Editing Zaretan

{{short description|City mentioned in the Hebrew Bible}}
'''Zaretan''' or '''Zarethan''' ({{langx|he|צָרְתָן}}), also known as '''Zeredathah''',  is a city mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]] as near the location where the [[Hebrews]] crossed the [[Jordan River|Jordan]] ({{bibleverse|Joshua|3:16|KJV}}). In the books of Joshua ({{bibleverse-nb|Joshua|3:16|KJV}}, KJV "Zaretan") and 1 Kings ({{bibleverse-nb|1 Kings|4:12|KJV}} KJV "Zartanah", {{bibleverse-nb|1 Kings|7:46|KJV}} "Zarthan"), it is called Zarethan, but in 2 Chronicles it is called Zeredathah ({{bibleverse-nb|2 Chronicles|4:17|KJV}}, KJV).

Zaredathah stood in the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]].<ref name=Easton>{{cite book |author= Easton, M. G. |author-link= Matthew George Easton |title= Zaretan |work= The Ultimate Bible Dictionary, Volume 3: O-Z |publisher= Jazzybee Verlag |page= 246 |edition= reprint |isbn= 9783849694036 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2yuDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 |access-date=19 June 2020}}</ref> [[Nelson Glueck]] looked for it on the [[Transjordan (region)|east bank]] of the river, proposing {{ill|Tell es-Sa'idiyeh|de}}, but some more recent authors place it on the [[West Bank|west bank]], one theory identifying it with [[Tell el-Mazar]], also spelled Mezar, in [[Wadi al-Far'a (river)|Wadi Far'a]].<ref name=Mittmann>{{cite book |first= Siegfried |last= Mittmann |title= Beiträge zur Siedlungs- und Territorialgeschichte des nördlichen Ostjordanlandes (''lit.'': Contributions to the settlement and territorial history of northern Transjordan) |publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |series= Volume 2 of Abhandlungen, Deutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas |year= 1970 |page= 220 |language= de |issn= 0173-1904 |isbn= 9783447000185 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K95Gs1pREfwC&pg=PA220 |access-date=19 June 2020}}</ref> Tell el-Mezar is at the site called in Arabic Qerawa, known from antiquity by the name Korea(i) (κορεα[ι]) or Koreous (Kορεους) and located at the foot of [[Alexandrium|Mount Sartabe]].<ref>{{cite book |first1= Othmar |last1= Keel |first2= Max |last2= Küchler |first3= Christoph |last3= Uehlinger |title= Orte und Landschaften der Bibel (Sites and landscapes of the Bible) |volume= 2: Der Süden (The South) |publisher= Benziger - Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |year= 1982 |page= 566 |language= de |isbn= 978-3-545-23042-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=j3jsKqzuP5YC&pg=PA566 |access-date=19 June 2020}}</ref>

According to [[Hebrew Bible]], the bronze castings for the [[Solomon's Temple]] were made in the clay grounds between [[Sukkot (place)|Sukkot]] and Zaretan.

The old identification of the site of the miracle of the [[Israelites]]' crossing of the Jordan with the waters stopping their flow at the "[[city of Adam]] beside Zaretan" was, according to the [[Easton's Bible Dictionary]] (1893 and 1897), presumed to be near [[Sukkot (place)|Succoth]], where the [[Jabbok]] flows into the Jordan, about 30 miles upstream from the Israelite camp.<ref name=Easton/> There the priests stepped into the water, which then "stood and rose upon an heap", thus creating a 30-mile stretch of dry riverbed for the tribes to use for crossing over to the [[Promised Land]] ({{bibleref2|Joshua|3:16, 17|KJV}}; compare {{bibleverse|Psalms|104:3|KJV}}).<ref name=Easton/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bible verses==
*[[Joshua 3:16]]
*[http://bible.cc/1_kings/7-46.htm 1 Kings 7:46]
*[http://bible.cc/2_chronicles/4-17.htm 2 Chronicles 4:17]

{{eastons|wstitle=Zaretan}}
{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement}}

{{Coord|32.0958|N|35.4614|E|source:kolossus-plwiki|display=title}}

[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Jordan]]