Reference.com

Gethsemane

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Gethsemane (from the Hebrew "Gat Shemanim", which means "oil press") was the garden where, according to the New Testament and Christian traditions, Jesus and his disciples retreated to pray after the Last Supper, the night before he was crucified (see Atonement). According to Luke , Jesus' anguish in Gethsemane was so deep that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Gethsemane was also where Christ was betrayed by the disciple Judas Iscariot. Furthermore Catholic and Orthodox tradition holds that Gethsemane is the place where the Apostles buried the Blessed Virgin Mary, after her Dormition (see Mary's Tomb).

The garden identified as Gethsemane is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, now within the city of Jerusalem. Located by the garden is the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of the Agony. The ancient church was destroyed by the Sassanids in 614. The church rebuilt on the site by the Crusaders was finally razed, probably in 1219. Also on the Mount of Olives is the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene with its distinct golden, onion-shaped domes (Byzantine/Russian style). It was built by Russian Tsar Alexander III in memory of his mother.

The name Gethsemane is given in the Greek of the Gospels (Matthew and Mark ) as Γεθσημανι (Gethsêmani). This represents the Aramaic 'Gath-Šmânê', meaning 'the oil press' or 'oil vat' (referring to olive oil). It would appear from this that there were a number of olive trees planted around the area at the time. The Gospel of Mark calls it chorion, "a place" or "estate"; The Gospel of John speaks of it as kepos, a "garden" or "orchard".

The Garden of Gethsemane was a focal site for early Christian pilgrims. It was visited in 333 by the anonymous "Pilgrim of Bordeaux", whose Itinerarium Burdigalense is the earliest description left by a Christian traveler in the Holy Land. In his Onomasticon, Eusebius of Caesarea notes the site of Gethsemane located "at the foot of the Mount of Olives", and he adds that "the faithful were accustomed to go there to pray".

Depictions of Gethsemane

Notes

References

*

External links



Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 05, 2008 at 22:09:39 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation