Lehem
Lehem is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Bethlehem. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Lehem appears in 1 Chronicles 4:22, within a genealogical passage tracing the descendants of Judah: 'and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab but returned to Lehem (the records are ancient).' The name Lehem, meaning 'bread' or 'food,' is widely understood as a shortened form of Bethlehem ('house of bread'). This brief genealogical note preserves a tradition about Judahite clans that at some point exercised authority in Moab before returning to their ancestral home. The parenthetical remark that 'the records are ancient' acknowledges the chronicler's reliance on early sources for this information. If Lehem is indeed Bethlehem, it connects this obscure genealogical notice to one of Scripture's most significant cities, the birthplace of David and ultimately of Jesus Christ. The mention of ruling in Moab and returning recalls the broader biblical theme of Judahite connections with Moab, most famously through Ruth the Moabitess, who traveled from Moab to Bethlehem and became an ancestor of David. Lehem thus hints at the ancient roots of the Davidic lineage.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Lehem is generally identified with Bethlehem, the well-known city located approximately eight kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Judean hill country. Modern Bethlehem (Beit Lahm in Arabic) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. Archaeological work in and around Bethlehem has revealed occupation stretching back to the Bronze Age. Excavations have uncovered Iron Age remains consistent with the settlement described in biblical narratives. The Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth, is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. Recent excavations beneath the church have revealed earlier Roman and Byzantine-period structures. The surrounding region preserves the agricultural character that gave the city its name, with terraced hillsides used for grain and olive cultivation.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Chr
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]