STP Logo

Reuters reports — Israeli archaeologists said today they found evidence that shows the town of Bethlehem existed before Jesus was born, which supports the Old Testament accounts of His birthplace.

A clay seal was discovered near the Old City of Jerusalem walls which has imprinted on it three lines of ancient Hebrew script.  One of these words is “Bethlehem.”

According to the director of the excavation, Eli Shukron, the seal had been on a tax shipment sent from Bethlehem to the King of Judah in the 8th or 7th century BC.

“This is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible in an inscription from the First Temple period,” Shukron said.

This proves Bethlehem “was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods”, he said.

For years people have said no evidence for Bethlehem existed in archeology, therefore the prophecy in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem cannot be true.

Bible 1, Skeptics 0