In the New Testament, the Jordan River played an important role in preparing people for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. John the Baptist preached at the river regularly and baptized everyone who repented (Luke 3:2–3). The 50 MCM/yr that Israel provides from Lake Tiberias as part of the 1994 peace treaty was meant to compensate for this loss. It’s for that … “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.”(Matt.3:3) The Jordan River flows through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Sea of the Galilee and then continues down into the Dead Sea with no outlet. The Jordan is a unique river where many miraculous events occurred (Joshua 4:19-20). The valley that the Jordan has cut into the plain is between about 1,300 and 10,000 feet (400 and 3,000 metres) wide and about 50 to 200 feet (15 to 60 metres) deep. The Jordan River has played an important role in the history of God’s chosen people, Israel, and by searching the Scriptures we are able to see significant meaning to many events concerning it. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The river was called the Aulon by the Greeks and is sometimes called Al-Sharīʿah (“Watering Place”) by the Arabs. Nahal Sion or Nahal Assal (Hebrew) / Wadi el-'Asl or Assal (Arabic) as its major tributary. The Jordan River runs along the border between Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank, Israel and southwestern Syria. Just inside Israel, those three rivers join together in the Ḥula Valley. "The Far Side Banks of Jordan" by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash on June's Grammy Award-winning studio album, Press On, mentions the Jordan River as well as the Promised Land. The Jordan River holds a number of biblical significances. Israel and Jordan have signed treaties on Jordan River-related matters. The Bareighit receives its supply of water from the hills on the West, which separate the valley from the river Litany, and is the least important … [21], Recent literature shows the role of power asymmetries and of discourses and narratives in shaping hydropolitics along the Jordan River Basin.[22]. By the 1990s much of the valley’s soil had been degraded, and portions of the area had become flooded. The baptism of Jesus is referred to in a hymn by the reformer Martin Luther, "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" (1541), base for a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7 (1724). However, after Israel built the National Water Carrier in 1953 and diverted water from Lake Tiberias to Israel's coastal plains and southern desert, the flow of the Lower Jordan River dropped significantly. It lies in a structural depression and has the lowest elevation of any river in the world. The Jordan River was also a very important symbol to folk, gospel, spiritual music, poetry, and other literary works. The river holds major significance in Judaism and Christianity since the Bible says that the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist in it.[2]. The Jordan River was a constant theme in spiritual songs sung by African-Americans, and for them it represented freedom. Winters along the river are mild, especially in the south, but summers are torrid, again increasingly toward the south. 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) below the Sea of Galilee, has been kept pristine for baptism and local tourism. The Jordan Valley is a strategic area full of natural resources, and it has a great economic value. This is why John was baptizing in "Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there" John 3:23. It’s a source of life in a similar way to the Nile, though on a much smaller scale. 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