GETHSEMANE (PeOcrquavij and rcOo-m.tavEi.), a garden (xfpros, John xviii. 1), or field (xwpfov, Matt. xxvi. 36), to which Jesus retired with his disciples on the night of his betrayal (Mark xiv. 32). Its name is mentioned by only two of the evangelists, Alatthew and Mark. John describes its situation—` Jesus went forth with his disciples over the broolc Cedron, where was a gara'en, into the which Ile entered, and his disciples (xviii. 1). The Cedron runs in the bottom of a deep glen, parallel to the eastern wall of Jerusalem, and about zoo yards distant. Immediately beyond it rises the steep side of Olivet, now, as formerly, cultivated in rude terraces. Somewhere on the slope of this mount Gethsemane must have been situated. The name Cethsenzane appears to be derived from the Aramaic words, NL.r.:,,t, n), an oil press.' The garden probably contained a press for the manufac ture of oil from the olives of the mount. Other etymologies have been suggested, but they are not so natural as the preceding (Poll Synopsis, in loc.) We learn from Luke that our Lord had been in the habit of retiring to this spot for prayer. He merely calls it (xxii. 4o) C. 7-67os, the place,' in allusion to /,:a.ra rd gOos of the preceding- verse. John tells us that Judas knew the place ; for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples' (xviii. 2). We may conclude from this that it was a retired spot, at a sufficient distance from public thoroughfares to secure privacy, and yet easy of access.
Proceeding from the gate now called St. Stephens, a very ancient road winds down the bank to the bottom of the Kidron, crosscs the dry bed by an old bridge, and then branches. One branch turns to the right, and sweeps round thc shoulder of Olivet to Bethany and Jericho ; the other runs straight up to the village on the summit. In the angle formed by these roads is situated the tradi tional Gethsemane. There can be little doubt that
it is the identical spot mentioned by Lusebius in the 4th century, as a place of prayer for the faith ful ;' and by Jerome, as lying- at the roots of the Mount of Olives, with a church erected upon it' (Onomast. s. v. ; see also Ili n. Hieros. ed. Wessel., P. 594 ; Reland, p. 587). The church is again mentioned in the jth century ; and the garden is spoken of by various wiiters during the middle ages (Robinson, B. le. i. 235). The tradition can not be traced back beyond the time of Eusebius. To keep up the memory of holy places' was con trary to the spirit of the apostolical writers and their immediate successors. There is room for doubt whether the knowledge of the exact spot would be retained during the troublous times of the first three centuries. It was perhaps selected, like many other holy places, during the time of the Empress Helena. The site is not even a likely one—at the junction of two public roads within a few yards of each. The garden has recently been enclosed with a high wall. It is nearly square, about fifty yards on each side. Within it are eight venerable olive trees, whose massive trunks, now in many places decayed, and knarled arms, and sparse foliage, have all the marks of great age. These trees have been referred to by some writers as evidences of the genuineness of the site ; but there are others a little farther up the valley of at least equal age. The garden is the property of the Latin monks ; and the guardian padre unfortu nately thinks it requisite to shew all pilg-rims the grotto of the agony,' the spot where Judas be trayed Jesus, and the place on which the three dis ciples slept ! (Hana'book for Syr. and Pal., 176; Geramb's Pilgrimage to Palestine, i. 63, seq. ; Stanley's Sin. and Pal., 450).—J. L. P.