Bethany
A place in the Bible
A small village very close to Jerusalem, about two miles away. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus lived there.
What happened here
- Note: John 1:28 speaks of another Bethany, “across the Jordan,” where John was baptizing. No one knows where it was.
- Lazarus: there Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead.
- The dinner: six days before Passover, Jesus came back to Bethany, to the home of his friends.
- The farewell: Jesus led the disciples out as far as Bethany, blessed them, and was taken up to heaven.
Today
Today it is called al-Eizariya, a name that comes from “Lazarus.” It is in the West Bank.
Where it appears in the Bible
John 11:1; John 11:18; John 12:1; Luke 24:50
What the Bible says
John 11:1
Now there was a certain man sick, named Lazarus, of Bethania, of the town of Mary and Martha her sister.
John 11:18
(Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.)
John 12:1
Jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: John 11:18 and its NABRE note; Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Bethany”; Britannica, “Bethany”