Bethabara
The Jordan ford and the nearby village of Solomon.
Inhabitants or Natives
On the east bank, near the main road: Ananias the old, Solomon the ferry-man, the young Michael and his parents, Levi, a wealthy man who lends his tomb.
Description
Solomon’s village is located after the ford of Bethabara, on the main road that goes from Jericho to Gilead. This is where John the Baptist baptized."Go to the Bethabara ford. Cross the river and go to the village after Bethany beyond the Jordan. You know… where John used to baptise at the beginning."[1]In this fishing village, Solomon offers his house as a refuge to the apostolic group:
"The Master is in that village. Anybody will tell you the house where He is a guest. But it is better if you follow the banks of the river, instead of taking the main road. You will not be noticed so much and you will find the house by yourself. It is the first one on the only road of the village and it takes one from the country to the river. You cannot go wrong. It’s a low house, with no terrace or upper room, with a kitchen garden, when coming from the river, before the house, and the kitchen garden is enclosed by a small wooden gate and a hawthorn hedge, I think, a hedge, in any case."[1]
Notable Events
Jesus delivers the parable of the steep path here to the pilgrims returning from the 3rd Passover.[2] It is probably a few kilometers south of this ford that John the Baptist was teaching and where Jesus was baptized.
Name
Bethabara. Today גשר אלנבי (Gesher Allenby).[3]
Bethabara has the same meaning as Bethany.
It is often called "Bethany of the Jordan" (not to be confused with the nearby village "Bethany beyond the Jordan"). Variable etymology: "the house of the poor" - "the house of Ananya" - "the house of springs" - "the house of boats".
Where is it Mentioned in the Work?
GRM 45 GRM 47 GRM 81
GRM 383 GRM 384 GRM 385
GRM 501 GRM 526 GRM 543 GRM 559
Learn More About This Place
This village located near the Jordan ford is frequently mentioned in the work. Jesus finds refuge there several times, in the small house of the disciple Solomon: "the little village and nearby places have received the word of the Lord" because "the Baptist still lives in everybody’s memory here",[4] comments a resident.Today near Allenby Bridge on the road from Jericho to Jordan.Bethabara is mentioned on the Madaba map (6th century)[5] and by Origen.[6] The exact location remains to be discovered.
According to Maria Valtorta's account, this village, located to the northeast of the ford, should not be confused with the neighboring village of Bethany beyond the Jordan, "where John used to baptise",[7] contrary to the most widespread opinion today.[8]
Explore
• 31° 51’ 12’’ N / 35° 33’ 00’’ E /-
• 378m
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GRM 543.5
- ↑ GRM 385.
- ↑ Hebrew Alphabet on croixsens.net.
- ↑ GRM 496.1
- ↑ Madaba Map Wikipedia.
- ↑ Commentary on the Gospel of John, VI, 24.
- ↑ GRM 543.5 and Jn 1:28.
- ↑ Excerpt from the Geographical Dictionary of the Gospel According to Maria Valtorta, by Jean-François Lavère.