Gethsemane

Meaning: oil-press

the name of an olive-yard at the foot of the Mount of Olives, to which Jesus was wont to retire (Luke 22:39) with his disciples, and which is specially memorable as being the scene of his agony (Mark 14:32; John 18:1; Luke 22:44)

The plot of ground pointed out as Gethsemane is now surrounded by a wall, and is laid out as a modern European flower-garden. It contains eight venerable olive trees, the age of which cannot, however, be determined. The exact site of Gethsemane is still in question. Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book) says:

"When I first came to Jerusalem, and for many years afterward, this plot of ground was open to all whenever they chose to come and meditate beneath its very old olive trees. The Latins, however, ...succeeded in gaining sole possession, and have built a high wall around it...The Greeks have invented another site a little to the north of it...My own impression is that both are wrong. The position is too near the city, and so close to what must have always been the great thoroughfare eastward, that our Lord would scarcely have selected it for retirement on that dangerous and dismal night...I am inclined to place the garden in the secluded vale several hundred yards to the northeast of the present Gethsemane."

See the Christian archaeological video which describes this place, olive presses and the cultural context surrounding Jesus Christ: On the Death & Resurrection of the Messiah ("The Weight of the World," part of the Faith Lessons video series). "Manufacturing olive oil involves intense pressure. This process exposes a fresh perspective from which we can fully appreciate Jesus' sacrifice, which is our anointing."

Also see:

• Mount of Olives
• Olives
• Olive trees
• Did Jesus really sweat drops of blood? Answer...

[This article is not yet completed. Look for additions and up-dates in the future.]