John Chapter 11, Verse 18
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18: ην δε η βηθανια εγγυς των ιεροσολυμων ως απο σταδιων δεκαπεντε
18: Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs
off:
18: (Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.)
Nigh unto Jerusalem. This is added to show that it was easy for many of the Jews to come to the place. The news that Jesus was there, and the account of the miracle, would also be easily carried to the Sanhedrim.
Fifteen furlongs. Nearly two miles. It was directly east from Jerusalem. Dr. Thompson (The Land and the Book, vol. 2. p. 599) says of Bethany:
"It took half an hour to walk over Olivet to Bethany this morning, and the distance from the city, therefore, must be about two miles. This agrees with what John says: 'Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.' The village is small, and appears never to have been large, but it is pleasantly situated near the south-eastern base of the mount, and has many fine trees about and above it. We, of course, looked at the remains of those old edifices which may have been built in the age of Constantine, and repaired or changed to a convent in the time of the Crusades. By the dim light of a taper we also descended very cautiously, by twenty-five slippery steps, to the reputed sepulchre of Lazarus, or El Azariyeh, as both tomb and village are now called. But I have no description of it to give, and no questions about it to ask. It is a wretched cavern, every way unsatisfactory, and almost disgusting."
- "about fifteen furlongs" or "about two miles"
