And went away again beyond Jordan. — Comp. Note on John 1:28. In Matthew 19:1 we have the fuller expression, “the coasts of Judæa beyond Jordan,” referring to the same locality. The whole of Judæa proper was Cis-Jordanic, and the “Judah upon Jordan” (Joshua 19:34) was the boundary “toward the sun-rising” of the tribe of Naphthali — i.e., it answered to what was afterwards known as Gaulonitis, and is now known as the Jolan. Josephus [Wars, iii. 3) expressly enumerates Gaulonitis as belonging to Judæa in the time of our Lord. For the explanation of this spread of the name, which has always been a geographical crux, see von Raumer’s argument in Dr. Caspari’s summary (Chron. and Geogr., Introd., Eng. Trans., p. 90). We have to think, then, probably of Bethania or Tellanihje, to the north of the Sea of Galilee, on the eastern side of the Jordan, as the place of our Lord’s retirement. He had taught the Jews by divine words, and they had sought to stone Him (John 10:31, and John 8:59). He had appealed to divine works, and they had attempted to take Him by force (John 10:39, and John 7:30; John 7:32; John 7:44). He sees in all this the darkness which foreshadows the night, and He retires from the city to visit it no more until the final Passover, when the night will be at hand. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
And there he abode. — How long we have no means of judging. The time from Dedication to Passover (December to April) is divided, by the visit to Bethany near Jerusalem, and the raising of Lazarus, into two parts of uncertain duration, one of which is spent in Gaulonitis and the other in Ephraim (John 11:54).