Plato studied with an Egyptian priest for 13 years and knew about Earth's Great Year, also called the "Platonic Year." This is the time of between 25,000 and 28,000 years that it takes for Earth to complete the cycle of axial precession. This precession was known to Plato who defined the "perfect year" as the return of the celestial bodies (planets) and the diurnal rotation of the fixed stars to their original positions. They understood much more than we moderns give them credit for!

The Wise Men also were descendants of people from Judah who has chosen to remain in Babylon after Cyrus' decree. In other words, they were Babylonian Jews of the Tribe of Judah and therefore were watching for fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the King of the Jews who they expected to come from Judah. That is why they recognized the sign they saw. Using Starry Night, a software program that can track celestial events at any time in history, we now know that the star of Bethlehem was the result of an astronomical singularity: the conjunction of the king star Regulus and the king planet Jupiter. Regulus is in the constellation of Leo, the totem of the tribe of Judah, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Jupiter was associated with Horus, the son of the Creator Ra. Read more about the Bethlehem Star here.

For the ancient Egyptians the stars in the constellation of Leo were especially important because the Nile rose when the Sun passes through the constellation of Leo. Therefore, the Lion and the rising strength of the water were associated. In the Church, the Wise Men and the Blessing of Waters are the main themes of Epiphany which is celebrated on January 6th.

Related reading:  Ancient Wisdom, Science and Technology; Which Bethlehem is Jesus' Birthplace?; Ancient Seats of Wisdom; David's Bloodline; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem; David's Royal City; The Eyes of Horus Speak of Jesus; Totems and Tracing the Horites in History; The Celestial Dance Observed by the Magi; Ancient African Astronomers; Astronomical Monuments in Africa

Which Bethlehem is Jesus' Birthplace?

Alice C. Linsley


Bethlehem (Bēt Lahm) means "house of meat" and indicates a settlement known for sheep and cattle. There are two places called Bethlehem, one in Galilee and the other near Jerusalem. The name indicates a place where shepherd-priests took animals from their flocks to sacrifice. The meat was distributed to the needy.

In Christian belief, Jesus is the Lamb of God who gave his flesh for the life of the world. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His nativity was announced first to the shepherds of Bethlehem, the very descendants of the people in Eden to whom the promise of Messiah's appearing was first given (Gen. 3:15).

David came from Bethlehem. He tended the sheep of his father, just as Moses tended the sheep of his priest father-in-law, Jethro. Jesus comes from a long line of shepherd-priests. His maternal grandfather was Yoakim (Joachim), a priest who kept flocks.

Bethlehem was a Horite settlement according to I Chronicles 4:4 which names Hur (Hor) as the "father of Bethlehem."  I Chronicles 2:54 gives Salmon as "the father of Bethlehem," but there is no contradiction here since Salmon was also a Horite. The names Salmon, Salma and Solomon were common names among the Horites, also know as Habiru (Hebrew). A leader named Salmon married Rahab of Jericho. He is listed as the son of Hur, another common Horite name.

The Horites were a caste of ruler-priests whose origins can be traced back to the Nile Valley.  The oldest know Horite shrine city was Nekhen in Sudan (4500 BC). The temple there was dedicated to Horus, the son of Ra. He was said to be born of Hathor-Meri by the overshadowing of the sun, the emblem of the Creator Ra. She is shown in ancient images with a crown of horns - Y - a solar symbol. 

From the Nile Valley, the Horites moved into Arabia, Canaan, and Mesopotamia, taking their religious beliefs and practices with them. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David and the Virgin Mary were of the Horite lines. David was from Bethlehem and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register for the census (Luke 1:26) because he and Mary were descendants of Horite ancestors who lived in Bethlehem. One of those ancestors was the righteous Boaz who married Ruth.

The Bethlehem of Boaz was an agricultural area where grain was grown in extensive fields. This describes Galilee, not the hill country around Jerusalem.

Bethlehem is where Ruth gave birth to Obed, King David's grandfather. Ruth is praised by the women of Bethlehem (the chorus) as being worth seven sons, and she is likened to Tamar who “built up” Judah by giving him twin sons Perez and Zerah. Judah gained these righteous sons after losing unrighteous sons.

Throughout the book of Ruth there is a subtle play on the theme of replacement. Naomi is the female counterpart of Job. Both lost everything and came to despair, but the Lord restored their fortunes and made them great in Israel.


Textual clues as to Jesse’s high standing in Israel

David was anointed first in Bethlehem and later he was anointed in Hebron (II Samuel 2:1-4). It is possible that these two settlements marked the northern and the southern boundaries of Jesse’s territory. Jesse would have had a wife in Bethlehem and another in Hebron, following the practice of his Horite shepherd-priests ancestors who maintained two wives in separate households on a north-south axis. If David's Bethlehem was in Galilee, Jesse's territory would have extended about 118 miles (190 kilometers) from Bethlehem in Galilee to Hebron in the south, and all would have been regarded as a holding of Judah.

Another possibility is that Jesse's two wives were located in Bethlehem of Galilee and Ramah in the hill country to the south. These are linked in Matthew's Gospel (Matt. 2:13-23); suggesting that Jesse's territory extended from Bethlehem "Ephratha" to Ramah. Throughout much of the Bible, Ephratha is a reference to Judah. This north-south extension would have been called "Judah" in Jesse's time. If David's city was the Bethlehem in Galilee, Jesse ruled over a territory extending from Galilee to Ramah of Judah.

Though it is clear that the ruler's wives lived in separate settlements on a north-south axis, it is difficult to determine the extent of the ruler's territory because of multiple located with the same name. There several settlements named Ramah and at least two named Bethlehem. Regardless, it is evident that Jesse of Bethlehem was a great ruler of Judah.


Jesse's solar designation

Jesse’s name in Hebrew is Yesai and designates a great ruler. The initial Y is a solar cradle which indicates someone who has been overshadowed by the Creator. This overshadowing means the person is appointed for some special purpose. Remember that the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive by the overshadowing of the Spirit and bring forth the Holy One who would rule and save his people.

Many other Biblical rulers are indicated by the Y symbol: Yitzak (Issac); Yishmael (Ishmael), Yaqtan (Joktan); Yisbak; Yacob (Jacob); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro) and Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus). The men listed in Ruth 4 are royal persons and descendants of Abraham and his Horite ruler-priest ancestors. David was born into a family of very high standing and this prepared him for the years when he would serve King Saul and rule over Israel.

It is evident that David was born into a family of very high standing and this prepared him for the years ahead when he would serve King Saul and rule over Israel.


Connections to Egypt and Tyre

Rachel was buried at Bethlehem. She gave birth to Joseph who married the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis in Egypt. Heliopolis (called Onn in Genesis 41:45) was a Horite shrine city of great prominence in the ancient world. The great pyramids of Giza, Saqqara and Abusir were aligned to the obelisk at this Ainu shrine city.

If we draw a line from Heliopolis in Egypt to the shrine at Baalbek ("God of Beka") in Lebanon, we have a fairly straight diagonal line that extends from Abusir in Sudan to Baalbek.  Tyre was the main shrine city between Heliopolis and Baalbek. The earliest structure at Baalbek dates to at least 2900-2300 BC, corresponding to the Old Kingdom in Egypt. The builders were great stone masons and builders of temples and monuments.

The kings of Tyre were Horites and kin to David.  Bethlehem of Galilee was part of ancient Tyre. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus' true identity is recognized in the ancient island city of Tyre, not in Jerusalem.

Tyre was the home of Hiram I, the father of the Tyrian king who helped to build Solomon’s temple. Hiram I was kin to David and sent skilled artisans to help David build a palace in Jerusalem, “the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35). Hiram is also known as "Huram" and "Horam", variations of the names Hur, Hor and Harun (Aaron). According to Midrash, Hur was Moses’ brother-in-law. Hur’s grandson was one of the builders of the Tabernacle.

In other words, the common ancestors of Hiram I and David were Horites who anticipated the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. They believed that the promised Seed of the Woman (the Son of God) would be born of their blood lines and they expected Him to visit them. Mark 7:24 gives an account of when the Son of God visited Tyre, and here we are told that Jesus “could not pass unrecognized.”

Caste-based Industries of Bethlehem

Beside keeping sheep and priestly duties, another occupation in ancient Bethlehem was leather work. Leather workers were called Tahash. One of Nahor's sons was Tahash (Gen. 22:24). Tahash refers to a tanner of animal skins. Exodus 25:5 links "five ram skins dyed red" with "tahash skins" and "acacia wood." The Tahash appear to be those who ritually prepared the skins of sacrificed animals for use in solemn oath, such as the passing of leather sandals.

Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel. (Ruth 4:7)

The exchange of the leather sandal was a blood oath since it involved taking the life of an animal The practice was to confirm the exchange property after a death. Aben Ezra says that the giving of the leather shoe was "to confirm all things" whether by sale or barter.

The exchange of a leather shoe represents a solemn oath like that signaled by the exchange of a linen cloth, called "sudar." According to the Medieval rabbi Rashi, a linen cloth was used to make purchases and the cloth was called "sudar." 

Rashi is speaking of a related custom. The term "sudar" pertains to "Sudra" which is a reference to the peoples of Sudan. Linen originated in the Nile Valley and was carried from there to India. Among Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors wounds were treated with raw meat and bandaged with linen. Dead domesticated animals, such as dogs and donkeys, were wrapped in white linen and buried outside the towns.

In Genesis 3:21, God acts as the first tahash when He sacrifices animals to make coverings for the man and the woman. In doing so, God covers them by a blood oath, wraps the newly dead, and sends them out of the Garden.

Sudar is also a reference to the Dravidians. Dravidian leather workers are called "Madigas" and they are recognized as one of the world's oldest castes. The Madiga have nucleotide diversity levels as high as those of HapMap African populations. The Tahash and Madigas represent a very ancient practice of leather work associated with animal sacrifice and solemn oaths.

The Tahash were also known as "sarki" in Africa and parts of Asia. The sarki sacrificed animals and tanned the hides. Today Sarki live in the Orissa province of India and in Orisha, Nigeria. They also live in the Tarai region of Nepal. Sometimes they are called “Harwa” which is the ancient Egyptian word for priest.

Archaeology of Bethlehem

Speaking about the discovery of a clay seal dating to the First Temple period, Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority said, "This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period (1006-586 B.C.), which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods."

2700 year seal bears the name of Bethlehem

The coin-sized artifact was found during archaeological excavations in the oldest part of Jerusalem. The seal (called a "bulla") bears the name of the city of Bethlehem in ancient Hebrew script. A bulla is a piece of clay used as an official seal on a document or object. The seal was impressed with the mark of the sender, and an intact bulla was proof that a document had been delivered unopened.

The seal indicates that a shipment was sent from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in the seventh year of a king's reign. Possibly the king was Hezekiah or Josiah.

The bulla makes it clear that a town called Bethlehem was inhabited by Hebrews in the time of Solomon's temple, but it doesn't specify which Bethlehem. There are two; one in Judah near Jerusalem, and the other in Galilee near Nazareth. Today there is growing consensus that Jesus' birthplace was the Bethlehem near Nazareth because the Bethlehem near Jerusalem was not inhabited during the first century when Jesus would have been born.

When the Magi appeared before Herod they were told that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Herod’s wise men found this in the book of Micah: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."  This indicates two things about Jesus's birthplace: it belongs to the tribe of Judah and it was also associated with Caleb's wife Ephrath. There is no contradiction here, as Bethlehem belonged to Caleb, whose son was Salma. Salma is called the father of Bethlehem in Chronicles 2:54.

Bethlehem is mentioned in Matthew 2:16-18 as the place where Herod ordered all the baby boys to be slaughtered, and Jesus would have been among "the Innocents" had Joseph not been warned by an angel to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. From Bethlehem in Galilee and nearby Nazareth the road to Egypt was a direct one.  From Bethlehem on the West bank there was no direct route into Egypt.

As Jews traced their blood lines through their mothers, it was necessary for Joseph to register both he and Mary in Bethlehem. So they left Nazareth and went to Bethlehem, a distance of about 5.5 miles (9 kilometers). The distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem near Jerusalem is 93 miles (150 kilometers). Would Joseph have taken Mary, in the last stage of pregnancy, on a journey of 93 miles on a donkey?

Mary’s full name was "Miriam Daughter of Joachim Son of Pntjr (Panther) Priest of Nathan of Bethlehem." Long before the time of the Pharaohs the Horites designated the king ntjr. The name p-ntjr means "God is King."

Nathan is the name of the prophet who called King David to repentance and saved his kingdom. Likely this Nathan was one of David's kinsmen from Bethlehem in Galilee.


Bethlehem of the West Bank

The Church of the Nativity in the Bethlehem near Jerusalem was commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena and was built over the site that was believed to be the cave where Jesus was born. There are caves under the church and one was used by St. Jerome for about 30 years. This is where he translated the Bible into Latin (Vulgate). Some of the caves were used for burial.

Such a cave tomb was discovered in "Bethlehem South" in 2009. It contained burial items such as pottery, plates and beads, along with the remains of two individuals. The tomb dates to the Middle Bronze period (2200-1550 BC) when there was no permanent settlement in that place. Many tombs from this period have been found throughout Israel. In fact, this period is primarily known from the study of its cemeteries, with relatively few settlements discovered in the region of Judah.

A 3100 year arrowhead found near Bethlehem South bears the inscription bn 'nt, meaning "son of Anat." In ancient Egyptian mythology, Anat and Ashtart were daughters of the Creator Ra. They became the wives of Set/Seth, the deified ruler on earth.


The great antiquity of Bethlehem

Evidence of human habitation in the area of Bethlehem between 100,000-10,000 BC is well-attested along the north side of Wadi Khareitun where there are three caves: Iraq al-Ahmar, Umm Qal’a, and Umm Qatafa. These caves were homes in a wooded landscape overlooking a river. At Umm Qatafa archaeologists have found the earliest evidence of the domestic use of fire in Palestine. There are 40 Paleolithic sites in the hills surrounding Jerusalem, many of them near Bethlehem.

Related reading: David's Royal City; The Significance of Galilee in Matthew's Gospel; The Priests of Nazareth; Evidence of Castes in the Book of Ruth; Dig Finds Evidence of Another Bethlehem; Why Jesus Visited Tyre; Israeli Archaeologist Aviram Oshri on Jesus' Birthplace

Another Great Discovery in Bethlehem

Alice C. Linsley



Bethlehem has made the news again with the discovery of a 2700 year old clay seal.

Photo Credit: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Eli Shukron, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority said, "This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible,‭ ‬in an inscription from the First Temple period (1006-586 B.C.)‭, ‬which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah,‭ ‬and possibly also‭ ‬in earlier periods." (From here.) 

Only about 40 other seals of this kind from the first Jewish Temple period have been found, according to Shmuel Achituv, an expert in ancient scripts at Israel's Ben-Gurion University.

The dig is being underwritten by an right wing Zionist organization that hopes to see Jewish settlers populate the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan. 

In 2009, a 4,000-year-old tomb was discovered in Bethlehem during renovation on a local house. Construction workers were led to the tomb through a hole found near the Church of the Nativity. The tomb dates between 1,900 and 2,200 BC.

Pottery, plates and beads were retrieved from the tomb, along with the remains of two individuals. (From here.)

Todd Bolen, commenting on this find, has written: "Many tombs from this period, including intact ones, have been found throughout Israel. In fact, this period is primarily known from its cemeteries, with relatively few settlements discovered."




Bethlehem in the Bible

The Biblical information about Bethlehem ‭ tells the story of this ancient Horite settlement.

I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur (Hor) as the "father of Bethlehem." The author of I Chronicles knew that Bethlehem was originally a Horite settlement.

Rachel, Jacob's cousin wife, was buried at Bethlehem. She gave birth to Joseph who married the daughter of the Priest of Heliopolis in Egypt (Gen. 41:45).  Heliopolis (Onn) was a Horite shrine city.

Bethlehem is where Ruth gave birth Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth is praised and likened to Tamar who gave birth to Perez and Zerah. Judah gained these righteous sons by Tamar after losing unrighteous sons. His kingdom was amplified through Perez from whom Israel's greatest king and the promised Messiah came.

Bethlehem is the hometown of King David, who tended the sheep of his father. Jesus comes from a long line of shepherd-priests, on both Joseph's and Mary's sides.  Joseph's family lived in Nazareth which was the home of the eighteenth division of priests, that of Happizzez (1 Chron. 24:15). His cousin bride was Mary. Mary’s father Joachim was a priest who kept flocks, according to the Protoevangelium of James. This may be why the Arabic name for Bethlehem is Bēt Laḥm, meaning "House of Meat/Flesh." In Christian belief, Jesus, the Lamb of God, gave of his flesh for the life of the world.

Horite priests maintained shrines at major water systems or at wells and also kept sheep. Moses tended the flocks of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. It was at Jethro's well that Moses met his cousin wife, Zipporah. Likewise, Abraham's servant found Rebecca at a well, and Jacob first encountered Rachel at a well.

According to the prophet Micah, Messiah was to come from Bethlehem. The Bablyonian Talmud acknowledges that Jesus was born to Mary. In the Talmud, ignominious names are given to Mary and her Son. Mary is called "Charia" which means dung or excrement, and Jesus is called "Jeschu" which means May his name and memory be blotted out. Sanhedrin 106a acknowledges Mary's noblility but calls her a whore. “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”

Mary was of the Horite priestly lines. She was "Miriam Daughter of Joachim Son of Pntjr (Panther) Priest of Nathan of Bethlehem." From the earliest predynastic times among the Egyptian Horites, ntjr designated the king. The name Panther or p-ntjr meant "God is King."



Related reading:  A Bit More on the Bethlehem Bulla; Horite Brides at Wells; Jesus Christ in Genesis; Horite Expectation and the Star of Bethlehem