John 11:54. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went away thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there abode with the disciples. The time of ‘free speech' (see note on chap. John 7:4) was at an end: from this time Jesus avoided communication with ‘the Jews,' no longer vouchsafing to them the word which they heard only to reject. The place to which He withdrew afforded a deeper solitude than that sought by Him a little while before (chap. John 10:40). The crisis in His life is graver; the retirement which he seeks is more profound. There is no mention now (as in chap. John 10:41) of many who resorted unto Him: the town to which He retired is described as ‘near to the wilderness.' Ephraim, possibly the same as Ophrah (1 Samuel 13:17), is commonly identified with el-Taiyibeh, a village 16 miles from Jerusalem and 4 or 5 east of Bethel, situated on a hill which commands the valley of the Jordan. The wilderness will be ‘the wild uncultivated hill country north-east of Jerusalem, lying between the central towns and the Jordan valley' (Dict. of Bible, i. 569. See also Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 214, 419).

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Old Testament