Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JORDAN

Nahr Bâniyâs, easternmost source of the Jordan River at the base of Mt. Hermon. The cave from which it originates was regarded by the Greeks as home of the god Pan (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

The largest and most important river in Palestine, mentioned more than any other river in the Bible. Its waters originate in four rivers that arise from the watersheds of Mt. Hermon some 65 km. (40 mi.) NE of the Sea of Galilee. Once these rivers merge, the course of the Jordan flows into and out of the now dried depression once called Lake Huleh. Some 16 km. (10 mi.) beyond, it feeds into the Sea of Galilee. On emptying from the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan begins a 320-km. (200-mi.) circuitous journey, tripling a 105-km. (65-mi.) direct path to its final destination, the Dead Sea.

After flowing from the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan’s volume is increased by a number of tributaries. Most notable is the Transjordanian Yarmuk, a river not mentioned in the Bible but one which almost doubles the volume of Jordan’s water. Among the tributaries that are mentioned in the Bible are the Jabbok (Nahr ez-Zerqâ; Gen. 32:22), and the “waters of Nimrin” (possibly Wadi en-Numeirah; Isa. 15:6). Since less rain per annum falls on the western mountains than on the eastern ones, the tributaries are bigger and more numerous in Transjordan.

Due to the winter rains the tributaries are at full force during the spring. This makes the numerous shallows (the “fords”; e.g., Judg. 3:28; 12:5) that much more important for crossing, especially since we know of no permanent bridge before Roman times. Since a 19th-Dynasty Egyptian inquired, “The stream of Jordan, how is it crossed?” (ANET, 477), the crossing of the Jordan must have been a common, even international, concern.

The appearance of the Jordan is not what some hymns might suggest (e.g., “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”). South of the Sea of Galilee, River Jordan ranges from 0.6–3 m. (2-10 ft.) deep and averages ca. 30 m. (100 ft.) wide. The climate tends to be hot and dry, with an average annual rainfall at Jericho of less than 10 cm. (4 in.) and temperatures over 38°C. (100°F.) not unusual. While its appearance is mild, the waters of the Jordan are swift due to its drop in elevation averaging 1.7 m. per 1 km. (9 ft. per mi.) from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.

The Jordan Valley is the result of a tectonic fault which produced the Great Rift valley, stretching from Turkey to East Africa. The Jordan Valley S of the Sea of Galilee is made up of several levels. The river rests in the Zōr (NRSV “thickets of the Jordan”; Jer. 12:5; 49:19), while above it ca. 46 m. (150 ft.) is the Ghōr. Literally, the Zōr was the “pride” or “majesty” (Heb. gāʾōn) of the Jordan, a colorful description of the naturally tangled greenery along its banks.

The etymology of the name Jordan is disputed. Many have held that it is of Semitic origin with the root meaning “to go down” (from Heb. yāraḏ). Since all rivers, by nature, “go down,” why the Jordan River would have been singled out as the “one going down,” is not clear. If the name is of Semitic origin, perhaps the extreme and narrow valley in which the Jordan rests, and from which settlers on both of its sides had a vigorous journey to “go down” to its waters, may have contributed to the choice of its name. However, the overwhelming number of biblical references refer to the Jordan with the definite article (hayyardēn), suggesting that the word originally may have been a common, not proper, noun. Thus, “Jordan” may have been an early, widely used generic word for river, thus “The River.” In support of this latter etymology, the biblical writers never refer to the “Jordan River,” but always “the Jordan” or “Jordan.” In only a few passages is water even associated with the Jordan (e.g., Josh. 3:8; 4:18, 23; 5:1), and the character of the Jordan is seldom described (cf. Deut. 4:49; Ps. 114:3-5).

In most cases the Jordan River plays the role of boundary marker. Before the Israelites possessed the land, “across the Jordan” was where the Canaanites lived (e.g., Deut. 11:30). Once Canaan became the homeland of the Israelites, the Jordan served as a boundary of Israel (2 Sam. 17:22; 2 Kgs. 10:33). “Beyond” or “east” or “west” or “on the other side” of the Jordan (e.g., Gen. 50:10, 11; Num. 32:19; Deut. 1:5; Josh. 12:1; 13:8; Judg. 5:17; 1 Chr. 6:78[MT 63]) is the most common use of the Jordan River in the OT (i.e., as a point of reference for the juxtaposed positions of Cisjordan and Transjordan). The Jordan serves this same purpose in the NT (e.g., Mark 10:1; John 1:28; 3:26; 10:40).

In the biblical stories several miracles occur in or near the Jordan. Like the Red Sea, as the Israelites came to claim their land, the waters of the Jordan dried up (Josh. 3:15-16). It was also near the Jordan and the holy place of Gilgal that Elijah was taken to heaven (2 Kgs. 2:6). By dipping in the river seven times, following the instructions of Elisha, the doubting Syrian general Naaman was cleansed of leprosy (2 Kgs. 5:14). Elisha also threw a wooden stick on the Jordan, which made a lost metal ax head float on its waters (2 Kgs. 6:4-6).

In the NT the Jordan River is where John, Jesus’ cousin, was baptizing (Matt. 3:5-6; Mark 1:5) and where John baptized Jesus (Matt. 3:13; Mark 1:9). At what location along the Jordan these events occurred is not known, although it seems likely John would have selected a shallow pool near a large population. One of the fords near Jericho, the largest city on the lower Jordan, would have provided a large population, the nearest location to the people of Jerusalem, and would have made his preaching that much more evident to Herod, who had a palace in Jericho (Mark 6:14-29). Although John the Baptist was executed at Machaerus (Josephus Ant. 18.5.2), Herod may well have first heard of John’s preaching about “sin” in his own Jericho palace.

Bibliography. N. Glueck, The River Jordan, rev. ed. (New York, 1968); J. W. Rogerson, Atlas of the Bible (New York, 1985).

David Merling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JORDAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)