Luke 24:13.
Emmaus (Gr. Emmaoús, “hot springs”; transliteration to Gr. from Aram. ‘Eme’us, of uncertain meaning). Village to which Cleopas and an anonymous companion went from Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus. While they were on the way, they were joined by the risen Jesus, who conversed with them as they walked to Emmaus, where the 2 disciples found out who the guest was. The village of Emmaus, according to the best textual evidence, was about 11 km (60 furlongs) from Jerusalem (Luk 24:13). The site has not been definitively identified yet. Josephus says that Titus had a colony of soldiers at ‘Ammaous, about 5.5 km (30 stadia) from Jerusalem; this is probably Qalôniyeh, about 8 km northwest of Jerusalem. Since the time of the Crusaders 375, Kubeibeh, about 11 km northwest of Jerusalem on the Roman road, has been marked as Emmaus; however, some scholars have identified her with the modern ‘Amwâs in the Shephelah (the Emmaus of 1 Macc. 3:40, 57; etc.). But this is about 15 miles from Jerusalem, and too far for Luk 24:13 Map XVI, E-2. Bib.: FJ-GJ vii.6.6.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
warm sources. Strategic site northeast of Jerusalem, in the Lower Land, coastal region towards the Judean mountains. Near E. the Seleucid army camped, at the head of which were Ptolemy, strategist of Celesiria and Phoenicia, Nicanor, military strategist, and Gorgias, first friend of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. They had the mission to invade and destroy Judea, but Judas Macabeo defeated them in E., 1 M 3, 38-40 and 57; 4, 1-27. ca. 159 BC C., E. was fortified by Báchides along with other cities of Judea, 1 M 9, 50.
On the day of the resurrection Jesus appeared in the afternoon to two of his disciples who were on their way to E., Lk 24, 13. This E., different from the one mentioned in 1 Maccabees, has not been fully identified.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
Town to which two disciples were going on the day of Jesus’ resurrection when they met him and recognized him when breaking bread at dinner (Luk 24:7-35). It was about 12 km. of Jerusalem.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
A Judean village mentioned only in Luke 24:13. One of Jesus’ appearances on Easter Sunday was to two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The Luke passage places the villa 60 stadia from Jerusalem, ca. 17 km. away. A different distance, 160 stadia, is found in a few Uncial, Sinaitic (4th century), N (6th century), K, Pi and Theta (9th century), and a number of minuscule manuscripts. “60 furlongs” is found in P75 (late second or early third century), B (fourth century), A (fifth century), C (fifth century), and others. Evidence from P75 (the recently published Bodmer papyrus) and B (Codex Vaticanus) both establish the ultimate distance of †œ60 furlongs† .
Three identifications of Emmaus have been proposed: (1) The modern village of †™Amwas (definitive publication: H. Vincent and FM Abel, Emmaus: sa basilique et son histoire, Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1932). However, this location would have required the distance to be “160 stadia” which is highly doubtful in light of the latest manuscript evidence. (2) A military colony of Vespatian, possibly the present-day Kaloniye, named Ammaous by Josephus. The distance from Jerusalem is ca. 34 furlongs, a little difficult to agree with the biblical record. (3) La presente el Kubebe (definitive publication: PB Bagatti, I Monumenti di Emmaus El-Qubeibeh e dei dintorni, Franciscan Press, Jerusalem, Jordan, 1947). The remains here are definitely from the New Testament period and the distance from Jerusalem agrees more or less well with Luke’s record making this identification the preferred one.
Source: Archaeological Biblical Dictionary
Village †œwhich was sixty stadia from Jerusalem† (approx. 11 km). After resurrecting, the Lord Jesus appeared to two disciples who “were talking among themselves about all those things that had happened.” Jesus declared to them “in all the Scriptures what they said of him.” When they reached E., † œhe pretended that he was going further †, and they invited him to stay. When he † œtook the bread and blessed it…. their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; but he disappeared from his sight † (Luke 24: 13-35). Where E was located is not known for sure. In Crusader times it was thought to be the village of Abu Ghosh, but it is more likely Latrun, 11 km W of Jerusalem.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, CITY
photo, dib00230
sit, a2, 255, 392
vet, = “hot waters” (today Amonas). A village 30 km west of Jerusalem (Luke 24:13, 29, 33). Jerome places it where the mountains of Judah begin to rise. During the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman 5th legion camped around it. In the third century it took the name of Nicopolis and was the seat of a bishopric.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Village about 30 km west of Jerusalem, where the disciples who left disappointed by the death of the Master came from and that He recovered for his Kingdom in the most beautiful of the apparitions (Lk. 24 13-35).
It appears as a fortress in Maccabean times (1 Mac. 3.57 and 4.25), but hardly any other Biblical reference can be found. In literature and in Christian memory it always remained as an emblem of the love of Jesus, who continues to look for those who abandon him out of frustration and failure complex.
There are remains of a Christian temple from the 3rd century, which means that it was a place appreciated by the early Christians.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
DJN
In the first book of Maccabees (3, 57-4, 25) Judas Macabeo defeats Gorgias, general of Antiochus IV Epiphanes at Emmaus. Cf. 1 Mac 9, 50. In the Gospel of Luke (24, 13) Emmaus is spoken of as the village in which the two disciples, one of them named Cleopas, “recognized Jesus when he broke the bread”. A scene (Lk 24, 13-35) that has become a symbol of the existential encounter with the risen Jesus. “If I had to choose in the gospels (and perhaps in universal literature) the page that I would like to save from nothing would be the one of the disciples of Emmaus” (JEAN GuiTToN, Croix, April 17, 1960). It is not surprising, then, that so much ink has been spilled trying to identify Emmaus. Together with the historical tradition, toponymy, archaeology, paleography and textual criticism or the study of manuscripts come into play.
The discussion revolves around Amwás (Nicopolis) and el-Qubeibeh. The first town is located about 29 kms. (160-170 stadia) northwest of Jerusalem, on the slope of the ridge that descends slowly towards the coastal plain. The second is located 11 kms. west of Jerusalem (about 60 stadia). Amwás coincides with the Emmaus of Maccabees. At the request of the prefect Julius the African, a personal friend of Origen, the city received the name of Nicopolis in 223 AD. of Christ. In the time of the Arabs, the place began to be called Amwás. With this place many identify the Emmaus of Lucas. And the main reasons are the following: -The inhabitants of Palestine only know of one Emmaus and they place it 160 stadia from Jerusalem. -Eusebius of Caesarea says that Cleopas, mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, was from Emmaus, which is now called Nicopolis, an important town in Palestine (Chronicon, ed. Lagarde, 262). S. Jerome, narrating the journey of Santa Paula, affirms that “he arrived at Nicopolis, which was once called Emmaus, where the Lord, making himself known in the breaking of bread, converted the house of Cleophas into a church” (Latin Patrology , XXII, 88). -Amwás-Nicópolis receives a unique confirmation of the entire evangelical context. If the two pilgrims set out around eight on Easter morning, they could have reached Emmaus around two or three in the afternoon, and be back in Jerusalem at seven or eight that same evening, and sooner if they used cavalry. .
The archaeological excavations carried out during the years 1924-1930 by the Dominicans of the I’Ecole Biblique of Jerusalem, LH Vincent-FM Abel, found in Amwás-Nicópolis a three-aisled basilica built on the foundations of a late Roman one. But these findings only prove the early existence of a Christian community in Nicopolis. This is the theory maintained by authors, mainly from the orbit of L’Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem, such as Vincent, Abel, D. Buzy, A. Brunot.
Another group of researchers locates the Emmaus of Luke in the place called el-Qubeibeh (11 km west of Jerusalem). And these are some of the reasons they give: -The distance required by the evangelical context fits better with the point of 60 furlongs; and also with the note of Mark (16, 12): “he appeared to two of them who were on their way to the field”. -Flavius Josephus (Bell 7, 6, 3) mentions a “village” called Emmaus 60 stadia from Jerusalem. -It can be shown that since the twelfth century, with the Crusaders, there is a Palestinian tradition that identifies el-Qubeibeh with the Lucan Emmaus. But the ruins of a 6th-century basilica indicate the tradition may go back centuries before the Crusaders. This theory is maintained by 1. Schuster-JB Holzammer, B. Bagatti, A. Vaccari and many other scholars. Other locations: Qolonjeh, 30 stadia west of Jerusalem; Abu Gosh, 8 furlongs. But there is no tradition of this.
Without going into the evaluation of both positions, a task that exceeds our purpose, it is appropriate to say that the best attested reading is that of 60 stadia. “The tension between the better variant “60 stadia” and the tradition that relates this place to the farthest city, Nicopolis, must be resolved through the history of traditions” (J. WANKE, DENT, 1, 1356). Excessive importance should not be given to topographical and toponymic details in a strongly theologized account. Luke places the encounter with the risen Jesus in a sequence of Eucharistic celebration. Jerusalem has a theological significance. It is no longer a mere geographical center as the center of a history of salvation: here the plans of God have been realized and from here the dynamism and expansion of the salvific acts start. “The reason for the departure or return of the “disciples of Emmaus” subordinates an ancient Easter story to the intention of the evangelist who wants to link the Easter story with Jerusalem” (cf. 24, 34) (J. WNAKE, , 1, 1357).
BIBL. – B. BAGATTI, monumenti di E. -el Qubeibeh e dei dintorni, Jerusalem, 1947; D. Buzy, ús dans I’Evangile et la tradition, Bible et Terre Sainte, 36 (Mars 1961) 4-5; EMMAUS,…