How Many Miles From Nazareth To Bethlehem
5 Things You Didn't Know About the Christmas Story
While her young man Israel Seminar classmates gathered at the base of the Masada mesa to hear a presentation, Gordon sophomore Nicole DePue '08 began her rising lonely. To brand information technology to the top at the same time every bit her peers, she needed an hour head start. "Walking is not an easy task for me," explains DePue. "I wasn't certain my feet could handle this. [I couldn't guarantee] they weren't going to be in so much pain that I couldn't do the rest of the trip."
Ever since DePue was little, doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her feet. They predicted she'd exist wheelchair-jump by the time she was thirteen, but an experimental surgery helped her retain the ability to walk, albeit with some difficulty.
That day it took DePue three times as long to reach the top of Masada. She wasn't sure she was going to make it, which is why information technology came to her listen a few days earlier Christmas this year.
In that location are several arduous journeys at the heart of the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The magi travel to Nazareth from the Due east. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. "I empathise what it's like to rely on God to get through a physical challenge to do what he'due south called you to do," says DePue. "I spent the full expedition going up Masada praying. And I am sure on the way to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph prayed the whole fashion."
Because these journeys just take upwards a few sentences in the Bible, there is much left to our imagination. To understand the risks Mary and Joseph took to bring the Messiah into the world and the lengths the magi went to only to meet him, The Bong interviewed biblical geographer Nicole DePue '08.
Hither are five things you lot probably didn't know virtually Christmas:
Jesus Was Likely Born in the Leap
Have y'all always asked yourself why Mary and Joseph would wait until Mary was almost nine months significant before making their 80-mile journey to Bethlehem for the census? Why didn't they go out sooner? Nosotros'll never know for sure, merely DePue has one possible explanation.
"Dorsum and then many women died during childbirth. The littlest thing could have terminated her pregnancy," explains DePue. "She could have gotten a fever. And during the wintertime season, it's rainy and would have gotten below freezing quite a scrap. It would be very unsafe for Mary. That'southward why I lean toward information technology not beingness winter." Joseph would have waited until information technology was safe to travel, fifty-fifty if that meant Mary was days abroad from giving nativity.
And then, if it's unlikely that Mary and Joseph fabricated the journeying to Bethlehem in the winter, and so when was Jesus actually built-in? No i knows. Birthdays were considered a pagan tradition and weren't celebrated in Jewish or Christian households until much after. Eventually, DePue says, "Christianity wanted to cover all not-Christian holidays by having their ain holiday in identify of it. The winter pagan holidays merged with Christmas." Before Christmas was celebrated, December 25 was a Roman holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god, Mithra.
Considering the dangers of travelling in the winter, DePue thinks that Jesus was born in the bound because that explains why Joseph and Mary would take chosen to travel at the finish of her tertiary trimester. They may have had no choice but to wait.
The Journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem Probably Took a Week
If the current hypothesis among biblical scholars stands—that is a four-twenty-four hour period journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem—Mary and Joseph would have had to travel near 90 miles in 4 days, averaging a 2.5-mph pace for roughly eight hours a day. That doesn't leave time for Mary and Joseph to have breaks to go to the bathroom, cook or swallow meals, or take hold of their breath, says DePue.
"Most Bible scholars, in my feel, are men," she says. "And I don't think they really understand what information technology would exist similar to travel as a pregnant woman in her tertiary trimester."
Aside from the practical problems of non getting to take bathroom breaks and consume nutrient, the 4-day hypothesis implies something else that DePue isn't comfy with. "A four-day journey [would point] that Joseph doesn't care about Mary. There was no demand to blitz. I think Joseph would accept taken a slower pace for Mary's sake. He would have prioritized her health and safety."
With these things in mind, DePue thinks that Mary and Joseph averaged two mph and 12 miles (six hours of travel) per solar day. In full, she estimates their journey took near one week. DePue even took the time to map out their possible itinerary:
Day 1: Nazareth to Beth Shean
Day 2–iii: Beth Shean through the Jordan River Valley
The Jordan River Valley offers freshwater, edible plants (east.g. date palms) and safety from the Samaritans. DePue thinks the two camped close to the river. Because Mary was pregnant and unmarried, it was likely that many of their relatives didn't accept them, and so they may not have had the pick of staying in villages.
Twenty-four hours 4: Jordan River Valley to Jericho/North end of the Dead Sea
Day v–6: Jericho/Northward finish of the Dead Bounding main to Jerusalem
DePue estimates that the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem would have taken Mary and Joseph 2 days considering information technology'south an ascent the entire way. "The Expressionless Sea is the lowest place on the confront of the Earth. Jerusalem is in the hill country."
Day seven: Jerusalem to Bethlehem
This is the shortest leg of the journeying. Information technology's v miles downhill. They would have passed by the city of David, which lied to the south of Herod's Jerusalem.
The Journey to Bethlehem May Foreshadow Palm Sunday
Scholars aren't sure whether Mary travelled to Bethlehem on a donkey or not. DePue hopes that she did. She explains, "It'south very symbolic. Jesus was in the womb on a ass with Mary when they came into Jerusalem from the East. . . which is the same side that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Lord's day." The entry into Jerusalem on a ass from the E gate may bookend Jesus' life.
The Magi Were Most Likely Ancient Astronomers from Babylon
The magi are the most mysterious of the Christmas story characters. We're not exactly sure who they are, where they're from or how they knew to follow the star to Jesus. "Nosotros know they come from 'the Eastward,'" says DePue. "Babylon is referred to every bit 'the East' other places in Scripture. Nebuchadnezzar came from 'the East'. The Jews in the diaspora under Daniel went to 'the East.' 'The East' normally meant Babylon."
And although their proper noun sounds like an abbreviation for magician, DePue says, "They didn't perform tricks or magic. They were diviners—people who looked to the stars to gain perspective. They were astronomers/astrologists."
The Magi May Accept Met Jesus When He Was A Toddler in Nazareth
On today's map, Babylon would be pretty close to Bagdad, Iraq, which means the magi would accept travelled more than 900 miles to run across Jesus. By the time they got to Jerusalem, they were looking for a child, not a infant, which implies that they had been travelling for a long fourth dimension. DePue points out that in the Bible the magi find Jesus in a proper house. There are no animals. In that location is no manger. "This makes me think that Jesus was already in Nazareth when the magi came," says DePue.
Another reason for why DePue thinks the magi found Jesus in Nazareth is because of the route they took home. "The magi went home a unlike way to avoid Herod in Jerusalem," she explains. "If they went to Bethlehem, the only way to avoid going through Jerusalem would be to add together to what was already a very long journey. Information technology's besides long. Information technology wouldn't make sense."
We hope these five insights from Nicole DePue assist you experience the Christmas story in a fresh style and deepen your appreciation of what Mary, Joseph and the magi went through to welcome Christ into the world. Merry Christmas!
Header prototype: Aboriginal ruins at the meridian of the Masada mesa in Masada National Park.
Source: https://stories.gordon.edu/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-christmas-story/
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