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Is There a Contradiction between Alma 7:10 and Matthew 2:5–6?

TitleIs There a Contradiction between Alma 7:10 and Matthew 2:5–6?
Publication TypeMagazine Article
Year of Publication1955
AuthorsSmith, Joseph Fielding
MagazineImprovement Era
Volume58
Issue Number4
Pagination222
Date PublishedApril 1955
KeywordsAlma (Book); Bethlehem; Gospel of Matthew; Intertextuality; Jerusalem (Old World); Jesus Christ, Birth of; Nativity
Abstract

In answer to the title, this article states that there is no contradiction, arguing that Joseph Smith and all of his associates knew perfectly well that Bethlehem was where Jesus was born. The expression used in Alma 7:10 was not that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, but at Jerusalem. This is a Hebrew expression and simply refers to a geographical area—Jerusalem and environs, including Bethlehem.

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