Jesus Withdraws to Ephraim
Life of Jesus · Draft · BSB
Content revision: e4586475b1dfcf7f · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Judea, Perea and the road to Jerusalem. A guided comparison of Gospel accounts, not a measured calendar or a claim that every parallel follows the same sequence.
Jesus withdraws with his disciples to Ephraim near the wilderness. As Passover approaches, pilgrims in Jerusalem wonder whether he will attend, while leaders order anyone who knows his whereabouts to report it.
John names the town but does not describe the route there or every activity during the stay. The modern identification remains proposed, and this interval should not be assigned a precise length without evidence.
Primary Scripture
11:54 As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.
11:55 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.
11:56 They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?”
11:57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.
Related Scripture
An earlier festival also brings questions about Jesus’s whereabouts and divided public responses.
Location evidence
John names Ephraim near the wilderness. The candidate identification remains proposed and does not establish the exact refuge or route there.
Event map marker: Proposed site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.29914, 31.95379]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Ephraim: Proposed site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.29914, 31.95379]. Classification source: rule.
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
For the class
What does the contrast between the quiet withdrawal and the talk in Jerusalem contribute to the narrative?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: theographic (435)
Record source: editorial
Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm