Bible Strands
John 11:18
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, a little less than two miles away,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator establishes the location as Jesus arrives in Judea following Lazarus’s four-day entombment, addressing an audience needing geographic orientation. This moment precedes the arrival of mourners and the unfolding of the resurrection event.
The words — The Greek ἐγγὺς (engus) translates literally as "near," combined with ὡς (hōs) "about," to denote a specific, short distance from the capital. The text uses these terms to fix the scene in a measurable, walkable space.
The thread — Geographic distance markers recur in Luke 24:13, which places Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem, and John 11:1, which identifies Bethany as the hometown of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. These passages consistently anchor narrative events to precise, known locations.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that the subsequent events unfold in an ordinary, accessible town rather than an isolated or symbolic place. It demands attention to the concrete setting where human grief meets divine intervention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
Cross-references
- Luke 24:13 That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
- John 11:1 At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
- Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that flowed from it rose as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
- John 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—and they were terrified.
- Revelation 21:16 The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.