Bether
The city of rose gardens, residence of Johanna of Chuza.
Inhabitants or natives[edit | edit source]
Joanna, the wife of Chouza the steward of Herod, native of this city, Esther her nurse, the widow of Cornelius, Levi his son.
Description[edit | edit source]
Birthplace castle of Johanna of Chuza ten kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. She cultivates vast rose gardens there that make these valleys an Eden of bWaterté and Peace. Joanna lives there freely and safely amid her peasants who alone guard all this wealth.
The castle[edit | edit source]
“Here we are already on Joanna’s lands. The country in this cradle is Bether. This palace, on the ridge of a hill, is her birthplace castle... At this spot the garden preceding the house widens, forming two wings that surround it, thus creating a small semicircular square, without trees in the middle, surrounded by very tall and very old trees..”
The rose gardens[edit | edit source]
“.. Do you smell that scent in the air? It is the roses that begin to spread it in the morning sun. At evening, the fragrance is powerful. But now they are so beautiful to see, in this morning freshness, still covered with dew that shines on the corollas like millions of diamonds as they open to the sun. At sunset, all the flowers fully developed are picked. Come. I want to show you from one viewpoint the entirety of the rose gardens that cascade from the summit down the slopes of the opposite side. It is a waterfall of flowers that then rises like a tide on two other hills. It is an amphitheater, a lake of flowers. Wherever the eye turns beneath the very tall trees, there are thousands upon thousands of rose bushes of all kinds: dwarf roses, low, tall, very tall. Arranged in clusters, like cushions embroidered with flowers at the feet of the trees, on meadows of lush grass, or forming hedges along paths, on the edges of streams, in circles around irrigation basins, scattered throughout a park encompassing hills, or beautifully wrapped around trees, with flowering manes that from one tree to another form festoons and garlands. A true dream garden. All sizes, all shades are present and intertwined there, arranging the ivory colors of tea roses near the blood-red colors of other corollas and, reigning like sovereigns thanks to their number, the true roses the color of a child's cheeks that fade on the edges into white tinted with pink.”[1]
Notable events[edit | edit source]
Joanna, the wife of Chouza, reveals to Jesus during one of his stops that Judas is conspiring behind her back with the powerful Romans to seize power[2]. The castle becomes a refuge for all kinds of children as the Trials of the Passion loom[3]. It is also a place of retreat for the two friends rejected by their husbands after the Passion: Joanna and Valeria[4].
Its name[edit | edit source]
Bether, Bétir, Bittir, The stronghold.
Today: Betar - Bétir.
Where is it mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
EMV 224
EMV 400 EMV 401 EMV 402
EMV 583 EMV 586
EMV 630
Learn more about this place[edit | edit source]
One of the cities assigned to Judah during the division of the promised land[5].
Jesus stayed there in the spring of the second year of his public life. Maria Valtorta specifies that the “small village stretches over the western slopes of the mountain on which the castle stands”[6]. During the visits at Bether, Jesus exhorts the inhabitants to remain firm in their faith in Him:“let him who is good not be troubled at the hour of Darkness”[7].The city is mentioned in the Bible[8], but exegetes struggle to identify it. Eusebius of Caesarea[9] speaks of it as a “small highly fortified town, located a short distance from Jerusalem”. It was probably there that the Bar-Kokhba Jews, revolting Against Rome under Hadrian, resisted for two and a half years against the troops of Julius Severus (132-135). The ruins of Khirbet el Yahud[10] are certainly part of the ancient citadel[11]. The current site, with its terraced crops, seems to have partly preserved the bWaterté of the time of the rose gardens of Johanna of Chuza.
Explore[edit | edit source]
• 31° 43’ 48’’ N / 35° 07’ 49’’ E
• +670m
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
Article partially written from the Geographical Dictionary of the Gospel, J.-F. LAVÈRE.