In Jesus's Footsteps 
跟随基督的脚步

Mount of Olives

橄榄山（希伯来语：הַר הַזֵּיתִים，读音：Har HaZeitim）与耶路撒冷老城的的那个东边相毗邻。

这座山之所以被命名为橄榄山是因为其曾被橄榄树林所覆盖。

橄榄山的南部就是西尔万墓地，原归属于古犹太王国。这座山被犹太人用来作为墓地已有超过3000年的历史，这里有约150000个坟墓，这使得其成为了传统犹太公墓的中央位置。

福音书所记载的耶稣生平中，有好几件关键的事情都发生在橄榄山，《使徒行传》更是将这座山记述为耶稣复活后升天的地方。

因着这座山与耶稣及玛利亚的联系，这里自古以来就成为了基督徒敬拜的场所，直到今天，橄榄山依然是东正教、天主教及新教的一个重要的朝圣场所。

橄榄山首次被提及是在《撒母耳记下》15：30有关大卫王和押沙龙征战的描述：“大卫蒙头赤脚上橄榄山，一面上一面哭。跟随他的人也都蒙头哭着上去；”

他们可能是从大卫城的东面登山的，就在西尔万村庄的附近。

这座山的神圣性在《以西结书》11:23中被提及：“耶和华的荣耀从城中上升，停在城东的那座山上。”

因为这座山上的偶像崇拜，圣经中称其为邪僻山，在希伯来语中的发音是Har HaMashchit（列王纪上11：7-8），这偶像崇拜的源头则是由所罗门王在山的南边为他的摩押人及亚扪人妻子的外邦神修建祭坛开始的，“在耶路撒冷对面（东面）的山上建筑邱坛”（列王纪上11：7），其位置就在圣城的边界外。

这个地方是第一圣殿时期臭名昭著的偶像崇拜地，直到犹大王、约西亚王时期才最终摧毁了这个地方，“……在耶路撒冷前、邪僻山右边……”(列王纪下23：13)。

The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har HaZeitim) is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to the Jerusalem's Old City. 

It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part of the Mount was the Silwan necropolis, attributed to the ancient Judean kingdom.

The Mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years, and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in the tradition of Jewish cemeteries. 

Several key events in the life of Jesus as related in the Gospels took place on the Mount of Olives, and in the Book of Acts it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven. Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the Mount has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times and is today a major site of pilgrimage for the Eastern Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants.

The Mount of Olives is first mentioned in connection with David's flight from Absalom (II Samuel 15:30): "And David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up." The ascent was probably east of the City of David, near the village of Silwan. 

The sacred character of the mount is alluded to in the Ezekiel (11:23): "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city."

The biblical designation Mount of Corruption, or in Hebrew Har HaMashchit (I Kings 11:7–8), derives from the idol worship there, begun by King Solomon building altars to the gods of his Moabite and Ammonite wives on the southern peak, "on the mountain which is before (east of) Jerusalem" (1 Kings 11:7), just outside the limits of the holy city.

This site was infamous for idol worship throughout the First Temple period, until king of Judah, Josiah, finally destroyed "the high places that were before Jerusalem, to the right of Har HaMashchit..."(II Kings 23:13)