Jordan River

The Jordan in the Bible

• Patriarchal period: Lot chose the well-watered plain of the Jordan (Genesis 13:10-11). Jacob recalls that he crossed the Jordan with only his staff (Genesis 32:10).
• Entry into Canaan: Moses did not cross the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:27). Israel crossed the river under the leadership of Joshua. Although it was harvest time, when the river overflowed its banks, the flowing water stopped as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant touched the water. The people set up at Gilgal twelve stones taken from the riverbed (Joshua 3–4).
• Prophetic narratives: Elijah and Elisha each struck the water with a mantle and divided it (2 Kings 2:8, 14). The Aramean commander Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan and was healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5:14).
• New Testament: John the Baptist administered a baptism of repentance in the Jordan. Jesus was also baptized there; at that moment the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice came from heaven (Matthew 3:13-17).

Background

The Hebrew name is Yarden, commonly connected with the verb meaning "to go down" and interpreted as "the descending river." The river rises in the northern highlands, passes through the Sea of Galilee, and empties into the Dead Sea. Most of the valley through which it flows lies below sea level. The Jordan formed a natural boundary between the lands east of the river and Canaan proper, and its fords were strategic military points (Judges 12:5-6).

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In the Old Testament, crossing the Jordan marks the turning point at which the wilderness wanderings end and Israel enters the Promised Land. The book of Joshua places this event alongside the crossing of the Red Sea, recording that God once again divided the waters (Joshua 4:23). The New Testament takes up the same river as a place of new beginnings. The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan is portrayed as the event that inaugurated his public ministry.

Interpretations and Debates

• Symbolism of Canaan: Traditions differ on what crossing the Jordan into Canaan represents. Many hymns and sermons read it as a picture of passing through death into heaven. Some Holiness movement preaching reads it as a life of entire holiness experienced in this world. The text itself records only a historical entry; such symbolism is a later interpretation.
• Mode of baptism: Baptists cite the statement that Jesus was "coming up out of the water" (Mark 1:10) as support for baptism by immersion. Other denominations hold that this expression alone does not settle the mode (see Baptism and Immersion).
• Site of the baptism: John 1:28 says only that it took place at Bethany "beyond Jordan" (the KJV reads "Bethabara beyond Jordan"). Today there are traditional sites on both sides of the river, and scholars differ on the exact location.

In the Korean Church

The image of crossing the Jordan to reach one's heavenly home appears frequently in translated hymns and in sermons at funeral services. In everyday speech, "crossing the Jordan" is also used as a euphemism for death. Visits to the Jordan River are commonly included in pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and pilgrims sometimes enter the water to recall their baptism.