It's the literal translation of the Hebrew. Beth=house and lehem=bread.
It means (House of Bread), or (House of Meat).
The word bethlehem is from the Hebrew beth lechemwhich means either house of bread or house of [the god] Lahm. from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980
The "hem" in Bethlehem refers to the town's surrounding or perimeter. In ancient times, the hem represented the outer boundary of a settlement. So, Bethlehem would have been understood as the area around a settlement called Bethel.
Bethlehem in Hebrew literally means "house of bread" which a reference to Virgo, the virgin.
House of Bread Bethlehem in English translations of the Bible
Bethelhem is a variant spelling of Bethlehem, a city in the West Bank known for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ according to Christian tradition. The name Bethlehem is of Hebrew origin and means "house of bread."
Jesus was born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. Bethlehem is south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem means "House of Bread". The name Ephrathah differentiates it from the Galilean town by the same name.
The city of Bethlehem, located about six miles southwest of Jerusalem, also known as the City of David. Bethlehem also means House of bread.
In Hebrew, it's Beit Lechem...House of Bread. Since Bethlehem is in Judea, and Hebrew was the lingua franca, that would be the way it's written.
It's from a Biblical placename, Bethany. "Beth" in Hebrew means "house" as in "Bethel" ("house of God") and "Bethlehem" ("house of bread"). "Bethany" means "house of figs".
Bethlehem was the town of the house of David.
Bethlehem House was created in 1735.