John 11:54

therefore The decree of the Sanhedrin for His apprehension had been published (John 11:57); the sentence of death was probably a secret among themselves.

openly Comp. John 7:10. He withdraws from all intercourse with His adversaries.

went thence unto a country Departed thence into the country.

the wilderness The desert of Judæa, which extended to the confines of Jericho, would naturally be meant by - thewilderness."

Ephraim This place cannot be identified with certainty. Eusebius makes it eight miles, Jerome twenty miles, N.E. of Jerusalem: both make it the same as Ephron. If the Ephraim of 2 Chronicles 13:19 and Josephus (B. J. iv. ix. 9) be meant, the wilderness would be that of Bethaven.