Bethany

A place ever dear and memorable to the followers of the Lord Jesus, from being so sacred to the Lord’s solemn moments of suffering. Perhaps the name is compounded of Beth, an house; and hanah, affliction. It lay about fifteen furlongs (nearly two of our miles) from Jerusalem, at the foot of the mount of Olives. See John, eleventh and twelfth chapters.

a considerable place, situated on the ascent of the mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem, Joh 11:18; Mat 21:17; Mat 26:6, &c. Here it was that Martha and Mary lived, with their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead; and it was here that Mary poured the perfume on our Saviour’s head. Bethany at present is but a very small village. One of our modern travellers tells us, that, at the entrance into it, there is an old ruin, called the castle of Lazarus, supposed to have been the mansion house where he and his sisters resided. At the bottom of a descent, not far from the castle, you see his sepulchre, which the Turks hold in great veneration, and use it for an oratory, or place for prayer. Here going down by twenty-five steps, you come at first into a small square room, and from thence creep into another that is smaller, about a yard and a half deep, in which the body is said to have been laid. About a bow-shot from hence you pass by the place which they say was Mary Magdalene’s house; and thence descending a steep hill, you come to the fountain of the Apostles, which is so called because, as the tradition goes, these holy persons were wont to refresh themselves there between Jerusalem and Jericho,—as it is very probable they might, because the fountain is close to the roadside, and is inviting to the thirsty traveller. Bethany is now a poor village, but pleasantly situated, says Dr. Richardson, on the shady side of the mount of Olives, and abounds in trees and long grass.

Beth´any (place of dates). 1. The place near the Jordan where John baptized, the exact situation of which is unknown. Some copies here read Bethabara, as stated in the preceding article. 2. Bethany, a town or village about fifteen furlongs east-south-east from Jerusalem, beyond the Mount of Olives (Joh 11:18), so called, probably, from the number of palm-trees that grew around. It was the residence of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, and Jesus often went out from Jerusalem to lodge there (Mat 21:17; Mat 26:6; Mar 11:1; Mar 11:11-12; Mar 14:3; Luk 19:29; Luk 24:50; Joh 11:1; Joh 11:18; Joh 12:1). The place still subsists in a shallow wady on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. Dr. Robinson reached Bethany in three-quarters of an hour from the Damascus gate of Jerusalem; which gives a distance corresponding to the fifteen furlongs (stadia) of the Evangelist. It is a poor village of about twenty families. The only marks of antiquity are some hewn stones from more ancient buildings, found in the walls of some of the houses. The monks, indeed, show the house of Mary and Martha, and of Simon the leper, and also the sepulcher of Lazarus, all of which are constantly mentioned in the narratives of pilgrims and travelers. The sepulcher is a deep vault, like a cellar, excavated in the limestone rock in the middle of the village, to which there is a descent by twenty-six steps. Dr. Robinson alleges that there is not the slightest probability of its ever having been the tomb of Lazarus. The form is not that of the ancient sepulchers, nor does its situation accord with the narrative of the New Testament, which implies that the tomb was not in the town (Joh 11:31; Joh 11:38).

A village on the eastern slope of the Mount Olivet, about two miles east-south-east of Jerusalem, and on the road to Jericho. It was often visited by Christ, Mat 21:17 ; Mar 11:1,12 ; Luk 19:29 . Here Martha and Mary dwelt, and Lazarus was raised from the dead, Joh 11:1-57 Here Mary anointed the Lord against the day of his burying, Joh 12:1-50 ; and from the midst of his disciples near this village which he loved, he ascended to heaven, Mat 24:50 . Its modern name, Aziriyeh , is derived from Lazarus. It is a poor village of some twenty families.\par

Beth’any. (house of dates, or house of misery).

1. A village which, scanty as are the notices of it contained in Scripture, is more intimately associated in our minds, than perhaps any other place, with the most familiar acts and scenes of the last days of the life of Christ. It was situated "at" the Mount of Olives, Mar 11:1; Luk 19:29, about fifteen stadia, (furlongs, that is, 1 1/2 or 2 miles), from Jerusalem, Joh 11:18, on, or near, the usual road from Jericho to the city, Luk 19:29. Compare Mar 11:1, and Mar 10:46.

And close by the west (?) of another village called Bethphage, the two being several times mentioned together. Bethany was the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and is now known by a name derived from Lazarus -- el-Azariyeh or Lazarieh.

It lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, fully a mile beyond the summit, and not very far from the point at which the road to Jericho begins its more sudden descent towards the Jordan valley. El-’Azariyeh is a ruinous and wretched village, a wild mountain hamlet of some twenty families. Bethany has been commonly explained "house of dates," but it more probably signifies "house of misery." H. Dixon, "Holy Land," ii. 214, foll.

2. In the Revised Version for Bethabara, Joh 1:28, where Jesus was baptized by John. It was probably an obscure village near Bethabara, and, in time, its name faded out and was replaced by the larger and more important Bethabara.

("house of dates".) Bethabara, though dates have long disappeared from the locality, and only olives and figs remain (whence Olivet and Bethphage are named). (See BETHABARA.) Bethany is not mentioned until the New Testament time, which agrees with the Chaldee hinee being the word used for "dates" in the composition of the name, Beth-any. Associated with the closing days of the Lord Jesus, the home of the family whom He loved, Mary, Martha. and Lazarus where He raised Lazarus froth the dead; from whence He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem; His nightly abode each of the six nights preceding His betrayal; where at the house of Simon the leper He was anointed by Mary (Mar 14:3); and where, most of all, we are introduced to the home circle of His private life. In Joh 11:1 His arrival at Bethany is recorded, namely, in the evening.

The sending of the two disciples for the colt was evidently on the following morning, to allow time for the many events of the day of His triumphal entry and visiting the temple, after which it was "eventide" (Mar 11:11), which coincides with John’s (Joh 12:12) direct assertion, "the next day"; at the eventide of the day of triumphal entry He "went out unto Bethany with the twelve," His second day of lodging there. On the morrow, in coming from Bethany, He cursed the figtree (Mar 11:12-13), cast out the money-changers from the temple, and at "even" "went out of the city" (Mar 11:19), lodging at Bethany for the third time, according to Mark.

"In the morning" they proceeded by the same route as before (as appears from their seeing the dried up fig tree), and therefore from Bethany to Jerusalem (Mar 11:27; Mar 12:41) and the temple, where He spoke parables and answered cavils, and then "went out of the temple" (Mar 13:1), to return again to Bethany, as appears from His speaking with Peter, James, Jehu, and Andrew privately "upon the mount of Olives" (Mar 13:3), on the S.E. slope of which Bethany lies, 15 stadia or less than two miles from Jerusalem (Joh 11:18), the fourth day, according to Mark, who adds, "after two days was the feast of the Passover" (Mar 14:1). Thus Mark completes the six days, coinciding (with that absence of design which establishes truth) exactly with John, "Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany" (Joh 12:1.)

Though John does not directly say that Jesus went in the evenings to Bethany, yet he incidentally implies it, for he says, "they made Him a supper" at Bethany, i.e. an evening meal (Joh 12:2). The anointing by Mary, introduced by Mark, after mention of the chief priests’ plot "two days" before the Passover, is not in chronological order, for it was six days before the Passover (John 12), but stands here parenthetically, to account for Judas’ spite against Jesus. Judas "promised and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude " (Luk 22:6); Matthew (Mat 26:5) similarly represents the chief priests, in compassing His death, as saying," Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." Jesus therefore in the day could clear the temple of the money-changers, but at night He was exposed to stratagem; so the very first night that He did not retire to Bethany, but remained in Jerusalem, He was seized.

It is striking how God’s ordering brought about the offering of the true Paschal Lamb on the feast day, though the opposite was intended by the Jewish rulers. From the vicinity of Bethany, on the wooded slopes beyond the ridge of Olivet, He ascended to heaven, still seen to the moment of His being parted from His disciples, and carried up from their "steadfast gaze," blessing them with uplifted hands (Luk 24:50-51; Act 1:9-12). Bethany was "at" the mount of Olives (Mar 11:1; Luk 19:1-29), near the usual road from Jericho to Jerusalem (Mar 10:46; Mar 11:1), close to Bethphage ("the house of figs"), frequently named with it.

Now el-Azariyeh, named so from Lazarus; on the E. of the mount of Olives, a mile beyond the summit, near the point at which the road to Jericho makes a sudden descent toward the Jordan valley; a hollow, wooded with olives, almonds, pomegranates, oaks, and carobs; lying below a secondary ridge which shuts out the view of the summit of Olivet. The village is a miserable one, of some 20 families of thriftless inhabitants. The house and tomb of Lazarus, and the house of Simon the leper, exhibited here, are of very doubtful genuineness.

(Βηθανία; according to Simonis, Onom. N.T. p. 42, for the Heb. בֵּית עֲנִיָּה, house of depression; but, according to Lightfoot, Reland, and others, for the Aramaean בֵּית הִינֵי, house of dates; comp. the Talmudic אֲהִינָא, an unripe date, Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 38), the name of two places.

1. Instead of Bethabara (Βηθαβαρά), in Joh 1:28 (where the text was altered since Origen’s time; see Crome, Beitr. 1, 91 sq.), the reading in the oldest and best MSS. (also in Nonnius’s Paraphr. in loc.) is Bethany, Βηθανία (see De Dieu, Crit. Sacr. p. 491), which appears to have been the name of a place east of Jordan (against the interpretation of Kuinol, Comment. in loc., that πέραν signifies on this side; see Lucke, in Krit. Journ. 3, 383; Crome, Beitr. 1, 82 sq.; while the punctuation of Paulus, Samml. 1, 287, who places a period after ἐγένετο, Comment. 4, 129, is not favored by the context). Possin’(Spicil. Evang. p. 32) supposes that the place went by both names (regarding “Beth-abara” = בֵּית עֲבֵרָה, domus transitus, ferry-house; and ‘“Bethany” = אנִיָּה, domus navis, boat-house). SEE BETHABARA. The spot is quite as likely to have been not far above the present “pilgrims’ bathing-place” as any other, although the Greek and Roman traditions differ as to the exact locality of Christ’s baptism (Robinson, Researches, 2, 261). The place here designated is apparently the same as the BETH-BARAH SEE BETH-BARAH (q.v.) of Jdg 7:24, or possibly the same as BETH-NIMRAH SEE BETH-NIMRAH (q.v.).

2. A town or village in the eastern environs of Jerusalem, so called probably from the number of palm-trees that grew around, and intimately associated with many acts and scenes of the life of Christ. It was the residence of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, and Jesus often went out from Jerusalem to lodge there; it was here that he raised Lazarus from the dead; from Bethany he commenced his “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem; here, at the house of Simon the leper, the supper was given in his honor; and it was in this vicinity that the ascension took place (Mat 21:17; Mat 26:6; Mar 11:11-12; Mar 14:3; Luk 24:50; Joh 11:1; Joh 12:1). It was situated “at” (πρός) the Mount of Olives (Mar 11:1; Luk 19:29), about fifteen stadia from Jerusalem (Joh 11:18), on or near the usual road from Jericho to the city (Luk 19:29, comp. 1; Mar 11:1, comp. Mar 10:46), and close by and east (?) of another village called BETH-PHAGE SEE BETH-PHAGE (q.v.). There never appears to have been any doubt as to the site of Bethany, which is now known by a name derived from Lazarus—el- ’Azariyeh, or simply Lazarieh. It lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, fully a mile beyond the summit, and not very far from the point at which the road to Jericho begins its more sudden descent toward the Jordan valley (Lindsay, p. 91; De Saulcy, 1:120). The spot is a woody hollow more or less planted with fruit-trees — olives, almonds, pomegranates, as well as oaks and carobs; the whole lying below a secondary ridge or bump, of sufficient height to shut out the village from the summit of the mount (Robinson, 2, 100 sq.; Stanley, p. 189; Bonar, p. 138, 139). From a distance the village is “remarkably beautiful” — “the perfection of retirement and repose” — “of seclusion and lovely peace” (Bonar, p. 139, 230, 310, 337; and see Lindsay, p. 69); but on a nearer view is found to be a ruinous and wretched village, a wild mountain hamlet of some twenty families, the inhabitants of which display even less than the ordinary Eastern thrift and industry (Robinson, 2:102; Stanley, p. 189; Bonar, p. 310). In the village are shown the traditional sites of the house and tomb of Lazarus, the former the remains of a square tower apparently of old date, though certainly not of the age of the kings of Judah, to which De Saulcy assigns it (1, 128)-the latter a deep vault excavated in the limestone rock, the bottom reached by twenty-six steps. The house of Simon the leper is also exhibited. As to the real age and character of these remains there is at present no information to guide us. Schwarz maintains el-’Azariyeh to be AZAL, and would fix Bethany at a spot which, he says, the Arabs call Beth-hanan, on the Mount of Offence above Siloam (p. 263, 135). These traditional spots are first heard of in the fourth century, in the Itinerary of the Bourdeaux Pilgrim, and the Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome, and they continued to exist, with certain varieties of buildings and of ecclesiastical establishments in connection therewith, down to the sixteenth century, since which the place has fallen gradually into its present decay (Robinson, Researches, 2, 102, 103). By Mandeville and other mediaeval travelers the town is spoken of as the “Castle of Bethany,” an expression which had its origin in castellum being employed in the Vulgate as the translation of κώμη in Joh 11:1. SEE JERUSALEM..

Bethany (bĕth’a-ny), house of dates, or, of misery. A village on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet, about one and a half to two miles ("15 furlongs") east of Jerusalem, Joh 11:18, toward Jericho; the home of Mary and Martha, whither Jesus often went. Mat 21:17; Mar 11:11-12. It was the home of Simon, Mar 14:3, the place where Lazarus was raised from the dead. Joh 11:18-44; and near it Jesus ascended to heaven, Luk 24:50; named in the Gospels eleven times only. See Beth-abara.

[Beth’any]

The ’house of dates,’ a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about 2 miles from Jerusalem, near the road to Jericho. It was where Lazarus, Martha, and Mary resided, in whose house the Lord found a resting place, amidst those whom He loved, and who were ever ready to welcome Him, and to devote the best of their substance to Him. It was from or near Bethany that the Lord ascended. Mat 21:17; Mat 26:6; Mar 11:1; Mar 11:11-12; Mar 14:3; Luk 19:29; Luk 24:50; Joh 11:1; Joh 11:18; Joh 12:1. It is now a ruinous and wretched hamlet called el Azariyeh, or ’Lazariyeh,’ from Lazarus, 31° 46’ N, 35° 15’ E.

Some of the Greek MSS read BETHANY in Joh 1:28 where John was baptizing on the east of the Jordan.

BETHANY (Βηθανία).—1. A village whose interest arises mainly from its having been the residence of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. As to this it is well to note the following points. (1) None of the three Synoptists mentions Lazarus. (2) St. Matthew and St. Mark maintain the same silence as to Martha and Mary. (3) St. Luke (Luk 10:38-42) records a sojourn of Jesus in ‘a village’ (κώμη τις), which he leaves unnamed. (4) St. John alone (Joh 11:1; Joh 11:8; Joh 12:1 ff.) names Bethany as the place where the brother and the two sisters lived. (5) St. Matthew and St. Mark state that Bethany afforded hospitality to Jesus during the days that preceded His death (Mat 21:17 ff., Mar 11:11 ff.); but in connexion with His stay there they make mention only of the house of ‘Simon the leper’ (Mat 26:6 ff., Mar 14:3 ff.), and give no name to the woman who anoints the feet of the Lord. (6) St. Luke does not speak of this sojourn at Bethany, but simply says in a more general way that Jesus passed the night ‘at the mount called the Mt. of Olives’ (Luk 21:37). (7) The data usually accepted regarding Bethany and the family that lived there and entertained Jesus in their house, are thus derived essentially from the Fourth Gospel.

Bethany is mentioned neither in the Canonical books nor in the Apocrypha of the OT; it makes its appearance for the first time in the NT, and is not named in Josephus. Its situation is relatively easy to determine. We know (Mar 10:46; Mar 11:1, Luk 19:1; Luk 19:29) that it was on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, at a distance of 15 furlongs from the latter (Joh 11:18), lying thus on the ^{E [Note: Elohist.]} . or rather S.E. side of the Mt. of Olives. Origen asserts that in his time the position of Bethany was known. In the 4th cent. the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333) mentions a place where the ‘crypta’ of Lazarus was to be seen. Eusebius records that ‘the place of Lazarus’ was shown, and Jerome adds that it was 2 miles from Jerusalem (OS^{2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} 108. 3, 239. 10). According to Niceph. Callist. (Historia Ecclesiastica viii. 30 [Patr. Gr. cxlvi. 113]), a church containing the tomb of Lazarus was built by the empress Helena. Another sanctuary marked the spot where Jesus met Mary (Joh 11:29 ff.). A number of ecclesiastical buildings have risen at Bethany; as many as three churches have been counted there. In its present condition it is a village without importance or interest, with a population of about 200. It bears the name el-ʽAzariyeh, derived from ‘Lazarus’ or from ‘Lazarium’ (Λαζαρίον), a form found as early as the Pilgrimage of Silvia (383); the initial L has been taken for the Arab^{. [Note: Arabic.]} article.

According to the Talmud, Bethany is = Aram^{. [Note: Aramaic.]} Beth-Aineh or Beth-Hini, ‘place of dates’ (?); but this etymology is uncertain. The same may be said of that which traces it to the root ענה, and would yield the sense of ‘place of affliction’ or ‘place of the afflicted one,’ which may be simply a popular etymology (cf. Nestle, Philologica Sacra, 1896, p. 20).

The buildings which are shown at the present day as possessing a historical interest are—1. The ‘castle’ of Lazarus, a tower which dates from the time of the Crusades, and was probably built in 1147 by Queen Melissenda for the Benedictine nuns; according to others, its construction is still earlier. The name ‘castle’ is explained by the fact that the Vulgate renders the NT κώμη by castcllum. 2. The tomb of Lazarus is shown to modern pilgrims, but its genuineness is so doubtful that it is questioned even by Roman Catholic writers, e.g. Mgr. Le Camus, bishop of La Rochelle (Notre Voyage aux pays bibliques, i. 245). 3. There are still shown—or there used to be shown—at el-‘Azariych the house of Martha, that of Mary, and that of Simon the leper.

In Luk 24:50 the scene of the Ascension is placed, if not at Bethany, at least in its immediate vicinity: ‘He led them ἕως πρὸς Βηθανίαν’ (Authorized Version ‘as far as to Bethany,’ Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 less satisfactorily, ‘until they were over against Bethany’). On the other hand, Act 1:12 relates that after the Ascension the Apostles ‘returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey off.’ The statement in Luke’s Gospel deserves the preference; it fixes the place of the Ascension itself near Bethany, while the text of Acts simply connects the return of the Apostles with the Mt. of Olives, on the slope of which Bethany lies, and does not speak necessarily of the summit of the mountain, as ecclesiastical tradition supposed (cf. Tobler, Die Siloahquelle und der Oclberg, p. 83).

Literature.—Robinson, BR^{P [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} i. 431–433; Guérin, Palestine, ‘Samarie,’ i. 163–181; Buhl, GA^{P [Note: AP Geographic des alten Palästina.]} 155; Tobler, Topogr. ii. 422–464; PE^{F [Note: EF Palestine Exploration Fund.]} Mem. iii. 27 f.; Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 24, 49.

Lucien Gautier.

BETHANY.—A village about 15 stadia (2910 yards or about 1⅝ mile) from Jerusalem (Joh 11:18) on the road from Jericho, close to Bethphage and on the Mount of Olives (Mar 11:1, Luk 19:29). It was the lodging-place of Christ when in Jerusalem (Mar 11:11). Here lived Lazarus and Martha and Mary (Joh 11:1), and here He raised Lazarus from the dead (Joh 11:1-57). Here also He was entertained by Simon the leper, at the feast where the woman made her offering of ointment (Mat 26:6, Mar 14:3). From ‘over against’ Bethany took place the Ascension (Luk 24:50). In this case the topographical indications agree exceptionally with the constant tradition which fixes Bethany at the village of el-‘Azariyeh, on the S.E. of the Mount of Olives beside the Jericho road. The tomb of Lazarus and the house of Martha and Mary are definitely pointed out in the village, but of course without any historical authority. For a possible Bethany in Galilee, see Bethabara.

R. A. S. Macalister.

(Hebrew: house of mercy).

(1) Ancient village of Palestine, 1.75 miles east of Jerusalem, at the base of the Mount of Olives. It was prominent as the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and the scene of the raising of Lazarus to life (John 11). From Bethany Our Lord sent two of His disciples to find the ass that was to bear Him on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19) and near this village. He ascended into heaven (Luke 24).

(2) Bethany beyond the Jordan, mentioned as the place of Our Lord’s baptism (John 1), is of doubtful location.

(Bethania).A village of Palestine, fifteen furlongs, or one mile and three-quarters, east of Jerusalem, at the base of the southwestern slope of the Mount of Olives. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament; in the New Testament it comes into prominence as the Village of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and as the scene of the great miracle of the raising of Lazarus to life by Jesus. Here Jesus often received hospitality in the house of his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; and near this village Jesus ascended into Heaven. The most accepted etymology of the name is Beit-æAniaæ, "House of Misery". The Talmud derives the name from Beit-Hine, or Betæuni, "House of Dates". The modern name of the village is el-æAzariye, so called from the memory of Lazarus. The initial letter of the name Lazarus is elided in Arabic after the l of the article.Some believe that the present village of Bethany does not occupy the site of the ancient village; but that it grew up around the traditional cave which they suppose to have been at some distance from the house of Martha and Mary in the village; Zanecchia (La Palestine d’aujourd’hui, 1899, I, 445f.) places the site of the ancient village of Bethany higher up on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, not far from the accepted site of Bethphage, and near that of the Ascension. It is quite certain that the present village formed about the traditional tomb of Lazarus, which is in a cave in the village. The identification of this cave as the tomb of Lazarus is merely possible; it has no strong intrinsic or extrinsic authority. The site of the ancient village may not precisely coincide with the present one, but there is every reason to believe that it was in this general location. St. Jerome testifies: "Bethany is a village at the second milestone from Aelia [Jerusalem], on the slope of the Mount of Olives, where the Savior raised Lazarus to life, to which event the church now built there bears witness" (Onom. ed. Lagarde 1008, 3).In the early ages this church was called the "Lazarium" and held in great veneration. Towards the close of the fourth century St. Silvia declares that on the Saturday before Palm Sunday the clergy of Jerusalem and the people go out to the Lazarium at Bethany, so that not only the place itself but the fields round about are full of people. In memory of this ancient custom the Franciscan Fathers of the Holy Land and the pilgrims go out and worship at the tomb of Lazarus on Friday of Passion Week. There is no Catholic chapel at Bethany. The Schismatic Greeks have a monastery and chapel there. The land about Bethany is largely a desert of stone, and from the elevated ground north of the village, the eye sweeps over an undulating desert even to the valley of the Jordan. The present village is made up of about forty wretched Moslem houses; there is not a Christian in the village. The only notable ruin at Bethany is that of a tower, a few paces southeast of the tomb of Lazarus. The massive stones yet remaining in portions of the walls indicate that it is older than the Crusades; it may date from the fourth or fifth century. In 1138 Melisenda, wife of King Fulke I, of Jerusalem, founded a cloister of nuns at Bethany but the ruins of this cloister have not been identified. The sites of the house of Martha and Mary, and of that of Simon the leper are shown at Bethany; but it is evident that these localizations are purely imaginary.-----------------------------------Quarterly statements of the Palestine Exploration Fund; Palestine Pilgrims’ Tent Society; HEJDET in VIG., Dict. de la Bib.; GUÉRIN, Samarie; BAEDEKER-BENZIGER, Palästina und Syrien; MURRAY, Handbook, Syria and Palestine; DE HAMME, Ancient and Modern Palestine, tr. ROTTHIER (New York), IV; FAHRNGRUBER, Nach Jerusalem, II, 15f.; Survey of Western Palestina, Mem., II, 89; MOMMERT, Aenon and Bethania (Leipzig, 1903), 30-56; HAGEN, Lexicon Biblicum; BREEN, Diary of my Life in the Holy Land.A.E. BREEN Transcribed by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns, Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas Dedicated to the preservation of the holy places in Israel. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

beth´a-ni (Βηθανία, Bēthanı́a):

(1) A village, 15 furlongs from Jerusalem (Joh 11:18), on the road to Jericho, at the Mount of Olives (Mar 11:1; Luk 19:29), where lived “Simon the leper” (Mar 14:3) and Mary, Martha and Lazarus (Joh 11:18 f). This village may justifiably be called the Judean home of Jesus, as He appears to have preferred to lodge there rather than in Jerusalem itself (Mat 21:17; Mar 11:11). Here occurred the incident of the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11) and the feast at the house of Simon (Mat 26:1-13; Mar 14:3-9; Luk 7:36-50; Joh 1:2:1-8). The Ascension as recorded in Luk 24:50-51 is Thus described: “He led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.”

Bethany is today el ‛Azarēyeh (“the place of Lazarus” - the L being displaced to form the article). It is a miserably untidy and tumble-down village facing East on the Southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, upon the carriage road to Jericho. A fair number of fig, almond and olive trees surround the houses. The traditional tomb of Lazarus is shown and there are some remains of medieval buildings, besides rock-cut tombs of much earlier date (PEF, III, 27, Sheet XVII).

(2) “Bethany beyond the Jordan” (Joh 1:28; the King James Version Bethabara; Βηθαβαρά, Bēthabará, a reading against the majority of the manuscripts, supported by Origen on geographical grounds): No such place is known. Grove suggested that the place intended is BETH-NIMRAH (which see), the modern Tell nimrı̂n, a singularly suitable place, but hard to fit in with Joh 1:28; compare Joh 2:1. The traditional site is the ford East of Jericho.

Luk 24:50 (c) Here our blessed Lord reminded His disciples of incidents that had taken place in that little village.

These were so important that He took them there for their final lesson before going back to His Father. He wanted them to remember, and never forget, that only the Lord JESUS CHRIST can give life to those who are dead (Example of Lazarus).

He also reminded them that only He Himself could dry the tears of deep and real sorrow. (Example Mary and Martha at the grave) He reminded them that only He Himself could cleanse from the leprosy of sin. (Example Simon, the leper) He would have them remember that only He Himself should occupy the heart’s affections rather than the service which we render, (Example Martha who was cumbered). He wanted them to know that He desired worship above service. (Example the woman who brought the alabaster box of ointment in Mar 14:3) He wanted them to remember that they must endure the neglect of His children. (Example He returned from Bethany hungry because no one invited Him home for breakfast) He wanted them to be convinced that only He Himself could set the captive free from the bondage of tradition and habit. (Example Lazarus brought out of the tomb though wrapped in grave clothes).

There are two places called Bethany in the New Testament. The better known of the two was the village near Jerusalem, on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. This was the village where Jesus’ friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived, and where Jesus was anointed a few days before his crucifixion (Mat 26:6-13; Mar 11:1-11; Joh 11:1; Joh 11:18; Joh 12:1-7).

The other Bethany (‘Bethany beyond Jordan’, sometimes called Bethabara) was in Perea, on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It was one of the places where John the Baptist preached and baptized (Joh 1:28).