Olives, Mount of

The Mount of Olives is a limestone ridge running north-south along the eastern side of Jerusalem, separated from the Temple Mount by the Kidron valley. It rises approximately 200 feet above the temple platform and commands a panoramic view of the city. Its name reflects the extensive olive groves that covered its slopes in antiquity. In the Old Testament it appears as the site of David's sorrowful ascent during Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15:30) and as the location where Solomon built high places for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom — idols that Josiah later desecrated (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13).

Its New Testament significance far surpasses its Old Testament role. Jesus regularly crossed from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, and Luke notes he spent nights there during the Passion week (Luke 21:37). The Garden of Gethsemane lay at its western foot (Matthew 26:36). From its summit Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and delivered the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24; Mark 13). The ascension took place from its slopes (Acts 1:12), and Zechariah's prophecy that the LORD's feet would stand on it in the Day of the LORD (Zechariah 14:4) has shaped Christian eschatological expectation.