Luke says that Mary went to visit her relative Elizabeth in “a city of Judah” in “the hill country.” Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist, and the Gospel famously records that when Mary greeted Elizabeth, the “babe leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41).
There are several traditional sites of John the Baptist’s hometown. From the Gospel accounts, we know it should be in the region of Judea, the center of which was Jerusalem. We also know it was in the “hill country” which is associated with the hilly region of Judea between the coastal plain and the wilderness. Thus, the birthplace of John the Baptist should be somewhere near Jerusalem, probably west of it, in the hills around the city.1 A fairly late (seventh century) tradition places Elizabeth’s house at the foot of the Mt. of Olives. Another places it along the top of the ridge of the Mt. of Olives.
Theodosius stated that it was five miles from Jerusalem to the house of Elizabeth. Ain Karim (“Spring of the Vineyard”) is probably the best candidate for John the Baptist’s birthplace, since it is almost exactly five miles from Jerusalem, unlike other traditional sites. Excavations near the historic church of Saint John the Baptist uncovered burial chambers, wine presses, and chapels with mosaic floors. Excavators also found coins and pottery from the Herodian period, proving the village was inhabited during the New Testament period. Ain Karim has the oldest tradition as the birthplace of John the Baptist, going back at least as far as the fourth century. Several churches and chapels were constructed on the foundations of Byzantine-era buildings.
Jack Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992). ↩︎
1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 2“Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” 3When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born. 5They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
6‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are in no way least among the princes of Judah;
for out of you shall come a governor
who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”
7Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
9They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
14He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, 15and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. 17Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18“A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she wouldn’t be comforted,
because they are no more.”
19But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
21He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee, 23and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets that he will be called a Nazarene.