Bethphage

(g hard) (house of figs) the name of a place on the Mount of Olives on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. It was apparently close to Bethany. (Matthew 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29)

beth'-fa-je, beth'-faj (from beth paghah; Bethphage, or Bethphage; in Aramaic "place of young figs"): Near the Mount of Olives and to the road from Jerusalem to Jericho; mentioned together with Bethany (Mt 21:1; Mr 11:1; Lu 19:29). The place occurs in several Talmudic passages where it may be inferred that it was near but outside Jerusalem; it was at the Sabbatical distance limit East of Jerusalem, and was surrounded by some kind of wall. The medieval Bethphage was between the summit and Bethany. The site is now enclosed by the Roman Catholics. As regards the Bethphage of the New Testament, the most probable suggestion was that it occupied the summit itself where Kefr et Tur stands today. This village certainly occupies an ancient site and no other name is known. This is much more probable than the suggestion that the modern Abu Dis is on the site of Bethphage.

E. W. G. Masterman