Aenon (, ''Ainṓn''), distinguished as Aenon near Salim, is the site mentioned by the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

) as one of the places where

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was baptising people, after baptizing

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan Al-Maghtas (, al-Maġṭas, meaning or ), officially known as Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan", is an archaeological World Heritage Site in Jordan, on the east bank of the Jordan River, reputed to be the location of the Baptism of Jesu ...

.Nichols (2009), p. 12.Sloyan (1987), p. 11. Aenon is the

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

form of the term for 'spring' or 'natural fountain' in many

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

, including

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

''ayn'' () and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''ain'' or ''ein'' (). In the water-poor Middle East, places owning a spring tend to be named after that water source, so that toponyms consisting of or containing the construct element are common. The particular site mentioned in the Gospel of John is therefore distinguished as "Aenon near Salim". The name Aenon is commonly used amongst

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

organizations and churches.

Identification attempts

Information from the Gospel

Neither "Aenon" nor "Salim" is a unique name, and the Gospel text offers only two additional hints about where Aenon might be located: the most direct information is that "there was plenty of water there" (), and the second is that it was west of the River Jordan because at Aenon John's disciples talk of the site where John first encountered Jesus as being "on the other side of the Jordan" () which is taken to mean east of the river. We also know from that that first encounter happened at "Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan", named relative to the entrance of the Hebrews from the desert during the Exodus.

'Ainun in Wadi Fara

One possible location is near the upper source of the Wadi Far'a, an open valley extending from

Mount Ebal Mount Ebal (; ) is one of the two mountains near the city of Nablus in the West Bank (Bible, biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim. The mount ...

to the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

, which is full of springs. There is a place called 'Ainun four miles north of the springs.

Easton's Bible Dictionary The ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', better known as ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', is a reference work on topics related to the Christian Bible, compiled by Matthew George Easton. The first edition was published in 1893, and a revised editio ...

Eusebius: Saloumias south of Scythopolis

Another possible location, which is by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

' description in his '' Onomasticon'' (written before AD 324), is at "a village in the (Jordan) valley, at the eighth milestone from Scythopolis (

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...

), ... called Salumias."Piccirillo et al. (2000) This view was already supported by the 19th-century

Smith's Bible Dictionary ''Smith's Bible Dictionary'', originally named ''A Dictionary of the Bible'', is a 19th-century Bible dictionary containing upwards of four thousand entries that became named after its editor, William Smith. Its popularity was such that conden ...

and the 1915

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition. The first version was published under the general editorship ...

and is still favoured by some.Noort (2004), p. 229.Gibson (2004)
quote
"About twelve kilometres (or eight miles according to Eusebius) to the south of Beth Shean (Scythopolis), there is a region which would fit Aenon perfectly. This location has numerous springs: I have counted thirteen of them in a small area four by four kilometres and, interestingly,

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

in his writings (II, 1432) claimed that there were twelve springs at 'Ennon'. On the north side of this area is Tell Shalem, which undoubtedly must be Salim/Salumnias (map ref. 2098-1998), and so the place where John baptised at Aenon may have been at any of the springs in the vicinity of Tell Shalem."Bernard (2000) 928 p. 128.

Madaba Map: east of the Jordan near Jericho

In addition to Aenon near Salem, the 6th-century

Madaba Map The Madaba Map, also known as the Madaba Mosaic Map, is part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George in Madaba, Jordan. The mosaic map depicts an area from Lebanon in the north to the Nile Delta in the south, and fro ...

shows a second Aenon right across the Jordan from Bethabara, near

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

. In the Gospel of John, "

" is indicated as the place where Jesus was baptized by John; in some translations of the Bible, the name ''Bethany'' is instead transcribed as "Bethabara" (). On the Madaba Map, Bethabara is on the right bank of the Jordan, while this Aenon is on the left.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *Nichols, Lorna Daniels (2009). ''Big Picture of the Bible: New Testament''. . page 12. * *Sloyan, Gerard Stephen (1987). ''John''. . page 11.

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Salem

UNESCO: The Baptismal Site (Bethany beyond the Jordan)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aenon John the Baptist Gospel of John Baptism New Testament places Jordan River