Ascent of Adummim
Clint Archer
The Ascent of Adummim is a road that goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Does that route sound familiar?
Luke 10:30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.”
Anyone hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan from the lips of Jesus would be familiar with this infamous route. It included a stretch of desolation in the Judean wilderness known as the Ascent of Adummim. The 15-mile journey, at a steady pace without breaks, would take 7 hours, but likely longer due to the typical blazing temperatures and gruelling elevation gain of 3,400 ft.
What made it so treacherous in those days was the innumerable hiding places robbers could lay their ambush. The setting of the story of the Good Samaritan brings a sense of perilous desperation when we hear of a man who “fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” This misfortune would certainly prove fatal unless someone by chance was coming down that road.
10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
The road is not particularly wide, so crossing over on the other side would by no means put the man out of sight. It shows a deliberate decision to let the man perish. This is what makes the story so shocking: the priest and Levite abandoned their countryman –” nothing to see here folks”– but the Samaritan saves the day. Jesus’ point is that there is no office or position or ethnicity that makes a person your neighbour. Your neighbour is whomever God brings across your path and behaves the way neighbours behave to one another.
Scripture records at least two occasions Jesus travelled this road himself, though he likely used it many times in his life (when he wasn’t taking the route through Samaria, which was unusual, but one he took at least twice, cf. John 4; Luke 9).
The Ascent of Adummim is also the likely setting for the historical accounts of David’s escape from his son, Absolom’s coup (2 Samuel 15–16), and Zedekiah’s flight from the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:4).
If you visit Israel today, ask your guide if you can stop here.
It’s not a place many visit, since there is nothing to see; but that’s the point, isn’t it? What better way to get a sense of how desperate the victim of robbers would be for a Good Samaritan to save him?
Footnote: There is a camel to ride, but be sure to negotiate the price for a picture beforehand. I was told 5 shekels ($2), but upon paying it and getting on the camel, was informed it was another 20 shekels ($8) for the camel to stand up and walk. I opted out. But I guess I was taken for a ride after all.
