John 11:54-57

Jesus is forced to withdraw to a retired place. On their part, the rulers take a new step in the path on which they have now entered.

Vv. 54-57. “ Jesus therefore abode no more openly among the Jews; but he departed thence and went into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim;and he remained there with his disciples. 55. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand; and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56. They sought for Jesus therefore and said among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think you? Do you think that he will not come to the feast? 57. Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had also given commandment that, if any one knew where he was, he should declare it, in order that they might take him. ”

Ephraim is mentioned sometimes with Bethel (2 Chronicles 13:19; Joseph. Bell. Jude 1:4; Jude 1:4.9. 9). This city was therefore a few leagues northward of Jerusalem; according to Eusebius, eight miles, according to Jerome, twenty miles to the northeast of that capital. This locality, by reason of its retired situation and its proximity to the desert, was favorable to the design of Jesus. He might in the solitude prepare His disciples for His approaching end and, if He was pursued, He might retire into the desert. This desert is, as Lange says, the northern extremity of the barren strip of country by which the plateau of the mountains of Judah and Benjamin is separated throughout its whole length from the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. From this place Jesus could, at will, on the approach of the Passover, either join the pilgrims from Galilee who went directly to Jerusalem through Samaria, or go down to Jericho, in the plain of the Jordan, to put Himself at the head of the caravan which came from Peraea. We know from the Synoptics that He took the latter course. Μετά (John 11:54) is not synonymous with σύν; the meaning is: “He confined Himself there to the society of His disciples;” and not only: He was there with them.

᾿Εκ τῆς χωρᾶς (John 11:55) does not refer to the country of Ephraim in particular (Grotius, Olshausen) but to the country region in general, in opposition to the capital (John 11:54): “They went up from different parts of the country.” The law did not prescribe special purifications before the Passover; but, in several passages of the Old Testament, it was ordained that the people should purify themselves on the eve of any important occasion (Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10-11, etc.). This principle had naturally been applied to the Passover feast (2Ch 30:16-20).