Was the city of Emmaus along a populated route from Jerusalem?

Question

Luke 24:13,

"And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs." (KJV)

As Emmaus was 60 furlongs from Jerusalem, and as 1 furlong is equal to 220 yds., that means Emmaus was 7.5 miles from Jerusalem. Previous questions on the Christianity site (here) have discussed the possibility of a middle-of-the-week Wednesday crucifixion versus the traditional teaching of a Friday crucifixion in light of the three days and three nights Christ said He would be in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40).

But, because of the distance of Emmaus, I had concluded that a Wednesday crucifixion resulting in a Sabbath resurrection was out of the question since the apostles would not likely contemplate traveling 7.5 miles distance from Jerusalem on a Sabbath.

However, if they were in the custom of the "stretching" that was accommodated on the Sabbath day's journey - See answer to "How far was a Sabbath's day journey" here - and in light of their counting 2,000 cubits from the last house of the populated city, might it have been that the entire 7.5 miles to Emmaus was a populated route with the distance between each house being less than the maximum 2,000 cubits?

And, if so, would that have allowed the two apostles of Luke 24:13 to stretch the count of the 2,000 cubits (paces) for a Sabbath's day journey from one "home" to another all along that route to Emmaus on a Sabbath day?

See also the article "How far am I allowed to walk on Shabbat?" here.

Answer 1

This answer doesn't address the Title question, but it does explain what "that same day" refers to, a misunderstanding of which was the reason for asking that question.

But, because of the distance of Emmaus, I had concluded that a Wednesday crucifixion resulting in a Sabbath resurrection was out of the question since the apostles would not likely contemplate traveling 7.5 miles distance from Jerusalem on a Sabbath.

Jesus was buried just before sunset.

Most denominations accept one of the two following situations:

• That sunset was on Friday, and the resurrection was just before sunrise on Sunday morning.
• That sunset was on Wednesday, and the resurrection was a full three days and three nights later, just before sunset on Saturday, the Sabbath.

But in either case, the discovery of the empty tomb was on the Sunday morning. As Luke 24:1 says:

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, ... .

So, when Luke 24:13 speaks of making a long journey to Emmaus, "two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus", the phrase "that same day" refers to Sunday, the first day of the week.

The Sabbath ended at sunset the night before, so this trip was definitely not on a Sabbath.

Answer 2

Nobody can definitively answer this question as the true location of Emmaus is unknown and widely speculated. There is more info here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmaus

Answer 3

Church tradition (Eusebius, Jerome, others) places Emmaus in Emmaus-Nicopolis. However, this does not help much since there is debate about this location as well.

Happily, this allows us to give a "yes" answer to the main question, in the sense that all of the candidates were along populated routes. But were they populated enough to allow the disciples to "stretch" the sabbath-day's walk as described in the OP? Probably not.

So if one wants to keep the hypothesis that this walk was made during the sabbath, a more likely scenario would be that the disciples were not strict observers of this rule. Indeed, that sabbath's walk commandment is not specifically mentioned in the Torah. It was clearly in place in early Talmudic times, but we cannot be certain if it was a major concern for 1st century Jews, especially those who, like Jesus' disciples, were not strict about other rabbinical dicta that were not stipulated in the Torah itself.