the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Abana
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or Naaman, the leper, on being directed to wash in the river Jordan, says, 2 Kings 5:12 , "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" Probably the Abana is a branch of the Barrady, or Chrysorrhoas, which derives its source from the foot of Mount Libanus, eastward; runs round and through Damascus, and continues its course till lost in the wilderness, four or five leagues south of the city. Benjamin of Tudela will have that part of Barrady which runs through Damascus to be the Abana, and the streams which water the gardens without the city, to be Pharpar; but perhaps the Pharpar is the same with Orontes, the most noted river of Syria, which taking its rise a little to the north or north-east of Damascus, glides through a delightful plain, till, after passing Antioch, and running about two hundred miles to the north-west, it loses itself in the Mediterranean sea, 2 Kings 5:12 .
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Abana'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/a/abana.html. 1831-2.
