Beyond the Jordan

BEYOND THE JORDAN (עֵ֤בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן, בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן, מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן, מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיַּרְדֵּֽן). The Heb. words can be tr. “by, at (or) across the Jordan,” ie., “at the crossing of the Jordan” or “by the banks of the Jordan.” B. Gemser adduces much evidence to show that the real meaning of the expression is “Jordania” or “the region of Jordan.” A Sabean word ’brt means “the neighborhood of a stream.”

Bibliography

B. Gemser, “Be ’eber Hajjarden: In Jordan’s Borderland,” VT, II (1953), 349-55.