Jordan Valley

The spot has been marked by a succession of buildings, a little white dome over the well, and some hewn stones and the ruins of an aqueduct in the hill across the road being all that now remain of its old dignity.

Passing the Khan of the Good Samaritan, a modern inn and curiosity shop, at which you can, at your leisure, renew a certain man's experiences, we paused at the top of the last hill before descending towards the Jordan Valley.

Here the entire neighbourhood was once commanded by a strong medieval castle, intended, like many all over the country, for the defence of the district.

The tribal marks of the Bedou to be found on the walls are of extreme interest.

A plain of some four or five hours broad, for here all the measurement is by time at the rate of three or four miles an hour, according to the nature of the country, lay between us and the foot of the hills, although during all the months we had looked longingly at them from the hills of Judea, they had seemed to rise almost perpendicularly from the banks of the Jordan and of the Dead Sea.

Our destination before nightfall was Medeba, which lies twenty-nine hundred forty feet above sea level.

Starting from the valley of the Dead Sea, twelve hundred ninety-two feet below the Mediterranean, and with the wide plain of the Jordan Valley to cross before the ascent could begin, it was evident we must reserve our force for the precipitous climb of over four thousand feet which awaited us, and we accordingly kept our horses in check, although the sandy plain offered temptation for a canter.

We had abundance of interest.

The spot has been marked by a succession of buildings, a little white dome over the well, and some hewn stones and the ruins of an aqueduct in the hill across the road being all that now remain of its old dignity.

Passing the Khan of the Good Samaritan, a modern inn and curiosity shop at which you can at your leisure renew a certain man's experiences, we paused at the top of the last hill before descending towards the Jordan Valley.

Here the entire neighbourhood was once commanded by a strong medieval castle, intended, like many all over the country, for the defence of the district.

The tribal marks of the Bedou to be found on the walls are of extreme interest.

A plain of some four or five hours broad, for here all the measurement is by time at the rate of three or four miles an hour according to the nature of the country, lay between us and the foot of the hills, although during all the months we had looked longingly at them from the hills of Judea, they had seemed to rise almost perpendicularly from the banks of the Jordan and of the Dead Sea.

Our destination before nightfall was Medeba, which lies 2,940 feet above sea level.

Starting from the valley of the Dead Sea, 1,292 feet below the Mediterranean, and with the wide plain of the Jordan Valley to cross before the ascent could begin, it was evident we must reserve our force for the precipitous climb of over 4,000 feet which awaited us, and we accordingly kept our horses in check.

Although the sandy plain offered temptation for a canter, we had abundance of interest.

And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan." So Saul's armor is put in this pagan feminine idol temple, and then his body is nailed to a Philistine wall, Beth-shan, in the city of Beth-shan.

and right there on the western side of the Jordan River Valley, and sort of like a sign of their conquering of Israel.

In verse 11 through 13, we'll finish out the chapter, the news of what has happened spreads all throughout the land.

It says, "...when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan and came to Jabesh and burnt them there.

Two hours more and we should reach Jordan Bank, and at the head of the wooden bridge that leads from Occident to Orient, we might camp in a sheltered place under mud hillocks and among thickets of reed and tamarisk.

A halt to buy corn for the horses and the mules and we were off again across the narrow belt of cultivated land that lies round Jericho and out onto the gore, the Jordan Valley.

Photograph, Monastery of Corintil above Jericho.

The Jericho road is bare enough, but the valley of Jordan has an aspect of inhumanity that is almost evil.

While Matthew 23 records a similar condemnation, the event in our text was a different occasion.

The Matthew 23 passage occurred in Jerusalem, while the setting of the Luke text was in the region of Berea, the eastern side of the Jordan River Valley.

Since the Pharisees were already aligned against Jesus, the invitation of verse 37 may have been a trap in which the religious leaders hoped to observe Jesus breaking one of their many regulations.

Since the same verse implies that Jesus went in and sat down immediately, it is quite probable that he purposefully refrained from the customary washing upon entering with the intent of precipitating the discussion that followed.

They then returned to the holy city.

Her next tour was through Jericho again and then northwards up the Jordan valley until they came first to Salem where they visited Melchizedek's church and city.

Then to Ainan, Thisbe, Elijah's native place, and the brook Cherith and so crossing the Jordan into the Acetus Uz where they made the burying place of Job at Carnius or Deneba the final point of their journey.

The church had been built by some tribune but left unfinished.

Thence I set out again, and journeying through all those stations in Egypt through which we had traveled before, I arrived at the boundary of Palestine.

Thence, in the name of Christ our God, I passed through several stations in Palestine and returned to Aelia, that is, Jerusalem.

Visit to the Jordan Valley.

Having spent some time there, at God's bidding, my will was to go as far as Arabia, to Mount Nebo, where God commanded Moses to go up, saying to him, Get thee up into the mountain, Arabat, into Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is over against Jericho, and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession, and die in the mount whither thou goest up.