Jordan
A place in the Bible
The most important river in the land of Jesus. It flows down from the north, through the Sea of Galilee, and ends in the Dead Sea. John baptized there.
What happened here
- In the Bible: the Jordan River. There John baptized Jesus.
- Joshua: the people of Israel crossed the Jordan to enter the Promised Land, with the ark of the covenant.
- Naaman: the Syrian general washed seven times in the Jordan, as the prophet Elisha told him, and he was cleansed of his leprosy.
- Today: it is also a person’s name.
Where it appears in the Bible
Mark 1:5; Mark 1:9; Joshua 3:17; 2 Kings 5:14
What the Bible says
Mark 1:5
And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem, and were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mark 1:9
And it came to pass, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Joshua 3:17
And the people marched over against Jericho: and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood girded upon the dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over through the channel that was dried up.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Jordan”; Britannica, “Jordan River”