The Jerusalem–Jericho Road
Scripture first
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A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers: the parable begins with the road's own word, down.
Twenty-four kilometres and a vertical kilometre separate Jerusalem from Jericho, through bare, bandit-haunted gorges. Pilgrims climbed it singing the psalms of ascent; Jesus walked it down to be baptised and up to be ; the parable of the good Samaritan needs no invented setting.
The steep desert descent from the city to the oasis: the road of the good Samaritan, of pilgrims going up, and of Jesus' last journey.
- the road down to Jericho, the ascent of Adummim (its southern pass)
- Route 1 follows much of the ancient line · Palestine, Israel
The road's danger is a matter of record across centuries: isolated, twisting, with caves and cuts for ambush. The parable's realism is why it lands; every hearer knew that road.
- Luke 10:30 A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers: the parable begins with the road's own word, down.
- Joshua 2:22 The spies hide in the hills on the same ascent
- 2 Samuel 15:30 David's flight crosses toward this descent
- Luke 19:1-28 Jesus passes through Jericho and goes up to Jerusalem for the last time
- Mark 10:32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them
What we know
Certain
- The descent's course and its danger are described in Scripture and attested by travellers from every period.