Bridge

(gephura, 2 Macc 12:13 the [[King James Version]]; the [[Revised Version]] (British and American) GEPHYRUN): Does not occur in the canonical Scriptures, unless it be indirectly in the proper name Geshur (geshur, 2Sa 3:3; 13:37; 15:8; 1Ch 2:23, and others). The so-called Jacob’s bridge is said to mark the site where Jacob crossed the upper Jordan on his return from Paddan-aram, but, of course, does not date from the time of the patriarch. There are traces of ancient bridges across the Jordan in the vicinity of the [[Lake of Gennesaret]], over the Arnon and over other rivers which enter the Jordan from the east; but none of them seem to date farther back than the Roman period. Na 2:6, in which the Chaldaic paraphrase renders "bridges," evidently refers to dikes or weirs. Judas Maccabeus is said to have planted a bridge in order to besiege the town of Casphor (2 Macc 12:13). Josephus (Ant., V, i, 3) tells us that the Jordan, before the passage of the Israelites, had never been bridged,