| Jor'dan. (the descender). The one river of Palestine, has a course of little more than 200 miles, from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea. (136 miles in a straight line. -- Schaff). It is the river of the "great plain" of Palestine -- the "descender," if not "the river of God," in the book of Psalms, at least, that of his chosen people throughout their history. There were fords over the Jordan against Jericho, to which point the men of Jericho pursued the spies. Joshua 2:7. Compare Judges 3:28. Higher up, were the fords or passages of Bethbarah, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites, Jdg 7:24 and where the men of Gilead slew the Ephraimites. Jdg 12:6. These fords, undoubtedly, witnessed the first recorded passage, of the Jordan in the Old Testament. Genesis 32:10. Jordan was next crossed, over against Jericho, by Joshua. Joshua 4:12-13. From their vicinity to Jerusalem, the lower fords were much used. David, it is probable, passed over them, in one instance, to fight the Syrians. 2 Samuel 10:17; 2Sa 17:22. Thus, there were two customary places, at which the Jordan was fordable; and it must have been at one of these, if not at both, that baptism was afterward administered by St. John, and by the disciples of our Lord. Where our Lord was baptized is not stated expressly, but it was probably at the upper ford. These fords were rendered so much more precious, in those days from two circumstances. First, it does not appear that there were, then, any bridges thrown over or boats, regularly established on the Jordan; and secondly, because "Jordan overflowed all his banks all the time of harvest." Joshua 3:15. The channel or bed of the river became brimful, so that the level of the water and of the banks was then the same. (Dr. Selah Merrill, in his book "Galilee in the Time of Christ" (1881), says, "Near Tarichaea, just below the point where the Jordan leaves the lake (of Galilee), there was (in Christ's time) a splendid bridge across the river, supported by ten piers." -- Editor). The last feature which remains to be noticed in the scriptural account of the Jordan is its frequent mention as a boundary: "over Jordan," "this" and "the other side," or "beyond Jordan," were expressions as familiar to the Israelites as "across the water," "this" and "the other side of the Channel" are to English ears. In one sense indeed, that is, in so far as it was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, it was the eastern boundary of the Promised Land. Numbers 34:12. The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium (Banias ), and passes through the lakes of Merom (Huleh ) and Gennesaret. The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings. From its fountain heads to the Dead Sea, it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea, there are 27 rapids. The depression of the Lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediterranean is 653 feet, and that of the Dead Sea, 1316 feet. (The whole descent from its source to the Dead Sea is 3000 feet. Its width varies form 45 to 180 feet, and it is from 3 to 12 feet deep. -- Schaff). Its sinuosity is not so remarkable in the upper part of its course. The only tributaries to the Jordan below Gennesaret are the Yarmuk (Hieromax) and the Zerka (Jabbok). Not a single city ever crowned the banks of the Jordan. Still Bethshan and Jericho to the west, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara to the east of it were important cities, and caused a good deal of traffic between the two opposite banks. The physical features of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows, are treated of under Palestine." Smith's Bible Dictionary or |
Occurences In Authorized Version
177 Verse(s)
Numbers 13:29, Num 22:1, Num 26:3, Num 26:63, Num 31:12, Num 32:5, Num 32:19, Num 32:21, Num 32:29, Num 32:32, Num 33:48, Num 33:49, Num 33:50, Num 33:51, Num 34:12, Num 34:15, Num 35:1, Num 35:10, Num 35:14, Num 36:13,
Deuteronomy 1:1, Deu 1:5, Deu 2:29, Deu 3:8, Deu 3:17, Deu 3:20, Deu 3:25, Deu 3:27, Deu 4:21, Deu 4:22, Deu 4:26, Deu 4:41, Deu 4:46, Deu 4:47, Deu 4:49, Deu 9:1, Deu 11:30, Deu 11:31, Deu 12:10, Deu 27:2, Deu 27:4, Deu 27:12, Deu 30:18, Deu 31:2, Deu 31:13, Deu 32:47,
Joshua 1:2, Jos 1:11, Jos 1:14, Jos 1:15, Jos 2:7, Jos 2:10, Jos 3:1, Jos 3:8, Jos 3:11, Jos 3:13, Jos 3:14, Jos 3:15, Jos 3:17, Jos 4:1, Jos 4:3, Jos 4:5, Jos 4:7, Jos 4:8, Jos 4:9, Jos 4:10, Jos 4:16, Jos 4:17, Jos 4:18, Jos 4:19, Jos 4:20, Jos 4:22, Jos 4:23, Jos 5:1, Jos 7:7, Jos 9:1, Jos 9:10, Jos 12:1, Jos 12:7, Jos 13:8, Jos 13:23, Jos 13:27, Jos 13:32, Jos 14:3, Jos 15:5, Jos 16:1, Jos 16:7, Jos 17:5, Jos 18:7, Jos 18:12, Jos 18:19, Jos 18:20, Jos 19:22, Jos 19:33, Jos 19:34, Jos 20:8, Jos 22:4, Jos 22:7, Jos 22:10, Jos 22:11, Jos 22:25, Jos 23:4, Jos 24:8, Jos 24:11,
Judges 3:28, Jdg 5:17, Jdg 7:24, Jdg 7:25, Jdg 8:4, Jdg 10:8, Jdg 10:9, Jdg 11:13, Jdg 11:22, Jdg 12:5, Jdg 12:6,
2 Samuel 2:29, 2Sa 10:17, 2Sa 17:22, 2Sa 17:24, 2Sa 19:15, 2Sa 19:17, 2Sa 19:18, 2Sa 19:31, 2Sa 19:36, 2Sa 19:39, 2Sa 19:41, 2Sa 20:2, 2Sa 24:5,
1 Kings 2:8, 1Ki 7:46, 1Ki 17:3, 1Ki 17:5,
2 Kings 2:6, 2Ki 2:7, 2Ki 2:13, 2Ki 5:10, 2Ki 5:14, 2Ki 6:2, 2Ki 6:4, 2Ki 7:15, 2Ki 10:33,
1 Chronicles 6:78, 1Ch 12:15, 1Ch 12:37, 1Ch 19:17, 1Ch 26:30,
Psalms 42:6, Psa 114:3, Psa 114:5,
Jeremiah 12:5, Jer 49:19, Jer 50:44,
Matthew 3:5, Mat 3:6, Mat 3:13, Mat 4:15, Mat 4:25, Mat 19:1,