ABSTRACT
In the Masoretic Text of Joshua (19: 15), Bethlehem is mentioned only once in the context of the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun. In the Septuagint (Greek Bible), however, Bethlehem is said to have belonged to the towns of Judah ( Josh. 15). The town is referred to in Judges only in connection with the stories of two Levite priests. In Judges 17, the Levite is from Bethlehem but leaves home to find his fortune. He ends up in private employ of a certain “Micah” ( Jud. 17: 8), only to be “kidnapped” by the passing Danites and made to serve as their priest. Judges 18: 30 implies that this Levite was named Jonathan, and was the grandson of Moses. His claim to fame is that he initiated an idolatrous cult at Dan which lasted until the Assyrian destruction of Israel during the last half of the eighth century BCE ( Jud. 18: 30).
