Bethlehem is located about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. The word Bethlehem means “House of Bread” this is significant because it is located in a fertile region know for growing corn that is used in bread making. It was originally called Ephrath or Ephratah. The first mention of Bethlehem we find in the letters of Amarna referred to as Ephratah. After the conquest of Canaan the city was given the name Bethlehem-Judah. Clay tablets found at El-Armana in Egypt in 1887 and dated to the 14th Century BC. Give support from outside the Bible that Bethlehem was a thriving city 3,500 years ago. This city has great significance in many ways. Bethlehem is the place Naomi met Boaz, they married and had a son Obed who would be the grandfather of David. Bethlehem