Emmaus
A place in the Bible
A village near Jerusalem. According to the Gospel, it was sixty stadia away, about seven miles.
What happened here
- The road: on the day of the Resurrection, two disciples were going to Emmaus. Jesus joined them, but they did not recognize him.
- “Stay with us”: when they arrived, they asked him to stay, because it was getting late. At table, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it. Then they recognized him.
- The return: at once they went back to Jerusalem and told how they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
Today
No one knows for sure where it was. Several villages near Jerusalem are pointed to.
Where it appears in the Bible
Luke 24:13-16; Luke 24:29-31; Luke 24:33; Luke 24:35
What the Bible says
Luke 24:13-16
13And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. 14And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them. 16But their eyes were held, that they should not know him.
Luke 24:29-31
29But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them. 30And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.
Luke 24:33
And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them,
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Luke 24:13; Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Emmaus”