the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Beth-Nimrah
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. Beyth Nimrah', בֵּית נִמְרָה, house of limpid water; Sept. ἡ Ναμβρά and Βηθναμρά, with many var. readings), one of the "fenced cities" on the east of the Jordan taken and "built" by the tribe of Gad (Numbers 32:36), and described as lying "‘ in the valley" (בָּעֵמֶק ) beside Beth-haran (Joshua 13:27). In Numbers 32:3, it is named simply NIMRAH (See NIMRAH) (q.v.). The "Waters of Nimrim," which are named in the denunciations of Moab by Isaiah (Isaiah 15:6) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:34), must, from the context, be in the same locality. (See NIMBIM). By Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. s.v. Βηθναβράν, Bethamnaram) the village (called by them Bethnabris, Βηθναβρίς, Bethamnaris) is said to have been still standing five miles north of Livias (Beth-haran). The Talmudists call it also Beth Nimrin (בֵּית נִמְרִין, comp. Targum on Numbers 32:3) or Beth-Namer (בֵּית נָמֵר,? panther-house," Peah, 4, 5; comp. Schwarz, p. 232). The name still survives in the Nahr- Nimrin, the Arab appellation of the lower end of the Wady Shoaib, where the waters of that valley discharge themselves into the Jordan close to one of the regular fords a few miles above Jericho (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 355). It has been seen by Seetzen (Reisen, 1854, 2:318) and Robinson (Researches, 2, 279), but does not appear to have been explored, and all that is known is that the vegetation is very thick, betokening an abundance of water. The Wady Shoaib runs back up into the eastern mountains as far as es-Salt. Its name (the modern form of Hobab?) connects it with the wanderings of the children of Israel, and a tradition still clings to the neighborhood that it was down this valley they descended to the Jordan (Seetzen, 2:377).
It seems to have escaped notice how nearly the requirements of BETHABARA (See BETHABARA) (q.v.) are met in the circumstances of Bethnimrah — its abundance of water and its situation close to "the region round about Jordan" (ἡ περίχωρος τοῦ Ι᾿ορδάνου , i.e. the CICCAR of the O.T., the Oasis of Jericho), immediately accessible to "Jerusalem and all Judaea" (John 1:28; Matthew 3:5; Mark 1:5) by the direct and ordinary road from the capital. Add to this that in the Sept. the name of Bethnimrah is found very nearly assuming the form of Bethabara — Βαιθαναβρά, Βηθαβρά, Βεθαραβά (see Holmes and Parsons' text).
This site, the present Nimrin, is thus described by Prof. Merrill (East of the Jordan, p. 384): "The ruins cover a considerable space, and the location is an excellent one for a city. The stream which flows past the place is perhaps the largest on that side of the Jordan south of the Zerka, and to it I refer the ‘ waters of Nimrim' mentioned in Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34."
These files are public domain.
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Beth-Nimrah'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/b/beth-nimrah.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
