Bible Encyclopedias
Jabbok

　　One of the principal tributaries of the Jordan; first mentioned in connection with the meeting of Jacob and Esau and with the struggle of Jacob with the angel (Genesis 32:23 et seq.). It was the boundary separating the territory of Reuben and Gad from that of Ammon, the latter being described as lying along the Jabbok (Numbers 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:37, 3:16; Joshua 12:2). The territory of Sihon is described as extending "from Arnon unto Jabbok" (Numbers 21:24), and it was reclaimed later by the King of Ammon (Judges 11:13,22). Eusebius ("Onomasticon," ed. Larsow-Parthey, pp. 222, 224, Berlin, 1862) places the river between Gerasa and Philadelphia. The Jabbok is identified with the Wadi or Nahr al-Zarḳa, a river that rises in Mount Hauran, and, after receiving many tributaries, empties into the Jordan between Gennesaret and the Dead Sea (Schwarz, "Das Heilige Land," p. 30; comp. Estori Farḥi, "Kaftor wa-Feraḥ," ed. Luncz, p. 63, Jerusalem, 1897). The general opinion is that the name "Zarḳa" is given to this river on account of the bluish color of its water; but Schwarz (c.) says that it is because the river in its course touches the fortress of Zarḳa on the route between Damascus and Mecca.

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