Ephratah
Fruitful. (1.) The second wife of Caleb, the son of Hezron, mother of Hur, and grandmother of Caleb, who was one of those that were sent to spy the land (1 Chr 2:19, 1 Chr 2:50).
(2.) The ancient name of Bethlehem in Judah (Gen 35:16, Gen 35:19; Gen 48:7). In Ruth 1:2 it is called “Bethlehem-Judah,” but the inhabitants are called “Ephrathites;” in Mic 5:2, “Bethlehem-Ephratah;” in Matt 2:6, “Bethlehem in the land of Judah.” In Ps 132:6 it is mentioned as the place where David spent his youth, and where he heard much of the ark, although he never saw it till he found it long afterwards at Kirjath-jearim; i.e., the “city of the wood,” or the “forest-town” (1 Sam 7:1; comp. 2 Sam 6:3, 2 Sam 6:4).
Named in the Bible
5 verses
- Ruth 4:11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
- 1 Chronicles 2:50 These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim,
- 1 Chronicles 4:4 And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.
- Psalms 132:6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.
- Micah 5:2 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; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
