BETHABARA
| Biblical GN | 1. | The place where JOHN baptized CHRIST (1 Nephi 10:9) |
Etymology
BETHABARA represents the Hebrew bet 'abarah, literally "house of the ford," hence "place of crossing," a conjectural rendering of the Greek BETHABARA of John 1:28.
The Book of Mormon uses the same phraseology as the King James Bible: "These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing." (John 1:28). "And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water." (1 Nephi 10:9). Indeed, the Book of Mormon text says nothing that the Bible text does not say.
The original printer's manuscript read "Bethebara," but the 1830 edition reads "Bethabara." [1] Indeed, "Bethebara," which appears as the earliest of Book of Mormon spellings, is attested at John 1:28 in manuscripts 13 and 828 as "Bethebara,"[2] and may thus reflect an acceptable, if not preferred, reading at 1 Nephi 10:9 and John 1:28.
See also Bethabara / Bethebara Variant
Variants
bathebara, Bethebara, Bethabary
Deseret Alphabet: πππππππ‘π
Notes
- β Royal Skousen, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies/BYU PRess, 2004), 1:202-03. Skousen prefers the reading of the 1830 edition to the original and printer's manuscript.
- β The Greek New Testament, 4th edition, ad loc.
