Batanaea
Encyclopedia
Batanaea or Batanea was an area of the Biblical Holy Land, north-east of the Jordan River, to the east of Trachonitis
Trachonitis
Trachonitis was a region that once formed part of Herod Philip's tetrarchy. It now lies within the boundaries of modern Syria.It appears in the Bible only in the phrase tes Itouraias kai Trachbnitidos choras, literally, "of the Iturean and Trachonian region"...

. It was one of the four post-Exile
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....

 divisions of the area of Bashan. Now known as Ard-el-Bathanyeh, it runs north-south along the east side of the Lejah and the Hauran
Hauran
Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...

, from Salkhad
Salkhad
Salkhad a Syrian city in the As Suwayda governorate, southern Syria.It is the capital of Salkhad District, one of the governorate's three districts. It has a population of 15,000 inhabitants....

 on the south, to Tells Khaledyeh and Asfar on the north. It is, on average, 12 miles wide, and for 30 miles along it extends the Gebel Hauran, a range of hills, whose central plateau is 2670 ft. above sea level and whose highest point is 6400 ft. Its highest peak may be the "Hill of Basan" referred to in Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

 68:15.

In the 1st century BCE the land was acquired by Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...

, and on his death in 4 BC passed to his son Philip as part of his inheritance. In some sources Philip is referred to as Tetrarch of Batanea with the capital at Caesarea Philippi, though his lands were more extensive than this.

On his death in 34 A.D. Batanea passed to Herod Agrippa I, and in 53 CE to his son, Herod Agrippa II. Following his death, however, it was annexed to the Roman province of Syria.

D. A. Carson, in his commentary on the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...

, says that the "Bethany across the Jordan" of John 1:28 (referenced again in John 11), is actually Batanaea, transliterated across Aramaic to Greek.

Sources

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