Arimathea
The city of the Sanhedrist Joseph of Arimathea.
Inhabitants or natives[edit | edit source]
Joseph the Elder (of Arimathea).
Description[edit | edit source]
"Arimathea is a mountainous town. I do not know why, but I imagined it on a plain. Instead it is on the mountains, which, however, are already sloping down to the plain, and from certain turns of the road the flat country appears to be fertile towards the west and it fades away on the horizon, in this November morning, in a low mist that looks like an endless sheet of water. [...] I can hear them speaking of Joseph of Arimathea, and Thomas, who probably knows him very well, describes his beautiful large estate which stretches along the mountain, particularly towards Jerusalem along the road that runs from the capital to Arimathea and links this town to Joppa. I hear them say so, and Thomas praises also the fields that Joseph possesses along the roads on the plain."[1]
Notable events[edit | edit source]
It is during a Banquet at Joseph's that Jesus meets some Sanhedrists, including Gamaliel. Some will be favorable to him and others irreparably hostile.[2]
Its name[edit | edit source]
יהרמת (Arimathea) - סרנתי (Rantis)[3]
Arimathea, the name generally retained by Bibles of the Catholic tradition, is called Arimathaea in the Bible Louis Second and generally in Bibles from the Protestant tradition. This is also the usage in the TOB (Ecumenical Translation of the Bible), a more accurate translation if one refers to Jerome of Stridon’s Vulgate (5th century) which speaks of Arimathaea.[4]
Arimathea(thaea) is probably a deformation of Ramah (Judea)taim.[5]
Arimathea would translate as "I have chosen."
Where is it mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
GRM 114 GRM 141
GRM 559
Learn more about this place[edit | edit source]
Eusebius of Caesarea and Saint Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate, identify Arimathea with Ramah (Judea) of Samuel in the region of Ephraim. This is what Andrew the Apostle Chouraqui also retains in his translation by naming Joseph of Arimathea "Joseph of Ramah (Judea)taim".[6] It is indeed under this designation of Ramah (Judea)taim (or Ramah (Judea)thaïm) that the Book of Maccabees designates Ramah (Judea) of Samuel.[7]
It is therefore the Homeland of the great prophet. The house of his parents is located there. It will later become his own. The Elders of Israel and David will come to see him there and he will be buried there.[8][9]
Arimathea is of uncertain location. The city is generally identified with Ramah (Judea)taim, the city of Samuel,[10] today Rantis or Rentis, located 35 km northwest of Jerusalem, and 13 km northeast of Lydda.
Explore[edit | edit source]
32°01'60"N 35°05'40"E
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ GRM 114.1.
- ↑ GRM 114.
- ↑ Hebrew alphabet on croixsens.net.
- ↑ See the text Matthew 27:57.
- ↑ See the note below.
- ↑ Matthew 27:57.
- ↑ 1 Maccabees 11:34.
- ↑ 1 Samuel: 1:19 – 2:11 – 7:17 – 8:4 – 15:34 – 16:13 – 19:18 – 25:1.
- ↑ Source: "Dictionary of the Bible", Andrew the Apostle-Marie Gérard – Robert Laffont, 2003 – ISBN 2-221-05760-0).
- ↑ 1 Sam 1:1.