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Bible Encyclopedias
Bethabara
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Βηθαβαρά , quasi, בּית עֲבָרָה, house of the ford or ferry), a place beyond Jordan (πέραν τοῦ Ι᾿ορ .), in which, according to the Received Text of the N.T., John was baptizing (John 1:28), apparently at the time that he baptized Christ (comp. John 1:29; John 1:39; John 1:35). If this reading be the correct one, Bethabara may be identical with BETH-BARAH (See BETH- BARAH) (q.v.), the ancient ford of Jordan, of which the men of Ephraim took possession after Gideon's defeat of the. Midianites (Judges 7:24); or possibly with BETH-NIMRAH (See BETH-NIMRAH) (q.v.), on the east of the river, nearly opposite Jericho. But the oldest MSS. (A, B) and the Vulgate have not "Bethabara," but Bethany (Βηθανία ), a reading which Origen states (Opp. 2, 130, ed. Huet) to have obtained in almost all the copies of his time (σχέδον πάντα τὰ ἀντίγραφα ), though altered by him in his edition of the Gospel on topographical grounds (see Kuinol, in loc.). In favor of Bethabara are
(a) changed by copyists into one so unfamiliar as Bethabara, while the reverse — the change from an unfamiliar to a familiar name — is of frequent occurrence.
(b) The fact that Origen, while admitting that the majority of MSS. were in favor of Bethany, decided, notwithstanding, for Bethabara.
(c) That Bethabara was still known in the days of Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon, Βηθααβαρά, Bethbaara, which is expressly stated to have been the scene of John's baptism), and greatly resorted to by persons desirous of baptism. Still the fact remains that the most ancient MSS. have "Bethany," and that name has been accordingly restored to the text by Lachmann, Tischendorf, and other modern editors. The locality must, therefore, be sought by this name on the east shore of the Jordan. (See BETHANY).
Lieut. Conder thinks he has recovered this site in the present ford Abaurah, about a mile north of the place where the stream el-Jalud falls into the Jordan opposite Beisan (Tent-work, 2, 64 sq.); but he gives no decisive reason for the identification beyond the correspondence in name and the vicinity to Galilee, which he contends is required by the note of time in John 2:1.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Bethabara'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/b/bethabara.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
