BETHANY (t)1"..tll'a-ny), (Gr. BriOny(a, bay-than ee'ah, place of dates).
1- The place near the Jordan where John bap tized, the exact situation of which is unknown. Some copies here read Bethabara (which see).
2. Bethany, a town or village about fifteen fur longs cast-southeast from Jerusalem, on the east ern slope of the Mount of Olives (John xi :t8), so probably, from the number of palm tree; 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 (Matt. x xi 117 ; xxvi :6. 1\lar - xi :1, It, 12: xiv: Luke XIX :29: XXIV : 0 • xi tg; _Ntui ). top ace s t su sits in a s tallow 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, whi..n gives a distance corresponding to the fif teen furlongs (stadia) of the evangelist. It is a poor village of about twenty families. The
only mat ks of antiquity arc sonic 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 Simon the leper, and also the sepulchre of Lazarus, all of which are constantly mentioned in the nar ratives of pilgrinic and trawler'. The sepulchre is a deep vault, like a cellar, (ALa; ated in the limestone rock in the middle of the .illage, to which there is a descent by twenty-six steps. Dr. Robinson I ii :tot) alleges that there is not the slightest probability of its ever having been the tonib of Lazarus. The form is not that of the ancient :.eptilehres. nor does its situation ac cord with the narrative of the New Testament, which implies that the tomb was not in the town ( John xi:31. 38). The present Arab name of the village is eI-Azirezeh, from el-Azir, the Arabic form of Lazarus.