The River Jabbok as a Territorial Marker

Rivers often served as important territorial boundaries; the Jabbok River is mentioned elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible as a boundary marker in the narratives about the Israelite conquest of the Transjordan and Canaan and distribution of tribal lands (Coughenour, “Search,” 57–66). The Transjordan has traditionally been subdivided into smaller regions by several important wadis, including the Jabbok (for a discussion about the role of the Jabbok in the division of the land of Gilead, see MacDonald, East of the Jordan, 195–208.)

The Jabbok also served as a boundary between Ammonite territory and conquered territory assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. According to Judges 11:13, 22, the territory between the Arnon and Jabbok was the cause of much conflict between Israel and its Ammonite neighbors (MacDonald, East of the Jordan, 195–208). Deuteronomy indicates that Israel was to avoid settlement north of the Jabbok so as to avoid conflict with the Ammonites to the north. As indicated by Judg 11:13, 22, the area between the Arnon and Jabbok had been forcibly taken by the Israelites from Sihon, king of the Amorites. Numbers 21:21–24 also notes the Jabbok River as the Ammonite border.

(For more details, see these articles: Yarmuk, Arnon River, and Zered.)