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BETHABARA ( áֵּéú òֲáָøָä ‘house of the ford crossing’).—The name is found in the New Testament only in Joh_1:28 (Authorized Version ): ‘These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.’ The place was, therefore, one suitable for the purposes of the Baptist in preaching and baptizing; and it has been usually identified, though this is not precisely stated in the text, with the scene of the baptism of our Lord.
With the great majority of Gr. MSS [Note: SS Manuscripts.] (including à * ABC*) the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 has retained here the reading ‘Bethany,’ with marginal alternatives ‘Bethabarah’ and ‘Betharabah.’ The latter ( áְּéç òֲøָáָä ‘house of the prairie,’ cf. Isa_40:3 et al.; or ‘house of the Arabah or Jordan Valley,’ cf. Deu_1:7; or perhaps ‘house of the poplar,’ cf. ðַçַì äָòֲøְáִéí Isa_15:7) is possibly a reminiscence of the Beth-arabah of Jos_15:6; Jos_15:61 in the plain of Jericho, or it may be due merely to an accidental transposition of letters. The form ‘Bethabara,’ on the other hand, is found in a few extant manuscripts of the Greek text, both uncial and cursive, and in the Curetonian and Sinaitic Syriac. Origen adopted this reading, and it seems to have gained general currency mainly on his authority. He writes (in Evang. Joannis, vi. 24) that Bethany is found in almost all copies and in Heracleon, but after personal investigation of the district ( ãåíüìåíïé ἐí ôïῖí ôüðïéò ἐðὶ ἱóôïñßáí ôῶí ἰ÷íῶí Ἰçóïῦ êáὶ ôῶí ìáèçôῶí áὐôïῦ ) he prefers ‘Bethabara’ on the twofold ground of the distance of Bethany, the country of Lazarus and Martha and Mary, from the Jordan, and of the non-existence of any place bearing the latter name within the Jordan Valley. He further reports ( ëÝãïõóé ) a place ÂçèáñÜ where he had been told ( ἱóôïñïῦóé ) that John baptized, and says that the word means ïἶêïò êáôáóêåõῆò (possibly a confusion with òֲáøָä , cf. LXX Septuagint in Exo_35:24), Bethany being ïἶêïò ὑðáêïῆò , adding a play upon the name as befitting the spot where the messenger sent to prepare ( êáôáóêåõÜæåéí , Mat_11:10) the way of the Lord should baptize.
Origen’s view, therefore, was mainly a priori, and it has seemed worth while to set it out at length, because later writers, as Epiphanius, Chrysostom, et al., apparently adopt and repeat it with more or less amplification; nor is it easy to decide how much weight is due to additional details they may give. According to Chrysostom, for instance, the more accurate copies read ‘Bethabara,’ a result that might readily be conceived to follow from Origen’s criticism; and he adds that Bethany was neither across the Jordan nor in the wilderness, but near Jerusalem.* [Note: Suidas, s.v. Âçèáíéá , says expressly that the right reading is ÂçèáâáìÜ ; and he also inserts ἰôé in the text before ôïû ἹïñäÜíïõ .] The ancient writers do not seem to take into account the possibility of the names occurring more than once in Palestine. It is clear, however, that either ‘Bethany’ or ‘Bethabara’ would lend itself readily to duplication.
The only indication of position which the narrative itself gives is in the phrase ðÝñáí ôïῦ ἸïñäÜíïõ , ‘across (i.e. east of) the Jordan.’ And if Bethabara or Bethany is the scene of the Baptism, then it would seem that the site must be looked for in the northern part of the Jordan Valley, since Christ comes hither apparently direct from Galilee (Mat_3:13, Mar_1:9). Conder finds all the necessary conditions satisfied by a ford ‘Abârah on the Jordan E.N.E. of Beisân, and at a distance of four or five miles from the latter place: and he explains the name ‘Bethany’ as equivalent to Batanea, Basanitis, or Bashan, the district immediately east of the Jordan, south and south-east of the Sea of Galilee (see C. R. Conder in Pal. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.] Expl. Fund Mem. ii. p. 89 f., Quart. Statement, 1875, p. 72, Handbook to the Bible, p. 319 f.; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , art. ‘Bethabara’).
Bethabara has also been supposed to be the same as the Beth-barah ( áֵּéç áָּøָä , LXX Septuagint ÂáéèçñÜ , of Jdg_7:24) which lay on or near the Jordan. This is on the assumption that a guttural has been accidentally lost from the Hebrew text, and that we ought to read áּéç òֲáָøָä . Dr. Sanday (Sacred Sites of the Gospels, p. 23) accepts the identification with ‘Abârah. But beyond the coincidence of the name, on which much stress cannot be laid, there is no direct evidence in its favour; and the indirect evidence is slight. The inference, moreover, which has been drawn from Joh_2:1, that Bethabara or Bethany lay not more than a day’s journey from Cana of Galilee, is precarious. The marriage festivities at Cana would in all probability extend over several days, towards the close of which the supply of wine failed: and the language used is perhaps intended to convey that Christ and His disciples were not present at the beginning. (See on the prolongation of the ceremonies attendant on an Eastern wedding, P. Baldensperger, ‘Woman in the East’ in PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1900 p. 181 ff., 1901 p. 173 ff.; H. B. Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, ch. v.).
The traditional site of the baptism of Christ at Makhâdet Hajlah in the Jordan Valley near Jericho, though defended by Sir Charles Wilson and others, seems to be too far south. Others would read, by conjecture, in the text of St. John’s Gospel, ÂçèáíáâñÜ , i.e. Beth-nimrah, on the Wâdy Shaib, five miles east of the Jordan, E.N.E. from Jericho (see T. K. Cheyne in Encyc. Bibl. s.vv.).
Literature.—See above, and add Smith’s DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] s.v.; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] (1894), p. 496; Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 310; Farrar, Life of Christ, i. p. 140 n. [Note: note.] ; Weiss, Life of Christ, i. p. 361 f. and note; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. pp. 264, 278; Geikie, Life and Words of Christ, i. 388, and Holy Land and the Bible, ii. p. 257; Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 11, 23, 35, 94; PEFSt [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1903, p. 161; and the Commentaries on Joh_1:28.
A. S. Geden.