Beth-barah (Bethabara) was a place where Gideon stationed men to intercept the fleeing Midianites, and where John the Baptist baptized.
Also known as Beth Barah · Bethany · Bethabara
Beth-barah, also known as Bethabara, is mentioned in two different contexts in the Bible. In Judges 7:24, during Gideon's battle against the Midianites, he sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, asking the Ephraimites to intercept the fleeing Midianites at the waters of Beth-barah and the Jordan. The Ephraimites captured and killed the two Midianite princes, Oreb and Zeeb.
In Jhn.1.28, Bethabara is mentioned as the place where John the Baptist was baptizing people. This Bethabara is described as being "beyond the Jordan," indicating that it was on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Some manuscripts mention "Bethany" instead of "Bethabara" in this verse, which has led to some confusion. However, the Bethany mentioned here is not the same as the village near Jerusalem associated with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
The exact location of Beth-barah/Bethabara is uncertain, but it was likely a ford or crossing point along the Jordan River, possibly in the vicinity of the Jabbok River. The name Beth-barah means "house of the crossing" or "house of the ford" in Hebrew, which supports this interpretation.
Approximate location: 31.836, 35.553 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
House of crossing, a place south of the scene of Gideon’s victory (Judg. 7:24). It was probably the chief ford of the Jordan in that district, and may have been that by which Jacob crossed when he returned from Mesopotamia, near the Jabbok (Gen. 32:22), and at which Jephthah slew the Ephraimites (Judg. 12:4). Nothing, however, is certainly known of it. (See BETHABARA.)
BETH-BA'RAH . Jud 7:24. See Beth-abara.
BETH-BA'RAH . Jud 7:24. See Beth-abara.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1012
Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.
All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.