Ephrath or Ephrathah or Ephratah () is a biblically referenced former name of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, meaning "fruitful". It is also a personal name.

Biblical place

A very old tradition holds that Ephrath refers to

, as the first mention of Ephrath occurs in Genesis, in reference to the place where

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

died giving birth to

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

and was buried on the road from

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

. Evidence that she died on the way there is reflected by the ancient Rachel's tomb at the city's entrance. Throughout much of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, Ephrath is a description for members of the Israelite

tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah (son of Jacob), Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Canaan, occupying it ...

, as well as for possible founders of Bethlehem. Ephrath, or Bethlehem, is connected to messianic prophecy, as found in the book of the minor prophet 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." This specifies the town of Bethlehem in the southern part of biblical Israel (Judah/Judea), distinguishing it from the Bethlehem located in the north (Galilee). Both Matthew 2 and Luke 2 in the New Testament state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

Personal name

Caleb's second wife was called Ephrath (or Ephrathah).

Locations named after Ephrath

Some modern places named after Ephrath include: *The

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

of Efrat, near Bethlehem *The town of Ephrata, Pennsylvania **The Ephrata Cloister, Pennsylvania, United States. *The town of Ephratah, New York *The town of

Ephrata, Washington Ephrata ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Washington, United States. Its population was 8,477 at the 2020 census. History Ephrata was officially incorporated on June 21, 1909 and was given the county seat for the newly crea ...

, United States. *The locality and creek of Eprapah, Victoria Point, near

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

** Nearby Coochiemudlo Island also has an Eprapah Street. * Eprapah, the

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

environmental education training centre, located at Victoria Point, near

References

{{reflist, 30em Torah places History of Bethlehem Former populated places in West Asia Women in the Hebrew Bible he:אפרת