Where is Bethany located in the Bible?

Bethany is a village in Judea, situated on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18). It is traditionally identified with the modern site of Al-Eizariya, which means 'Place of Lazarus.'

What happened in Bethany according to the Bible?

Bethany is most famous as the home of Jesus's friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:1-44). It was also where Jesus was anointed with perfume by Mary in the home of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-8).

Why is Bethany significant in the New Testament?

Bethany is significant as a place of intimate friendship, profound miracles, and a key location during Jesus's final week. It served as a refuge for Jesus near Jerusalem and was the site of his ascension into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).

Bethany

cityNew TestamentJudea1 verse

Today Al MaghtasCountry IsraelCoordinates 31.772, 35.256

Bethany is an ancient city mentioned in the New Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Al Maghtas. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.

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Authority Records

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Biblical History

The name Bethany appears in a second geographical context in John 1:28, where the Evangelist notes that John the Baptist was baptizing "at Bethany beyond the Jordan", a location distinct from the village near Jerusalem. This site is associated with John's ministry of repentance and the baptism of Jesus himself (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22), making it one of the most theologically significant locations in the New Testament. It was here, at the waters of the Jordan, that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove and the Father's voice proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", the trinitarian epiphany that inaugurated Christ's public ministry. The site also appears in John 10:40, where Jesus withdrew again beyond the Jordan when threatened in Jerusalem, and many came to him there, recalling John's earlier testimony. This Bethany-beyond-Jordan thus frames Jesus' ministry: at its opening with baptism and divine affirmation, and as a place of refuge near its close.

Archaeological & Historical Notes

The site now identified as Bethany beyond the Jordan is located in modern Jordan near the town of Al-Maghtas, meaning "the baptism" or "the immersion" in Arabic. It was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2015. Excavations since the 1990s, led by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, have uncovered the remains of multiple Byzantine churches, baptismal pools, monks' cells, and water channels dating from the second to seventh centuries AD, all oriented toward a specific spot on the Jordan's eastern bank. The site's consistent identification through pilgrim accounts from the fourth century onward, combined with its physical remains, lends strong support to its authenticity as the place of Jesus' baptism.

Verse Appearances (1)

John

John 1:28

References

Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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