GETHSEMANE gĕth sĕm’ ə nĭ (Γεθσημανεί). A “place” RSV, or “plot of ground,” χωρίον, G6005, (Matt 26:36; Mark 14:32), which was E of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley (John 18:1), on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39). This place was a garden or enclosure (κῆπος, G3057, John 18:1) in the olive grove, and likely contained an olive press. Hence the meaning of the name Gethsemane is “oil press” from גַּת־שְׁמָנֵי and should be taken as referring to a certain place on the hillside. Further, both Matthew and Mark give the impression that Gethsemane was a place arrived at only after traversing part of the orchard hillside (Matt 26:30, 36; Mark 14:26, 32).

According to Luke (21:37) and John (18:2), Jesus frequently retreated to this hillside and “garden” for rest, prayer, and fellowship with His disciples. He did so on the night of His betrayal. After the Last Supper and the singing of the Passover hymn, He left the upper room, (possibly located in S Jerusalem near the Zion Gate), crossed the Kidron Valley, and ascended the Mt. of Olives, across the valley from the Temple. Upon entering the area, Jesus spoke to the disciples about their being scattered as sheep, His resurrection and reunion with them in Galilee, and the temptation of Peter and of their going to deny Him (Mark 14:26-31). Then He took Peter, James, and John on into the “garden” of Gethsemane, and charged them to watch. Going a stone’s throw further, He prayed three times for deliverance (Mark 14:32-42). His prayer-agony complete, He went out to meet His betrayer.

The precise site of Gethsemane is a matter of contention in Christian tradition; different sites are identified by Western, Russian, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox Church authorities (cf. Kraeling’s map, p. 396). It is generally agreed that Gethsemane was situated on the hillside above the road from Jerusalem to Bethany, but the precise site can be ascertained only by tradition. The oldest tradition, dating from Empress Helena’s visit to Jerusalem in a.d. 326, fixed the site of Gethsemane at the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, and the place of Jesus’ prayer a stone’s throw up the hill (Luke 22:41). This would place the site about equal distance from St. Stephen’s Gate and the Golden Gate. It would have been directly across from the Temple.

The tradition that eight very ancient olive trees mark the site is prob. not well founded, since Josephus records that Titus (a.d. 70) cut down all the trees E of the city (Jos. War VI. i. 1).

Bibliography Hastings, HDCG, I, 646, 647; E. G. Kraeling, Rand McNally Bible Atlas (1956), 394-404; The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible (1956), 107-109.