The Star of Bethlehem & the true location of Christ's nativity at Avshalom or Soreq cave

The tradition that connects a cave with Christ's birth is very ancient. Justin Martyr, an early Christian apologist, (circa 150 AD) mentions it, as does Origen about a hundred years later. Now many will argue that the Bible did not mention Christ being born in a cave, but only mentioned him being laid in a manger:

Luke 2: 6-7 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Now there is nothing in the Bible that says this manger was not inside a cave either. So the tradition that Christ was born in a cave can still harmonize with what the Bible tells us about Christ’s nativity. But still, others will argue that the infant Christ was seen inside a house and not a cave when the Magi from the east first saw him:

Matthew 2: 9-11 After they had heard the king, they [the Magi] went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

Now remember, according to Luke 2: 15-18, when Christ was laid in a manger, he was visited by shepherds nearby who spread the news of Christ’s birth when they returned from where they came from. And Luke tells us that many were amazed by what the shepherds told them. In my opinion, It is unlikely, that of the many people who have heard of Christ’s birth, not even one of them have invited Mary and Joseph to bring their newborn child into their homes. And this explains I believe, why the Magi from the east saw baby Jesus inside a house instead of a stable full of animals and laid in a manger.

Now moving forward to the nativity story, the gospel of Matthew tells us that the star which the Magi from the east were following stopped over, and balanced itself [Greek: his'-tay-mee]  at the house where they found the newly born Jesus.

A star’s location in the sky can be determined by its celestial coordinates at any given time. And in astronomical lingo, to say that a rising star stopped over Christ’s birth place, actually meant that the star was directly above with an altitude of 90 degrees in the sky, at the exact location both where and when the Magi first saw baby Jesus.

Note that at 90 degrees altitude, the star was neither rising nor setting in the sky, and this makes the star appear to momentarily stop, and balance itself at that position. And this can only happen if the star’s celestial declination, and the geographic latitude position of Christ’s birth place were exactly the same. I will be explaining further why this is so later on in my discussion. But for now, it is important to understand that to correctly identify both the star of Bethlehem and the location of Christ’s nativity, one has to know the exact geographic latitude position of Christ’s birthplace, which as I mentioned earlier should have the same angular value as the celestial declination of the star of Bethlehem.

In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Latitude is an angle which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South) at the poles. Now, the question is, is it possible for us to know the latitude position of Christ’s birthplace?

According to Matthew, when Herod sent his soldiers to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, the soldiers ended up killing mostly the boys living in a town named Ramah:

Matthew 2: 16-18 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

From this Bible passage, it was quite clear that the town of Ramah must have been adjacent to or in close vicinity of Bethlehem. Now according to Joshua 18: 21-25, the town of Ramah was allocated to the tribe of Benjamin, while Bethlehem, on the other hand, clearly belonged to the tribe of Judah:

Matthew 2: 4-6 When [Herod] had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Now if the town of Ramah belonged to Benjamin, and the town of Bethlehem belonged to Judah, and if the two towns were adjacent to each other, then it is evident that Bethlehem and Ramah must have been located near the border that separates the territories belonging to Benjamin and Judah.

Now the land allocated to Benjamin was located north of the land allocated to Judah and adjacent to it. Also, the eastern boundary of Benjamin’s land was the Jordan river, and its southeastern corner was at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. (Please see Joshua 18: 19-20).

On the other hand, the eastern boundary of Judah’s land was the Dead Sea and its northeastern corner was also at the northern bay of the Dead Sea at the mouth of the Jordan. (Please see Joshua 15: 5).

Thus, if we want to know the latitude position of a point in the border that separates the land of Benjamin from the land of Judah, we can use the latitude position of the northern bay of the Dead Sea at the mouth of the Jordan river, which was a common point shared between the two territories that time.

If we now use Google Earth, we can see that the latitude position of this common point is approximately 31° 45' 37.5" N. Thus, the cave of Christ’s nativity should also have a latitude position equal to or very close to this value. But wait, there is more.

Joshua 18:14 tells us that the western quarter or boundary of Benjamin’s land was a city from the land of Judah, named Kiriath Jearim. We are also told on Joshua 18:15 that the southern border of Benjamin’s land began or started at the uttermost end or corner of Kiriath Jearim. This uttermost end must be Kiriath Jearim’s southeastern corner since Kiriath Jearim was also the western boundary of Benjamin’s land as mentioned earlier.

Now this southeastern corner of Kiriath Jearim, which corresponds to the southwestern corner of Benjamin’s land, was supposedly where  the well [Hebrew: mah`yawn] of the waters of Nephtoah issues out or originates. Note that the Hebrew word “mah`yawn” can be translated as either fountain, well, or spring. Thus, a portion of the southern border of Benjamin’s land, which separates it from the land of Judah, was defined or delineated by this fountain, well, or spring named Nephtoah. And I believe this means that the cave of the nativity in Bethlehem should also be bordered on the north by this body of water.

This is because the Bible mentions a well by the gate of Bethlehem, and also a great well in Ramah, both of which I believe to be the well of Nephtoah that serves as a common border between Benjamin and Judah. (Please see 2 Samuel 23: 15-16 and 1 Samuel 19: 22) Note that the Hebrew word used for “well” in these verses was “bowr”, which translates as either cistern, dungeon, fountain, pit, or well.

Since the natural spring water of Nepthoah was a common border between Benjamin and Judah, I believe the two tribes must have built each a great cistern or artificial well on their side of the border that connects to Nephtoah. This is in order to avoid any possible conflict through frequent contact between the two tribes while using this very important source of water.

Now to summarize, I have so far identified two ways of locating the birthplace of Christ, namely, that its latitude position should be 31° 45' 37.5"N, or very close to it, and that it must be bordered on the north by a fountain / well / or spring very near it. The third and final way of locating Christ’s actual birthplace, I believe, has to do with knowing who Bethlehem was, and where the town named after him should be located.

I made a previous video titled “Bethlehem Ephrathah and the Priesthood of Melchizedek”. In that video I mentioned that Bethlehem was the great grandson of both Caleb and Ephrathah based on 1 Chronicles 2: 50-51.

Caleb in turn was the son of Hezron, who was the grandson of Judah from Judah’s son Perez. (Please see 1 Chronicles 2: 3-5). Now according to the Jewish encyclopedia, in the rabbinical sources, Caleb, the son of Hezron (of 1 Chronicles 2: 18-20), is identified with Caleb, the son of Jephunneh (of Numbers 13: 6).

This Caleb son of Jephunneh was a leader of the tribe of Judah, and he was one of the 12 spies that were sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan before its conquest.

Now Jephunneh, the father of Caleb was a Kennizite according to Numbers 32: 12. So how can Caleb be the son of two different persons having two different nationalities, you might ask? The answer is that Caleb must have been adopted by his Kennizite father-in-law Jephunneh.

In my video titled “Bethlehem Ephrathah and the Priesthood of Melchizedek”, I explained how Jesse, the father of David must have been adopted likewise by his father-in-law, which explains why Jesse and his entire family lived in the land of Bethlehem, who was a descendant of Jesse’s matrilineal ancestor Caleb, instead of the land of Ram who was Jesse’s patrilineal ancestor.

Now according to Joshua 14: 6-15, Caleb son of Jephunneh asked Joshua to give him the hill country of Hebron as his inheritance. And Joshua granted Caleb this request. Now the hill country of Hebron was nestled in the Judean Mountains. And this means I believe, that Bethlehem, the great grandson of Caleb, should have his town which was named after him also located in the Judean Mountains.

Thus, in conclusion, I can say with finality that the cave of Christ’s nativity should be located in the Judean Mountains, at latitude position 31° 45' 37.5" N, or very close to it, and that it must be bordered on the north by a spring very near it.

For this reason I strongly believe that the Avshalom cave, also known as the Soreq cave, was where Christ was born and was laid by Mary in a manger.

And this is because this cave is located in the Judean hills or mountains at latitude position 31° 45′ 21″ N, which is really close to the 31° 45' 37.5" N I was looking for. Also and finally, this cave is bordered on the north by a portion of the Soreq river located very near it at approximately 600 meters only. This river by the way is one of the largest, most important drainage basins in the Judean Hills.

Now the Soreq cave is 83 m long, 60 m wide, and 15 m high and the temperature and the humidity inside the cave are constant year round. The enormous size and constancy of the temperature and humidity in the cave makes it an ideal place to house flocks and herds of animals even during winter.

And in my opinion it was certainly an ideal option for Joseph to use as a temporary shelter for Mary and her new born child. Earlier in this video, I claimed that by knowing the exact location of Christ’s birthplace, one can also identify the star of Bethlehem. And I will be showing you how this can be done in my next study.