Jabbok River

G9 on the Map

Nahr ez-Zerqa. River. Gen. 32:22; The Jabbok River was east of the Jordan, and marked the N. border of the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Num 21:23-24; Deut. 2:37; Josh 12:2) and the boundary between the trans-Jordan tribes of Israel and the Ammonites, Deut. 3:16; Josh. 12:2; Judg. 11:13, 22. After the conquests of Israel under Joshua it was given the tribe of Gad.

The river rises near Rabbath Ammon, flowing in a wide curve to the NE and immediately turns west and into the Jordan River, dropping from 2700 feet above sea level to 1000 feet below sea level. The descent from the mountains into the Jordan valley was so steep that swimming was not possible. The river also flows through the wide fertile plain of Succoth. When Jacob was on his way back from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan he followed this valley (Gen 32:22-23).