THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - Chapter 24 - Verse 13

Verse 13. Two of them. Two of the disciples. The name of one of them was Cleopas, Lu 24:18. Many have supposed that the other was Luke, and that he omitted his own name from modesty. Others have supposed that it was Peter. See Lu 24:34; 1 Co 15:5 There is no evidence to guide us here. Dr. Lightfoot has shown that Cleopas is the same name as Alpheus, who was the father of the apostle James, Mt 10:3.

Emmaus. In regard to the locality of Emmaus, it seems quite probable that it is the same village which is referred to by Josephus (Jewish Wars, vii. 6, § 6), who states that, after the destruction of Jerusalem, Titus gave Emmaus, distant from Jerusalem threescore furlongs, to eight hundred of his troops, whom he had dismissed from his army, for their habitation. Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. it. p. 307, 540) regards it as the present Kuriet el 'Aineb, which Dr. Robinson identifies with Kirjath-jearim. Of this place he says:

"Kuriet el 'Aineb itself would be the proper distance

from Jerusalem, and being on the road to Jaffa, and on

the dividing ridge between the plain and the mountains,

the Roman emperor might have deemed it an advantageous

post for a colony made up of his disbanded soldiers,

who could keep in check the surrounding country. Certain

it is that in these later ages the occupants of this

place have controlled the whole adjacent region, and

for many a generation exercised their lawless tyranny

upon helpless pilgrims.

"It took just three hours' moderate riding from Kuriet

el 'Aineb to Jerusalem: first, a long descent into

Wady Hanina, which passes between it and Soba; then a

similar ascent, succeeded by a very steep pass, and a

very slippery path down to Kulonia. At this place

are some heavy foundations of church, convent, or

castle by the road-side, which may be of almost any

age, and also gardens of fruit-trees, irrigated by

a fountain of excellent water. Kulonia is on a hill

north of the road, and appears in a fair way to

become a ruin itself before long. The path then winds

up a valley, and stretches over a dreary waste of bare

rocks until within a mile of the city, when the view

opens upon its naked ramparts and the mysterious

regions toward the Dead Sea."

Threescore furlongs. Sixty furlongs, or about seven or eight miles. It is not certain that these were apostles, but the contrary seems to be implied in Lu 24:33. See Barnes on "Lu 24:33".

If they were not, it is probable that they were intimate disciples, who may have been much with the Saviour during the latter part of his ministry and the closing scenes of his life. But it is wholly unknown why they were going to Emmaus. It may have been that this was their native place, or that they had friends in the vicinity. They seem to have given up all for lost, and to have come to the conclusion that Jesus was not the Messiah, though they naturally conversed about it, and there were many things which they could not explain. Their Master had been crucified contrary to their expectation, their hopes dashed, their anticipation disappointed, and they were now returning in sadness, and very naturally conversed, in the way, of the things which had happened in Jerusalem.

{g} "two of them" Mr 16:2