JABOC (Heb. Jabbāq). - An eastern tributary of the Jordan. It is famous in the Bible for the night struggle fought on its banks (v. PHANUEL) by the patriarch Jacob (v.), returning from Mesopotamia, with a mysterious figure (Yahweh or the angel of Yahweh?), who changed his name to that of "Israel" (Gen. 32:23-30; 33:17-20). It was near Mahanaim (v.) and divided Gilead into two equal parts (Josh. 12:2; Judg. 11:13-22). It marked the boundary between the Kingdom of Og (Bashan) and that of Sihon (Heshbon) as well as the northern frontier of the Ammonites (Num. 21:24; Deut. 2:37; 3:16. Cf. Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., IV, 5, 2, 3). It also occurs in Jdt. 2:24 (according to the Pēlīṭā).

Many itineraries placed it about 3 km south of Lake Hūleh, on account of the so-called "Jacob's bridge"; others 2 or 3 miles south of the Sea of Galilee; others confused it with the Jarmūk. Today it is commonly identified with the Nahr ez-Zerqā ("blue river"), the most important of the Jordan's tributaries after the Jarmūk. It begins from the 'Ammān stream (elevation 788 m), west of the city of the same name, but its true source (Rās ez-Zerqā) is near Qal'at ez-Zerqā, where it receives the waters of the 'Ajn ez-Zerqā', and then, describing a great arc of 70 km, it flows into the Jordan near the ed-Damjeh bridge, opposite Qarn Sarqabah. On average it is 7 m wide and 60 cm deep. The water is clear and rich in fish; the bed is deeply cut; the banks are steep, but exceedingly picturesque for their brooms, oleanders, etc. Its tributaries are the rivers Wādi ed-Dlejl, el-Qnejjeh, er-Rijāšī, the Sejl Gerāš, etc.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: F.-M. Abel, Exploration de la vallée du Jourdain, in Revue bibl., 10 (1913), pp. 222-24; id., Géographie de la Palestine, I, Paris 1933, p. 174 ff.; C. Steuernagel, Der 'Adschlün nach den Aufzeichnungen von G. Schumacher, Leipzig 1925-26, p. 29; A. Legendre, Le pays biblique, Paris 1928, pp. 9, 101, 103, 139, 142, 148; L. Heidet, s. v. in DB, III, coll. 1056-59.

Bonaventura Mariani

@incollection{ec6_iaboc_ebr_jabbaq, author = {Mariani, Bonaventura}, title = {Iaboc (Ebr. JabbĀQ)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1521--1522}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/iaboc-ebr-jabbaq} }

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Jaboc

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