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Bethany
Bethany (Ancient Greek: Βηθανία, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ Bēṯ ʿAnyā), locally called in Arabic al-Eizariya or el-Aizariya (Arabic: العيزرية, "[place] of Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate of Palestine, bordering East Jerusalem, in the West Bank. The name al-Eizariya refers to the New Testament figure Lazarus of Bethany, who according to the Gospel of John, was raised from the dead by Jesus in the town. The traditional site of the miracle, the Tomb of Lazarus, in the city is a place of pilgrimage.
The town is located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem. With a population of 22,928 inhabitants according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it is the second largest city in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine, after only East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by and is completely under the control of Israel, although this annexation is unrecognized internationally.
The name Al-Eizariya (Arabic: العيزرية) means place of Lazarus. In 1840, in his Biblical Researches in Palestine, Edward Robinson wrote: "The Arab name of the village is el-'Aziriyeh, from el-'Azir, the Arabic form of Lazarus. The name "Bethany" is unknown among the native inhabitants. Yet, there is no reason to question the identity of the place" with the Biblical Bethany.
The root meaning and origin of the name Bethany has been the subject of much scholarship and debate. William Hepworth Dixon devotes a multi-page footnote to it in his The Holy Land (1866), largely devoted to debunking the meaning "house of dates", which is attributed to Joseph Barber Lightfoot by way of a series of careless interpretative mistakes. Dixon quotes Emanuel Deutsch of the British Museum, who suggests a non-Hebrew root, a word transcribed in Syriac script whose meaning he gives as "House of Misery" or "Poor-house".
This theory as to Bethany's etymology, which was eventually also adopted by Gustaf Dalman in 1905, is not without challengers. For example, E. Nestle's Philologica Sacra (1896) suggests that Bethany is derived from the personal name Anaiah, while others have suggested it is a shortened version of Ananiah, a village of Bethel mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:32). Since Greek can neither reproduce an /h/ sound nor the harsh /ħ/ sound (Hebrew Ḥet) in the middle of a word, a derivation from the personal name Chananya ("Yah has been gracious") is also possible.
Another suggestion, arising from the presence of nearby Bethphage ("house of unripe figs"), is that its name comes from Beit Hini, (Imperial Aramaic: בית היני / ביתייני / ביתוני / בית וני / בית ואני / בית אוני / ביתיוני / בית הינו), possibly meaning "house of figs", which location Talmudic texts place near Jerusalem. Some translations suggest it is Bethany.
Deutsch's thesis, however, seems to also be attested to by Jerome. In his version of Eusebius' Onomasticon, the meaning of Bethany is defined as domus adflictionis or "house of affliction". Brian J. Capper writes that this is a Latin derivation from the Hebrew beth 'ani, or more likely the Aramaic beth 'anya, both of which mean "house of the poor" or "house of affliction/poverty", also semantically speaking "poor-house". Capper concludes, from historical sources as well as this linguistic evidence, that Bethany may have been the site of an almshouse.
According to Capper and Deutsch before him, there are also linguistic difficulties that arise when the Anaiah/Ananiah, "house of figs" or "house of dates" theses are compared against the bethania form used in Greek versions of the New Testament. Additionally, the Aramaic beit 'anya (ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ) is the form used for Bethany in Christian Palestinian and Syriac versions of the New Testament. Given this, and Jerome's familiarity with Semitic philology and the immediate region, Capper concludes that the "house of affliction"/"poor-house" meaning as documented by Jerome and in the Syriac New Testament usage is correct, and that this meaning relates to the use of the village as a centre for caring for the sick and aiding the destitute and pilgrims to Jerusalem.
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Bethany
Bethany (Ancient Greek: Βηθανία, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ Bēṯ ʿAnyā), locally called in Arabic al-Eizariya or el-Aizariya (Arabic: العيزرية, "[place] of Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate of Palestine, bordering East Jerusalem, in the West Bank. The name al-Eizariya refers to the New Testament figure Lazarus of Bethany, who according to the Gospel of John, was raised from the dead by Jesus in the town. The traditional site of the miracle, the Tomb of Lazarus, in the city is a place of pilgrimage.
The town is located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem. With a population of 22,928 inhabitants according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it is the second largest city in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine, after only East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by and is completely under the control of Israel, although this annexation is unrecognized internationally.
The name Al-Eizariya (Arabic: العيزرية) means place of Lazarus. In 1840, in his Biblical Researches in Palestine, Edward Robinson wrote: "The Arab name of the village is el-'Aziriyeh, from el-'Azir, the Arabic form of Lazarus. The name "Bethany" is unknown among the native inhabitants. Yet, there is no reason to question the identity of the place" with the Biblical Bethany.
The root meaning and origin of the name Bethany has been the subject of much scholarship and debate. William Hepworth Dixon devotes a multi-page footnote to it in his The Holy Land (1866), largely devoted to debunking the meaning "house of dates", which is attributed to Joseph Barber Lightfoot by way of a series of careless interpretative mistakes. Dixon quotes Emanuel Deutsch of the British Museum, who suggests a non-Hebrew root, a word transcribed in Syriac script whose meaning he gives as "House of Misery" or "Poor-house".
This theory as to Bethany's etymology, which was eventually also adopted by Gustaf Dalman in 1905, is not without challengers. For example, E. Nestle's Philologica Sacra (1896) suggests that Bethany is derived from the personal name Anaiah, while others have suggested it is a shortened version of Ananiah, a village of Bethel mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:32). Since Greek can neither reproduce an /h/ sound nor the harsh /ħ/ sound (Hebrew Ḥet) in the middle of a word, a derivation from the personal name Chananya ("Yah has been gracious") is also possible.
Another suggestion, arising from the presence of nearby Bethphage ("house of unripe figs"), is that its name comes from Beit Hini, (Imperial Aramaic: בית היני / ביתייני / ביתוני / בית וני / בית ואני / בית אוני / ביתיוני / בית הינו), possibly meaning "house of figs", which location Talmudic texts place near Jerusalem. Some translations suggest it is Bethany.
Deutsch's thesis, however, seems to also be attested to by Jerome. In his version of Eusebius' Onomasticon, the meaning of Bethany is defined as domus adflictionis or "house of affliction". Brian J. Capper writes that this is a Latin derivation from the Hebrew beth 'ani, or more likely the Aramaic beth 'anya, both of which mean "house of the poor" or "house of affliction/poverty", also semantically speaking "poor-house". Capper concludes, from historical sources as well as this linguistic evidence, that Bethany may have been the site of an almshouse.
According to Capper and Deutsch before him, there are also linguistic difficulties that arise when the Anaiah/Ananiah, "house of figs" or "house of dates" theses are compared against the bethania form used in Greek versions of the New Testament. Additionally, the Aramaic beit 'anya (ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ) is the form used for Bethany in Christian Palestinian and Syriac versions of the New Testament. Given this, and Jerome's familiarity with Semitic philology and the immediate region, Capper concludes that the "house of affliction"/"poor-house" meaning as documented by Jerome and in the Syriac New Testament usage is correct, and that this meaning relates to the use of the village as a centre for caring for the sick and aiding the destitute and pilgrims to Jerusalem.