Bible Location
Meaning: evacuation; dissipation; wrestling · 7 cross references · Modern-day map available
The Jabbok is the major river cutting west through Gilead to the Jordan about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. It is important as a boundary river and as the stream near which Jacob wrestled on the night before meeting Esau. First appears in Gen 32:22.1
Place meaning
evacuation; dissipation; wrestling
Coordinates
32.19, 35.68
First appears
Gen 32:22
AI summary: The Jabbok has both narrative and territorial importance. In Genesis it is part of one of the Bible's most intense turning points, the night crossing before Jacob's reconciliation with Esau, which gives the river a personal and spiritual dimension. In Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges it also marks limits between peoples and territories east of the Jordan, especially in relation to Ammon and the transjordanian tribes. That means the Jabbok belongs equally to memory and map. The cross references present it as a river of wrestling, crossing, and boundary-making in the eastern landscape.1
Place meaning
evacuation; dissipation; wrestling
Latitude
32.19
Longitude
35.68
Bible references
7
A pouring out, or a wrestling, one of the streams on the east of Jordan, into which it falls about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, or about 45 miles below the Sea of Galilee. It rises on the eastern side of the mountains of Gilead, and runs a course of about 65 miles in a wild and deep ravine. It was the boundary between the territory of the Ammonites and that of Og, king of Bashan (Josh. 12:1-5; Num. 21:24); also between the tribe of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh (21:24; Deut. 3:16). In its course westward across the plains it passes more than once underground. “The scenery along its banks is probably the most picturesque in Palestine; and the ruins of town and village and fortress which stud the surrounding mountain-side render the country as interesting as it is beautiful.” This river is now called the Zerka, or blue river. 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
| Book | Cross-References |
|---|---|
| Gen | |
| Num | |
| Deut | |
| Josh | |
| Judg |
Figure1: A table of cross references between the selected passage and other passages (Data from Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.)
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.