Bethphage

Bethphage (Βηθφαγή; בֵּית פַּגִּי) or Bethsphage, is a Christian religious site on the Mount of Olives east of historical Jerusalem.



Bethphage is mentioned in the New Testament as the place in ancient Israel to which Jesus sent his disciples to find a colt upon which he would ride into Jerusalem. The Synoptic Gospels mention it as being close to Bethany, where he was staying immediately prior to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Bethphage is about 2 km from the modern village of al-Azariya.

Unknown villagers living there, the owners of the colt according to Gospel of Luke 19:33, permitted Jesus' disciples to take the colt away for Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which would have been four days before Passover. There is an annual Palm Sunday walk into Jerusalem which begins in Bethphage.

Eusebius (Onom 58:13) located it on the Mount of Olives. It was likely on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and the limit of a Sabbath-day's journey from Jerusalem, i.e., 2,000 cubits. The Franciscan Church of Bethphage was built on the foundations of a 12th-century crusader chapel. Just up the hill from the Catholic church is the Greek Orthodox Holy Monastery of Palm-bearing Bethphagea. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem holds an annual representation of this event there.