Jabbok

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A river flowing through the region east of the Jordan, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the site where Jacob wrestled with a figure before crossing it
2. The tributary of the Jordan River in ancient Transjordan, known in modern times as the Zarqa River and associated with the biblical account of Jacob
3. A watercourse east of the Jordan River in present-day Jordan, famous from the Book of Genesis as the crossing place of Jacob's company

Etymology: The Jabbok is a real river in modern Jordan, a tributary of the Jordan that today is usually called the Zarqa. Its name appears in the Hebrew Bible, where it marks the boundary of Jacob's territory and the place where he wrestled through the night before crossing over. Scholars generally connect the Hebrew "Yabbōq" to the verb "ye'abeq," meaning "to wrestle," so the river's name echoes the story's central action. This wordplay is a feature of the biblical text itself, which links the two words through sound in Genesis 32, rather than a modern invention. Because the name is a place name, its earliest form is the Hebrew one, and English took it directly from the Bible's Hebrew through Latin and Greek translations, as with many biblical names. The Hebrew root is treated as the basis of the name, and the connection to wrestling is a popular and widely cited explanation.