Ephratah

Ephratah (or Ephrathah) is an ancient name for Bethlehem, the significance of which is preserved in the double designation Bethlehem Ephratah in Micah 5:2. The name may mean fruitfulness or may derive from Ephrath, the wife of Caleb, after whom the region was named in the genealogies of Chronicles. Ruth 4:11 pairs it with Bethlehem as the place from which the clan of Boaz originated.

Micah's prophecy—But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times—became the key text cited by the scribes when Herod inquired where the Christ was to be born (Matthew 2:6). The double name Bethlehem Ephratah thus carries the weight of both Davidic origin (David was a Bethlehemite) and messianic expectation, and its very smallness in Micah's oracle underscores the paradox of divine election of the humble and overlooked.