EMMAUS

(Em·maʹus).

The village toward which Cleopas and a fellow disciple were journeying when they were joined by the materialized Jesus Christ on the day of his resurrection. It was not, however, until after they reached Emmaus and Jesus “was reclining with them at the meal” that they recognized him. Following Jesus’ subsequent disappearance the two disciples returned to Jerusalem that same evening. (Lu 24:13-33) Luke says that the village was ‘sixty stadia’ (7.5 Roman miles [11 km; 7 mi]) from Jerusalem.

However, the present location of Emmaus is uncertain, at least half a dozen different sites having been proposed. Most prominent among these is ʽImwas on the road to Tel Aviv-Yafo. But ʽImwas is about 175 stadia (32 km; 20 mi) WNW of that city, almost three times as far as Luke mentions. Another oft-proposed site, Qalunyah (Mevasseret Ziyyon), located on the main road to Tel Aviv-Yafo and accepted by some as the Ammaous referred to by Josephus, is about 35 stadia (6.5 km; 4 mi) from Jerusalem and so is too close to fit Luke’s record. Some, therefore, prefer to identify Emmaus with El-Qubeiba, on a more northerly Roman road than the other suggested sites. Here remains have been found believed to date back to the Greek Scripture period. The location, about 60 stadia (11 km; 7 mi) NW of Jerusalem, lends support to the view that this may be the Biblical village. Nonetheless, any final identification is impossible at this time.