Jeremy M. Hutton, «'Bethany beyond the Jordan' in Text, Tradition, and Historical Geography», Vol. 89 (2008) 305-328
Origen selected e0n Bhqabara|~ in John 1,28 as the superior reading in his Comm. Jo., an assessment challenged by modern critics. Although the text-critical data seem to indicate e0n Bhqani/a|~ as the preferable reading, this claim may be
questioned on literary and redactional grounds. Those same observations provide evidence for intentional literary commemoration of John’s ministry at the Jordan. Origen’s gloss of Bhqabara|~ as “House of Preparation” (oi]koj kataskeuh~j) leads to an examination of Mk 1,2-3, and its lexical divergence from LXX Mal 3,1.22-23 [=MT vv. 23-24]; Isa 40,3. Mark anomalously uses the verb kataskeua/zw, the nominal counterpart of which (kataskeuh~) renders Heb. hdfbo(j “work, preparation” (LXXAB Exod 35,24), which is graphically similar to hrb( tyb. When combined with historical-geographical study of the area surrounding Jericho,
these data allow us to trace the process of textual and traditional development whereby the toponym hbr( tyb (Josh 15,6.61; 18,22), preserved at the modern H}. ( E!n el-G.arabe, served as the toponymic antecedent of both Bhqabara|~ and Beth Barah (Judg 7,24). This process of development provides additional defense
for the traditional localization of John’s ministry in the southern Jordan River Valley near the el-Mag.tas and H9ag]la fords.
“Bethany beyond the Jordan†307
Bhqaniva/’s originality as well. Instead, it may be the case that John 1,28
is in fact the gospel writer’s own insertion (8), through which he
capitalized on the possibility of the present inclusio, substituting
Bhqaniva/ for an earlier, historically accurate tradition (9). On this
model, the late reading simply replaces a similarly constructed reading.
Second, Riesner’s dismissal of Bethabara as the disingenuous
product of “local tradition†fails when we consider the actual breadth
of philological evidence in support of Origen’s “minority†report.
Origen (Comm. Jo. 6.40.206) provided as the Hebrew etymology of
Bhqabara/' the meaning “House of Preparation†(oi\ko" kataskeuh'").
The “preparationâ€, he argues, was fitting for the forerunner of the
Christ, who had been sent “to prepare his way before himâ€
(kataskeuavsai th;n oJdo;n aujtou' e[mprosqen aujtou'). In this exegetical
move, Origen is undoubtedly alluding to the citation of Mal 3,1a in Mk
1,2: ijdou ajpostevllw to;n a[ggelovn mou pro; proswvpou sou, o}"
kataskeuavsei th;n oJdovn sou.
However, this citation preserves a paraphrasing allusion to the text
of Malachi, which does not itself use the verb kataskeuavzw:
ynpl ËšrdAhnpw ykalm jlv ynnh
ijdou; ejgw] (10) ejxajpostevllw to;n a[ggelovn mou kai; ejpiblevyetai
oJdo;n pro; proswvpou mou…
Nor does the verb appear in the LXX rendering of the related Mal
3,23-24 MT (=LXX 3,22-23; Eng. 4,4-5):
.arwnhw lwdgh hwhy μwy awb ynpl aybnh hyla ta μkl jlv ykna hnh
μynbAla twbaAbl byvhw
kai; ijdou; ejgw; ajpostevllw uJmi'n Hlivan to;n Qesbivthn pri;n ejlqei'n
hJmevran kurivou th;n megavlhn kai; ejpifanh', o}" ajpokatasthvsei
kardivan patro;" pro;" uiJo;n…
(8) Ibid., 67; and idem, The Gospel of Signs. A Reconstruction of the Narra-
tive Source Underlying the Fourth Gospel (SNTSMS 11; Cambridge 1970) 174;
and below.
(9) At most, I would allow the position of B.F. BYRON’s “more liberalâ€
scholars who “might claim that the author has ‘theologized’ the name for some
reason or other but a Bethany east of the Jordan was what he wrote and what he
meant†(“Bethany Across the Jordan or simply Across the Jordanâ€, AusBR 46
[1998] 38). See also G.L. PARSENIOS – J.M. HUTTON, “Bethany Beyond Jordan
and the Theology of Landscapeâ€, forthcoming.
(10) The word ejgw appears only in the 3rd century Washington papyrus, and
is omitted in LXXB and LXX ; the inflection of the following verb makes this mi-
a
nus text-critically irrelevant.
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