Jordan River 648

647 Jordan River 648 2000). ■ Younger, K. L., “Neo Assyrian and Israelite His- Jordan River tory in the 9th Century: The Role of Shalmaneser III,” in Understanding the History of Ancient Israel (ed. H. G. M. Willi- I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament amson; PBA 143; Oxford 2007) 243–77. II. New Testament III. Judaism 3. A Levite IV. Christianity V. Literature Joram is a member of the house of Amram and de- VI. Visual Arts scendant of Moses’ son Eliezer (2 Chr 26 : 25, cf. VII. Music 2 Chr 23 : 6–24). He appears in a list of Levites serv- VIII. Film ing in the temple. The list is ascribed to the time of David, though it more likely reflects the temple I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament administration from Persian period Jerusalem. The headwaters of the Jordan River (MT Yardēn; LXX Ιρδνης) lie at the foot of Mount Hermon. 4. A Priest They flow through the Huleh Valley before entering According to the Chronicler, Joram was a priest the Sea of Galilee. The Jordan flows southward from the time of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (2 Chr from there, winding torturously on its journey to 17 : 8). He was sent by the king together with an- the Dead Sea, into which its waters empty. The river other priest, eight Levites and five officials to in- is a political boundary in modern times; it seems to struct the book of the law of God. The historicity of have occasionally been a tribal and political bound- this text is questioned, as it expresses the Chroni- ary in antiquity as well. According to the biblical cler’s theological concepts regarding the loyalty of record, the river could pose difficulties to commerce king Jehoshaphat to the Yahwistic cult. and travel, especially when at flood stage. The Bibliography: ■ Klein, R. W., 2 Chronicles (Hermeneia; Min- river’s status as a political and economic boundary neapolis, Minn. 2012). in antiquity, although not impassable, led to its uniquely symbolic position in the text of the 5. Son of Toi HB/OT. Joram was the son of Toi, king of Hamat (2 Sam 1. Name and Derivation. The linguistic origin of 8 : 10). After David’s victory over the Aramaean the Jordan River’s name has been heavily debated, king, Hadadezer of Zoba, who according to v. 10 in large part because of the varying forms in which was at war with Toi, Toi sent his son, Joram, to it was preserved in antiquity. The name is yardēn bring tribute to David (2 Sam 8 : 9–12). This verse (<*yardin) in Biblical and Modern Hebrew (see also has often been taken as evidence that David subju- yardĕnā in Aramaic [e.g., TO Gen 13 : 10–11]), gated the Kingdom of Hamat, located in central but Ιρδνης (<*yurdān) in Greek texts (see ywrdn Syria. Yet, the entire account of David’s wars with in the Aramaic of TPss [e.g., 42 : 7]), and Urdunn Israel’s neighbours in 2 Sam 8 reflects the geo-po- (< /yurdun/?) or Urdan (< /yurdān/?) in modern Arabic litical reality of a much later period (Naaman). The (Thompson: 954; Hommel: 169). The river is named parallel version of this story in 2 Chr calls the Ara- in an Egyptian text of the 19th Dynasty (13th cent. maean prince Hadoram instead of Joram (1 Chr BCE) as pzḫd n yrdwnz “the river (of) Jordan” (p. Anas- 18 : 10). This is because, given the fact that the chief tasi 1: 22-8-23.1, for which see Gardiner: 68; = Aramaean deity was Hadad, the Chronicler likely ANET, 477; see also Ahituv: 123). Albright rendered felt that this theophoric was more fitting of an Ara- this spelling syllabically as Ya-ar-du-na (1934: 36, maean prince than a Yahwistic name. iv.6; 1968: 111–12, esp. n. 5). He considered this Bibliography: ■ Naaman, N., “In Search of Reality Behind orthography to betray the name’s West Semitic ori- the Account of David’s Wars with Israel’s Neighbours,” IEJ gin (which he esteemed to show the development 52 (2002) 200–24. ■ Stolz, F., Das erste und zweite Buch Sam- *yurdān >*yurdōn [Canaanite shift] > /yardōn/ [dis- uel (ZBK.AT 9; Zurich 1981). similation of u-u vowels]). The name is also com- monly identified with entry 150 (jwrwdn)inthe 6. Brother of Tibni Bubastite Portal list of Sheshonq (22nd Dynasty, Joram is the Brother of Tibni, the individual who 10th cent. BCE; see Ritner: 208, 210). Albright con- was Omri’s rival in the struggle for the throne of sidered yardēn to be an “Aramaizing development Israel (1 Kgs 16 : 21–22). The phrase “Joram, his from Canaanite-Hebrew” (1968: 111n.5). brother” does not appear in the MT version of Some have argued for a Semitic derivation of Kings; it is to be found only in the LXX version, but the name, citing either the verbal root y–r–d, “to since the origin of this additional phrase in LXX descend,” or the common noun yĕ ōr, “river,” fol- cannot be explained, a strong claim is made for its lowed by the element dān (purportedly incorporat- originality. ing the name of the city at the river’s headwaters). Bibliography: ■ Würthwein, E., Die Bücher der Könige: 1 Kö- This etymology is typically credited to Jerome (e.g., nige 1–16 (ATD 11/1; Göttingen 1977). Hommel: 169), and was preserved by several Medie- Omer Sergi val and Renaissance cartographic representations Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 6:32 PM 649 Jordan River 650 (e.g., the Sanudu-Vesconte map [ca. 1320 CE] and exclamation is meant to mirror the locution with the Sanudo map [1611 CE]). These maps trace two which Deuteronomy relates Moses’ prohibition sources of the river, the “Ior” and the “Dan” (for from crossing “this Jordan” (hayyardēn hazzeh) into further discussion, see North), probably under the Canaan (Deut 3 : 27; 31 : 2; also Josh 4 : 22). In the influence of Jerome. As Köhler has argued, how- end, the difficulty of identifying a secure Semitic ever, this Semitic derivation is contradicted by the etymology of the river’s name, in combination with distribution of rivers with similar names through- the most common morphosyntax of biblical attesta- out the Mediterranean basin. Throughout the area tions, suggests caution in assigning a derivation. one finds rivers with phonologically related names: 2. Physical Attributes. Geographers typically e.g., the Jardanos in Crete, Vardanes (or Vardanos) recognize four streams feeding the upper reaches of and Vuardo (or Vardo) in the Rhone Valley of the Jordan River: the Bareighit, Hasbani, Lidani France, and the possibly related Rhodanos river; see (Tel el-Qadi = Dan), and Banyasi (Banias) rivers detailed discussion in Hommel). This distribution (Baly: 193–94). These rivers rise from the base of casts doubt on the possibility of a Semitic origin. Mount Hermon, dropping precipitously in their ap- One early attempt to derive the toponym from proach to the Huleh Basin (ca. 300 m in 11 km), Indo-European traces the name to Persian yār- about 70 m above sea level. From there, they de- dan(uš). The components of this derivation, yār/yor, scend another ca. 300 m to the Sea of Galilee (ca. “year,” and don, “river”, seem to assume a “peren- 212 m below sea level) (Baly; Glueck 1943; 1946; nial river” (Cohen: 973). Accordingly, the river’s ti- Cohen; Thompson; Van Zeist). Below the Sea of Gal- tle would have described accurately the river’s un- ilee, the Yarmuk River enters the Jordan River, common status as such in the southern Levant bringing with it a large portion of the river’s total (Köhler). The similar river names from around the volume. Below this junction, the river winds an- Mediterranean basin seem to support the general other ca. 200 km before it empties into the Dead meaning, if not the linguistic origin. Although top- Sea (ca. 392 m below sea level). In sum, the mean- onyms prove to be durable, von Soden challenges a dering river covers 100 km linearly, but winds putative Persian origin of the name on historical 300km over the full course of its run (North: 206), rationale: the Jordan River under discussion drasti- approximately two-thirds of that distance between cally pre-dates Persian involvement in the Levant, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. During this and the Persians would not have had the opportu- portion of the river’s course several major torrent nity to name so many rivers across such a wide ex- valleys, often called by the Arabic term wādī, con- panse. Homer knew rivers by the same name (Ιαρ- tribute to the river’s flow. Most of these descend δνς) in Crete and Elis (Homer, Od. 3.292; Ill. from the east, carrying relatively small amounts of 7.135) already, and Persian settlement of Gaul is water year-round (e.g., the Wadi Zarqa [i.e., the bib- unattested. Drawing on previous work by Hempel lical Jabbok River]), if not only intermittently. From (64: loanword from Anatolia) and others, von Soden the drier area west of the Jordan River, fewer valleys (154) suggests that the name should be considered carry any significant amount of water through the “an old Mediterranean designation, which was ob- Judean and Israelite “wilderness” (midbār). tained from the Indo-germanic or Semitic settle- The high, flat plain of the Jordan River Valley ment from much earlier times.” The identification (the Ghor) usually remains very arid (for extended of the toponym as a common noun that spread discussion, see Shehadeh); its hot, dry climate pre- across the Mediterranean cultural sphere may be vents the development of lush vegetation.

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