bahmer

The Bible is overflowing with thousands of place names: cities, villages and localities throughout the Land of Israel. Normally we pass by these strange geographical labels without thinking too much about them. But the odd names in Scripture have a deep and important meaning in the original Hebrew of the Bible. Have you ever put much thought into the name the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was arrested the night before his crucifixion? 
 
Read beyond the name you have probably heard the name Gethsemane, but did you know that it actually means something? Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew words gat-גת (“press”) and shemanim שמנים- (“oils”). At the base of the Mount of Olives there was a garden where the farmers of Jerusalem would bring their harvested olives to be pressed into oil.

The name Gethsemane is significant because it underscores the essence of Jesus’ suffering at the time of his arrest. Like an olive in a press, Jesus’ life was squeezed out of him. The Scripture says, “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Through this we see that by understanding the Hebrew names of places, we gain access to the true inner meaning of the story of Jesus’ arrest.

Peewee Loc: San Antonio, TX