Archaeologist Reveals the REAL Gethsemane (It’s Not What You Think)

Archaeologist Matthew Gray reveals that the Garden of Gethsemane was likely a cave — not an open garden of olive trees. What does that mean for how we understand Jesus’s final night?

The archaeology changes everything.

Most people picture Jesus kneeling beside a rock in a peaceful grove of olive trees. But the word “Gethsemane” literally means “oil press” — and archaeology now shows that ancient oil press facilities were housed inside caves and grottos, not open fields.

In this episode of Informed Saints, BYU professor and archaeologist Matthew Gray walks us through what a 1st-century Gethsemane actually looked like, what the 1950s excavation of the grotto on the Mount of Olives uncovered, and how each Gospel writer — Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John — frames Jesus’s experience there differently.

We also explore how Luke’s “agony” language may actually evoke athletic imagery rather than suffering, how the Latter-day Saint emphasis on Gethsemane developed primarily in the 1980s, and how understanding the oil press process opens up powerful new symbolism for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Guest: Matthew Grey, BYU Professor of Ancient Scripture

Shout out to Messages of Christ for their visual reconstruction of the Gethsemane grotto:

https://youtu.be/F_Yl87PzTKM?si=JX6yQxrc-UJ1Zp_5

https://youtu.be/7VaBzEb34FQ?si=s4aVk3HB93jGD2JH

https://youtu.be/XefTby7Cj0Y?si=C4BP4KKQekOwvvYj

===Informed Saints Credits===

Produced by The Ancient America Foundation

Producer: Spencer Clark

Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye

SUBSCRIBE for more scholarly explorations of scripture and history.

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

Matthew J. Grey and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel — A Place Called Gethsemane: Seeing the New Testament Story and Site in Its First-Century Context

Deseret Book: https://www.deseretbook.com/product/6074789.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Place-Called-Gethsemane-Testament-First-Century/dp/1639934022

Matthew J. Grey — “What Was Gethsemane Like in Jesus’s Time?” (interview and 3D reconstruction overview)

https://www.fromthedesk.org/gethsemane-in-jesus-time-archaeology-history/

Joan E. Taylor — “The Garden of Gethsemane: Not the Place of Jesus’ Arrest” (Biblical Archaeology Review, 1995)

https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/the-garden-of-gethsemane-not-the-place-of-jesus-arrest/

Joan E. Taylor — Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins (Oxford University Press)

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/christians-and-the-holy-places-9780198147855

Virgilio Corbo — Ricerche Archeologiche al Monte degli Ulivi (1965 excavation report, in Italian)

https://www.tsedizioni.it/shop/ricerche-archeologiche-al-monte-degli-ulivi/?lng=en

Truman G. Madsen — “The Olive Press” (BYU Fireside, May 9, 1982)

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/truman-g-madsen/olive-press/

Truman G. Madsen — “The Olive Press: A Symbol of Christ” (chapter in The Allegory of the Olive Tree)

https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/olive-press-symbol-christ

John Hilton III — Considering the Cross: How Calvary Connects Us with Christ

https://www.amazon.com/Considering-Cross-Calvary-Connects-Christ/dp/1629728713

John Hilton III — “Joseph Smith, Gethsemane, and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ” (BYU Scholars Archive)

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/4657/

John Hilton III — “Teaching the Scriptural Emphasis on the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ” (BYU Scholars Archive)

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3255/

Gustaf Dalman — Arbeit und Sitte in Palastina, Vol. 4: Brot, Ol und Wein (free download, in German)

https://publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/handle/10900/43658

Messages of Christ — “Secrets of Gethsemane: Unearthing the Place of Jesus’ Agony” (visual reconstruction consulted with Matthew Grey)

https://scripturecentral.org/shows/messages-of-christ/episodes/secrets-of-gethsemane-unearthing-the-place-of-jesus-agony

Study deeply. Believe boldly.

===Discover===

If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives.

https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/

===Content Disclaimer===

The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

#Gethsemane #JesusChrist #Easter #BiblicalArchaeology #HolyWeek #MountOfOlives #Atonement #InformedSaints #BibleHistory #NewTestament