John 11:54 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 11:54
Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
Ephraim · noun — accusative singular masculine, a place
there
κἀκεῖkakeî
G2546
likewise in that place
continued
διατρίβωdiatríbō
G1304
to wear through (time)
with
μετὰmeta
G3326
properly · preposition
his
αὐτόςautós
G846
the reflexive pronoun self
disciples
μαθητῶνmathētōn
G3101
a learner · noun — genitive plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 Chronicles 13:19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrai…
John 7:4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the…
2 Samuel 13:23 And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the…
John 4:1-3 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
John 7:10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
John 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
John 10:40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 11:45–end
We have here an account of the consequences of this glorious miracle, which were as usual; to some it was a savour of life unto life, to others of death unto death.
I. Some were invited by it, and induced to believe. Many of the Jews, when they saw the things that Jesus did, believed on him, and well they might, for it was an incontestable proof of his divine mission. They had often heard of his miracles, and yet evaded the conviction of them, by calling in question the matter of fact; but now that they had themselves seen this done their unbelief was conquered, and they yielded at last. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. The more we see of Christ the more cause w…
they took council together to put him to death--Caiaphas but expressed what the party was secretly wishing, but afraid to propose.
Jesus . . . walked no more openly among the Jews--How could He, unless He had wished to die before His time?
near to the wilderness--of Judea.
a city called Ephraim--between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Adam Clarke on John 11:54
Walked no more openly - Παρῥησιᾳ, He did not go as before through the cities and villages, teaching, preaching, and healing the sick.
Near to the wilderness - Some MSS. add, of Samphourein, or Samphourim, or Sapfurim.
A city called Ephraim - Variously written in the MSS., Ephraim, Ephrem, Ephram, and Ephratha. This was a little village, situated in the neighborhood of Bethel; for the scripture, Ch2 13:19, and Josephus, War, b. iv. c. 8. s. 9, join them both together. Many believe that this city or village was the same with that mentioned, 1 Maccabees 5:46; 2 Maccabees 12:27. Joshua gave it to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:9; and Eusebius and Jerome say it was about twenty miles north of Jerus…
Jesus therefore,.... Knowing the resolution the sanhedrim had taken to put him to death, and the schemes they were forming to apprehend him:
walked no more openly among the Jews; at, or near Jerusalem; he did not teach in their streets, nor work miracles, nor appear in public company:
but went thence, from Bethany:
unto a country near to the wilderness: whether this was the wilderness of Judea, where John came preaching, and near to which our Lord was before he came to Bethany, or the wilderness of Bethaven, Joshua 18:12, is not certain:
into a city called Ephraim; the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, call it Ephren, and so some copies; it seems to be the same with the…
The Church Fathers
(Tr. xlix. 28) Not that His power had failed Him; for, had He pleased, He might still have walked openly among the Jews, and they done nothing to Him. But He wished to show the disciples, by His own example, that believers did not sin by retiring out of the sight of their persecutors, and hiding themselves from the fury of the wicked, rather than inflame that fury by their presence.
Then, when He had raised Lazarus from the dead, and plots were formed against Him by the Pharisees, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim; and from that place, as it is written "He came to Bethany six days before the passover," and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on the day following. Now, that these three occasions of the passover are not included within one year, every person whatever must acknowledge.
Here also therefore as God, to the condemnation of the Jews, He knows their secret design, although no one reported it to Him; and withdraws, not because He was afraid, but lest His presence might seem to irritate those who were already eager for His death. And He also teaches us to retire from the passions of those who are angry, and not to thrust ourselves into dangers, not even when they may be for the sake of truth: when we are actually overtaken by dangers, to stand firm; but when we see them coming, to get out of their way; because of the uncertainty of the issue.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ephraim — Double fruitfulness (“for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction”). The second son of Joseph, born in Egypt (Gen. 41:52; 46:20). The first incident recorded regarding him is his…
Ephraim in the wilderness — (John 11: 54), a town to which our Lord retired with his disciples after he had raised Lazarus, and when the priests were conspiring against him. It lay in the wild, uncultivated hill-country to the…
John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Lazarus — An abbreviation of Eleazar, whom God helps. (1.) The brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. He was raised from the dead after he had lain four days in the tomb (John 11:1-44). This miracle so excited…
Martha — Bitterness, the sister of Lazarus and Mary, and probably the eldest of the family, who all resided at Bethany (Luke 10:38, 40, 41; John 11:1-39). From the residence being called “her house,” some…
Mourn — Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah (Gen. 23:2); Jacob for Joseph (37:34, 35); the Egyptians for Jacob (50:3-10); Israel for Aaron…
Ophrah — A fawn. 1 Chr. 4:14. (1.) A city of Benjamin (Josh. 18:23); probably identical with Ephron (2 Chr. 13:19) and Ephraim (John 11:54). (2.) “Of the Abi-ezrites.” A city of Manasseh, 6 miles south-west…
Judea, Modern · Towns of: Ephraim — Towns of: Ephraim
Ophrah · .And EPHRAIM — .And EPHRAIM
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 11:53-57
53. From that day, therefore, they consulted to put him to death. 54. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but retired to a country near the wilderness, into a city which is called Ephraim, and there dwelt with his disciples. 55. Now the passover of the Jews was at hand, and many of that country went up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. 56. They therefore sought Jesus, and said among themselves, while they stood in the temple, What think you? will he not come to the feast? 57. Now the chief priests [331] and Pharisees had issued an order, that if any one knew where he was, he would show it, that they might seize him.
53. They consulted…
When the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death, Jesus made a judicious political move in response (11:54). • Ephraim was a village about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, where Jesus was safe from the Sanhedrin but close enough to walk to the upcoming Passover festival (11:55).
