Bethlehem – Beit Lechem – The House of Bread
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
EPHRATH (Heb.
אפרת),
an additional name for Bethlehem of Judah. Rashi tells us that this is the
place where nobles and aristocrats gather.
THE GARDEN:
The story of Beit Lechem (
Bereshit
(Genesis) 2:8-9 And HaShem G-d
planted a garden eastward in
This garden contained every tree which was good for food. Adam HaRishon also came from the ground, as it is said:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 2:7 And HaShem G-d
formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.
“Out of the ground” HaShem made the trees to grow and “out of the ground” He formed Adam HaRishon. We are all the offspring of Adam HaRishon, so we all share in his work:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 2:15 And HaShem G-d
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
The “Man from the ground” (Adam) was to tend and dress the “Trees from the ground”. Like the trees, Adam is a seed in the hand of The Sower. Indeed, The offspring of both the tree and Adam are both called “seed”.
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 55:10 For as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
II
Corinthians 9:10 Now he that
ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for [your] food, and multiply your seed sown, and
increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
Now Adam was to bring forth food from the earth, but he was to be nourished by The Word of G-d:
Matityahu
(Matthew) 4:4 But he answered and
said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of G-d.
Adam was a man from the ground, and HaShem desires that the
ones from the ground should bear fruit. Adam was “placed” in the garden of Eden
by HaShem, the most fertile and productive place on earth, that he might bring
forth much fruit. There, HaShem was going to sow in Man the seed of His mitzvot (His instruction) and wait for that seed to be
accepted, kept, and made to flourish and bear fruit in the end, to His glory.
For when G-d created the grass, plants and fruit bearing trees we are told that
He placed their "seed... upon (
Through the keeping of the mitzvot, Adam was to bring forth fruit, bearing seed, like the trees were to bring forth fruit, bearing seed. Adam was also commanded to bring HaShem the “fruit” of glory by our praise:
Tehilim
(Psalm) 29:2 Give unto HaShem the
glory due unto his name; worship HaShem in the beauty of holiness.
Bereans
(Hebrews) 13:15 By him therefore
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to G-d continually, that is, the fruit of
[our] lips giving thanks to his name.
We are, therefore, meant to be trees of righteousness which bring forth fruit bearing seed:
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 6:13 But yet in it
[shall be] a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree,
and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so]
the holy seed [shall be] the substance thereof.
We can trace throughout the Tanach, the imagery of man as a "tree":
Tehilim
(Psalm) 1:3-4 And he shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper. The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the
chaff which the wind driveth away.
Tehilim (Psalm) 52:8 But I [am] like a green olive
tree in the house of G-d: I trust in the mercy of G-d for ever and ever.
Tehilim
(Psalm) 92:12 The
righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in
Tehilim (Psalm) 128:3
Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy
children like olive plants round about thy table.
Mishle
(Proverbs) 11:30 The fruit of the
righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth
souls [is] wise.
Shir
HaShirim (Song of Songs) 2:3 As
the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so [is] my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit [was] sweet to my
taste.
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 44:3-4 For I will pour
water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my
spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall
spring up [as] among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 61:3 To appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
HaShem, that he might be glorified.
Yirmeyahu
(Jeremiah) 17:8 For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and [that] spreadeth out her roots by the
river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit.
Thus, in the book of Devarim the people were told to spare the fruit trees and not cut them down "for the tree of the field is man [Adam].":
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 20:19 When thou
shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou
shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou
mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down
(for the tree of the field [is] man's [life]) to employ [them] in the siege:
THE FIELD:
After the fall, man was exiled from the Garden of Eden, back to the field where he was formed:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 3:23 Therefore HaShem G-d sent him forth from the garden
of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Adam would now have to till the ground and labor to prepare his bread. No longer was Adam to be in the most fertile and productive place. Now he would be in the field where:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 3:17-19 And unto Adam
he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for
thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; Thorns
also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust
shalt thou return.
The field must now be ploughed, harrowed, sown and tilled. The wheat must then be reaped, threshed, winnowed and ground. The dough then mixed and kneaded, molded into loaves and baked. All this, before there is bread to eat. Perhaps, that is why it is called "the bread of men":
Yechezkel
(Ezekiel) 24:22 And ye shall do
as I have done: ye shall not cover [your] lips, nor eat the bread of men.
And is referred to as "the bread of affliction":
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 16:3 Thou shalt eat
no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, [even] the bread of
affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of
Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth
out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
"Bread of sorrows":
Tehilim
(Psalms) 127:2 [It is] vain for
you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he
giveth his beloved sleep.
"Bread of adversity":
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah) 30:20 And [though] the
Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall
not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more,
but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
"Bread of tears":
Tehilim
(Psalms) 80:5 Thou feedest them
with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to
drink in great measure.
It is "bread gotten by sweat". It is bread “taken” from the ground by hard and excruciating labor.
If Adam had kept the mitzvot of HaShem, he would never have had to extract bread in this manner. He would never have had to labor to extract his own physical and spiritual nourishment from the “field”. You see, bread is also a hint to The Word of G-d:
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 8:3 And he humbled
thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might
make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that
proceedeth out of the mouth of HaShem doth man live.
Luqas
(Luke) 4:4 And Yeshua answered him, saying, It is written, That man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of G-d.
The grain that is ground to make bread is also a hint to the righteous:
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 21:10 O my threshing,
and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of HaShem of hosts, the G-d
of
Luqas
(Luke) 3:16-17 John answered,
saying unto [them] all, I indeed baptize you with
water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire: Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he
will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but
the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Midrash
Rabbah - Numbers IV:1 A king had numerous granaries all of which
contained much refuse and were full of rye-grass. He was consequently not
particular about the quantity of the contents. He had, however, one particular
granary which he perceived to be a fine one. Said he to a member of his house:
‘Those granaries consist of refuse and are full of rye-grass. Be not,
therefore, particular about the quantity of the contents. As regards this one,
however, ascertain how many kors, how many sacks, how many modii it contains.’
Thus, ‘the king’ is the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He;
‘the granary’ is Israel- O thou my threshing, and the winnowing of my floor
(Isaiah 21:10). So also it is said: Israel is the Lord's hallowed portion, His
firstfruits of the increase (Jeremiah 2:3); ‘the member of His house’ is Moses,
as it is said: My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house (Numbers 12:7). The Holy One, blessed be He,
said to Moses: ‘The idol worshippers are worthless grain’; as it is said: And
the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut down, etc. (Isaiah
33:12). Be not, therefore, particular about their numbers. Israel, however, are righteous; they are all wheat fit
for storage, as it is said: Thy people also are all righteous.
Armed with this knowledge, we can now understand why the enemies of Yirmeyahu said:
Yirmeyahu
(Jeremiah) 11:19 But I [was] like
a lamb [or] an ox [that] is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they
had devised devices against me,
[saying], Let us destroy the tree with the bread thereof, and let us cut
him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
May he be as a flourishing field of grain," said the rabbis concerning the Mashiach. And "kiss the wheat [BAR=either "wheat" or "son"]":
Tehilim
(Psalm) 2:12 Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is
kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.
This was interpreted by them to mean: "kiss the Mashiach".
And this "King Mashiach... from where does he come forth? From the royal city
of
We shall see, in the wisdom of HaShem,
that
Micah
5:2 "And you Bethlehem-
Ephratha, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, from you shall
come forth for Me the one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are
from long ago, from the days of eternity."
Targum Jonathan (Micah 5:2) Out of thee
O, thou Bethlehem Ephrata ... although thou art little in the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto me a Man, a Ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from the days of old ... that is from the Seed of David ... who was of Bethlehem Judah. (Abarbanel, Mashmiah Jeshua, fol. 62, c. 2).
Although thou art little among the thousands of
In ancient times
Bereshit
(Genesis) 35:16-19 And they
journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and
Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in
hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son
also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that
she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which [is] Beth-lehem.
Thus we go from “Fruitful” to the “House of Bread”. This is why we go from barley as the omer offering after Pesach, to the two loaves of bread as an offering at Shavuot. We are going from “Fruitful” to “The House of Bread”.
When the Lord told Abraham and Sarah that through their progeny kings would come forth:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 17:6 And I will make
thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come
out of thee.
Since Jacob acquired the birthright from his brother Esau:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 25:29-34 And Jacob sod
pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he [was] faint: And Esau said to
Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage]; for I [am] faint:
therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said,
Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold,
I [am] at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And
Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his
birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and
he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised [his]
birthright.
Jacob was told that kings would come forth from his loins:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 35:11 And G-d said unto
him, I [am] G-d Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of
nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Jacob had twelve sons, Reuben
being the eldest held the birthright, and it would have been from him that the
parentage of a line of kings would have ensued. But Reuben lost his birthright
when he lay with his father's concubine Bilhah at the southern border of
Bereshit
(Genesis) 35:21-22 And
Jacob had gone there to camp very shortly after his wife
Rachel died giving birth to his youngest child Benjamin. Rachel expired at the
northern border of
Bereshit
35:19 "Rachel died and was
buried on the way to Efrat, which is
Although Beit Lechem achieved fame in later years as the birthplace and early home of King David, it is principally associated with the Tomb of Rachel.
Our Sages tell us that Yaakov buried her there on Divine orders so that when Nevuzradan, the Babylonian conqueror of Eretz Yisrael, would lead her children into exile past her tomb, Mother Rachel would rise from her grave to pray to Heaven for their return.
Beit-Lechem became the center of the tribe
of
Shoftim (Judges) 12:8 And
after him Ibzan (also known as Boaz [Ibn Ezra, Judges 12:8]) of
Beth-lehem judged
It was in Beit Lechem that David was anointed as King over
1
Shmuel (Samuel) 16:4-13 And
Samuel did that which HaShem spake, and came to
Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest
thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto HaShem:
sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse
and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they
were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely HaShem's anointed [is]
before him. But HaShem said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [HaShem seeth] not as
man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but HaShem looketh on the
heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he
said, Neither hath HaShem chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And
he said, Neither hath HaShem chosen this. Again, Jesse made seven
of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, HaShem hath not
chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he
said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And
Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he
come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he [was] ruddy, [and] withal
of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And HaShem said, Arise,
anoint him: for this [is] he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed
him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of HaShem came upon David from
that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
If One wanted to speak of the town of royalty, Beit Lechem
would be on the tip of the tongue. This is truly the city of
Luqas
(Luke) 2:4-14 And Joseph also
went up from Galilee, out of the city of
CALEB:
Bethlehem-Judah, the city of
1 Divrei Hayamin (Chronicles)
2:50-51 These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn
of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim, Salma the father of
Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader.
Salma was a direct descendant of the spy "from the
tribe of
Joshua
14:6 Then the children of Judah
came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said
unto him, Thou knowest the thing that HaShem said unto Moses the man of G-d
concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.
The Kennizzites were descendants of Kenaz, son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 36:10-11 These [are]
the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the
son of Bashemath the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar,
Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
Caleb was also a member of the tribe
of
Bereshit
(Genesis) 46:12 And the sons of
Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in
the
1
Divrei Hayamin (Chronicles) 2:18-20
And Caleb the son of Hezron begat [children] of Azubah [his] wife, and of
Jerioth: her sons [are] these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. And when Azubah
was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath (Miriam sister of Moshe), which bare him
Hur. And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.
In Salma, therefore, the founder of
Midrash
Rabbah - Exodus I:17 AND IT CAME TO PASS, BECAUSE THE MIDWIVES
FEARED GOD, THAT HE BUILT THEM HOUSES (I, 21). Rab and Levi discussed this. One
says: It means that they established priestly and levitical families; and the
other, that they were founders of a royal family. Priestly
and levitical families-from Moses and Aaron; a royal family from Miriam,
because David descended from Miriam, as it is written: And Caleb the son of
Hezron begot Azubah his wife-and of Jerioth-and these were her sons: Jasher,
and Shobab and Ardon (I Chron. II, 18). ’Azubah’ is Miriam; and why was she so
called? Because all had forsaken her. He begot’? But she was his wife! This is
to teach you, said R. Johanan, that if one marries a woman for the sake of
heaven, he is regarded as if he had given birth to her. ‘Jerioth’-because her
face was like the curtains of (yeri'oth) the tabernacle.
And these are her sons’-do not pronounce it banehah (her sons) but bonehah (her builders). ’Jasher’ is Caleb, because he
rectified (yashir) his ways. Shobab,’ because he disciplined (shibbeb) himself.
‘Ardon,’ because he chastised (ridah) his soul. ’And Azubah died’-to teach us
that she was ill and was treated as if already dead, Caleb too forsaking her.
‘And Caleb took unto him Ephrath,’ this is Miriam. And why was she called
Ephrath? Because Israel were fruitful (paru) and increased, thanks to her. What
is meant by ’and he took unto him’? When she was healed, he treated her as
though he were now marrying her, placing her in the
litter, on account of his great joy in her. Similarly, you will find in another
place that Miriam is called by two names on account of
the incident that happened to her. Thus it says: And Ashur the father of Tekoa
had two wives, Nelah and Naarah (ib. IV, 5). ’Ashur’ is Ca
Thus, in
2
Shmuel (Samuel) 8:18 And Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada [was over] both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and
David's sons were priests (Heb. Kohanim).
And did not King Solomon, David's son, bless the people, consecrate the middle court of the Temple, and also offer sacrifices himself at the inauguration?
I
Melachim (Kings) 8:53-54 And
Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto HaShem, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and
twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children
of Israel dedicated the house of HaShem. The same day did the king hallow
the middle of the court that [was] before the house of HaShem: for there he
offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and
the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that [was] before
HaShem [was] too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and
the fat of the peace offerings.
Caleb, the spy and forefather of Salma the founder of
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 32:12 Save Caleb the
son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly
followed HaShem.
MIGDAL-EDAR (‘
Migdal-eder: "tower of the flock", a shepherd's
watchtower near
We mentioned earlier that Reuben lost his birthright when he
lay with his father's concubine Bilhah at the southern border of Beit Lechem by
the
Bereshit
(Genesis) 35:21-22 And
The Targum Jerusalem on Genesis 35:21 states: "And Jacob proceeded and spread his tent beyond Migdal-Eder, the place where it is to be that King Mashiach will be revealed at the end of days".
From this we can understand the Messianic fulfillment of the prophet’s words:
Micah 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of
Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come
to the daughter of Jerusalem.
The Targum translates the “tower of the flock” as being “The
Anointed One of the flock of
Thus was it fulfilled, by the birth of His Majesty King Yeshua, Who was born at Migdal-eder:
Luqas
(Luke) 2:8 And there were in the
same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night.
Kiddushin
55a We learnt elsewhere: If an
animal is found between Jerusalem and Migdal Eder or an equal distance [from
the city] in any direction: the males are burnt-offerings; the females are
peace-offerings.
There's a story in the Talmud, Masechet Derech Eretz (Chapter 4), which relates that once Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar was coming from Migdal Eder, from his teacher's house, and he was riding leisurely on his horse by the seaside. A certain man chanced to meet him, and the man was exceedingly ugly. Rabbi Shimon said to him, "Raka (simpleton), how ugly are the children of Abraham our father." The other man replied, "What can I do for you? Speak to the Craftsman Who made me." Rabbi Shimon immediately dismounted from his horse and bowed before the man and said, "I apologize to you, forgive me." He replied to him, "I will not forgive you until you go to the Craftsman Who made me and say, "How ugly is the vessel which You have made."
Rabbi Shimon walked behind him for three
miles. When the people in town heard of the arrival of Rabbi Shimon, they came
out to meet him and greeted him with the words, "Peace be unto you,
rabbi." The other man said to them, "Who are you calling rabbi?"
They answered, "The man who is walking behind you." Thereupon he
exclaimed, "If this man is a rabbi, may there not be any more like him in
* * *
Much of this study was derived from an excellent set of articles at: http://www.eliyyahu.com/
The author was unnamed.
* * *
This study was written by Hillel ben David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be submitted to:
Greg Killian
1101 Surrey Trace SE
Tumwater, WA 98501
Internet address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page:
http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 584-9352
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