Ephraim
The town near the wilderness where Jesus withdrew and stayed with his disciples after raising Lazarus, before his passion.
First mentioned in the Bible
Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but he went from there to the countryside near the wilderness, into a city called Eʹphra·im, and he stayed there with his disciples.— John 11:54
Background
The city of Ephraim sat on a ridge about 30 kilometres northeast of Jerusalem, looking down over the Jordan Valley and the Judean wilderness. In the Old Testament it belonged to Benjamin as Ophrah (Josh 18:23), called Ephraim (Ephron) in 2 Chronicles, one of the towns King Abijah captured from Jeroboam (2 Chr 13:19). The 6th-century Madaba mosaic map labels the site "Ephron, which is Ephraia, where the Lord went." After Jesus raised Lazarus and the Sanhedrin resolved to put him to death, Jesus "no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the countryside near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there he stayed with his disciples" (John 11:54). In this quiet hill town he spent the final quiet days with his disciples before going down to Jerusalem for the Passover and the torture stake.
Related Scriptures (New World Translation)
Therefore, Jesus no longer walked about publicly among the Jews, but he departed from there to the region near the wilderness, to a city called Eʹphra·im, and he stayed there with the disciples.— John 11:54
A·biʹjah kept chasing after Jer·o·boʹam and captured cities from him, Bethʹel and its dependent towns, Jeshʹa·nah and its dependent towns, and Eʹphra·in and its dependent towns.— 2 Chronicles 13:19Explore Ephraim on the interactive map →
Click the button above to open the interactive map