(2) "Bethany beyond the Jordan" (John 1:28; the King James Version Bethabara; Bethabara, a reading against the majority of the manuscripts, supported by Origen on geographical grounds): No such place is known. Grove suggested that the place intended is BETH-NIMRAH (which see), the modern Tell nimrin, a singularly suitable place, but hard to fit in with John 1:28; compare John 2:1. The traditional site is the ford East of Jericho.

E. W. G. Masterman