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ZARETHAN

(Heb. ṣārĕṯān)

A city or region on the east side of the Jordan Valley near the town of Adam (modern Tell ed-Dâmiya), and near which the waters of the Jordan heaped up when the Israelites crossed the river en route to Canaan (Josh. 3:16). King Solomon’s foundry was later located near Zarethan (1 Kgs. 7:46). Many scholars equate the Zeredah of 2 Chr. 4:17 and Zereath of Judg. 7:22 with Zarethan.

Identifying the site of Zarethan has been exacerbated by the fact that the locations of the other sites associated with Zarethan in the biblical text are also, for the most part, uncertain. The fact that a Zarethan appears within a list of northern Jordan Valley towns which were located within Solomon’s fifth administrative district (1 Kgs. 4:12) has led scholars to place Zarethan more to the north in the Jordan Valley. These scholars maintain that rather than translating Adam’s location in Josh. 3:16 as “beside” or “near” Zarethan, the text should read, “from Adam as far as Zarethan,” which would allow a more northerly location and make the event appear all the more miraculous.

The favored candidate for Zarethan has been Tell es-Saʿidiyeh (204186; 18 km. [11 mi.] N of Tell ed-Dâmiya), although Tell Umm µamâd (205172; ca. 6 km. [4 mi.] NE of ed-Dâmiya), Tell Qos (5 km. [3 mi.] ESE of Tell es-Saʿidiyeh), Qarn Sartabeh (193167; west bank, opposite of Dâmiya), and Tell Sleihat (16 km. [10 mi.] N of Deir ʿAlla) have also been suggested. Unfortunately, currently available textual and archaeological data are insufficient to resolve conclusively the question of Zarethan’s location and identity.

Randall W. Younker

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ZARETHAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)