BEYOND THE JORDAN (עֵ֤בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּנ׃֙, בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן, מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן, מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיַּרְדֵּֽן). The Heb. words can be tr. “by, at (or) across the Jordan,” ie., “at the crossing of the Jordan” or “by the banks of the Jordan.” B. Gemser adduces much evidence to show that the real meaning of the expression is “Jordania” or “the region of Jordan.” A Sabean word ’brt means “the neighborhood of a stream.”

This expression, occurring some thirty times should not be uniformly referred to E of the Jordan, for the following references along with some of the above meanings can refer only to W of the Jordan: Genesis 50:10, 11; Deuteronomy 3:20, 25; 11:30; Joshua 9:1, 1 Kings 4:24, Isaiah 9:1. Note the KJV of 1 Kings 4:24 tr. ē’ber “on this side the river” rather than “beyond the river.” The phrase can refer to either side of the Jordan, depending on the stance of the write—notice, the explicit statement in Joshua 5:1 and 12:7 saying “on the W side of the Jordan.” Many have too quickly referred many or all of these references to Trans-Jordania alone.

Bibliography B. Gemser, “Be ’eber Hajjarden: In Jordan’s Borderland,” VT, II (1953), 349-55.