abana Summary and Overview

stony (Heb. marg. "Amanah," perennial), the chief river of Damascus (2 Kings 5:12). Its modern name is Barada, the Chrysorrhoas, or "golden stream," of the Greeks. It rises in a cleft of the Anti-Lebanon range, about 23 miles north-west of Damascus, and after flowing southward for a little way parts into three smaller streams, the central one flowing through Damascus, and the other two on each side of the city, diffusing beauty and fertility where otherwise there would be barrenness.

(perennial, stony), one of the "rivers of Damascus." #2Ki 5:12| The Barada and the Awaj are now the chief streams of Damascus, the former representing the Abana and the latter the Pharpar of the text. The Barada (Abana) rises in the Antilibanus, at about 23 miles from the city, after flowing through which it runs across the plain, of whose fertility it is the chief source, till it loses itself in the lake or marsh Bahret-el-Kibliyeh.

AB'ANA (stony), a river of Damascus, 2 Kgs 5:12, and supposed to be identical with the Amana of Song of Solomon 4:8. Probably the modern Barada, which the Greeks called the Chrysorrhoas (golden stream). It rises in the mountains of Anti-Libanus, about 23 miles N. W. of Damascus, runs through the city in several streams or canals, thence across the plain, and 18 miles east of Damascus falls by several branches into the marshy Bahret-el Kihliyeh, or so-called "Meadow Lakes." The river is a clear, limpid, copious, and perennial stream, and is the chief source of the fertility of the plain of Damascus, making it a garden in the desert. It falls 1149 feet, and waters 800 square miles of territory containing about 14 villages.

The chief river of Damascus, the modern Barada, called by the Greeks "the golden stream," flowing through the heart of the city and supplying it with water. The Pharpar mentioned with it in 2 Kings 5:12 is further from Damascus, and answers to the Awaj. The Barada rises in the Antilibanus mountain range, 23 miles from the city, and has the large spring Ain Fijah as a tributary. It passes the site of Abila and the Assyrian ruin Tell es Salahiyeh, and empties itself in the marsh Bahret el Kibliyeh or Bahr el Merj, "lake of the meadow." Porter calculates that 14 villages and 150,000 souls depend on it for their water supply. Hence, we see the significance of Naaman's boast, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?"

These rivers render the environs of Damascus though bordering on a desert one of the loveliest spots on earth; whereas the Israelite streams, excepting Jordan, are dry for a large part of the year, and running in deep channels but little fertilize the land through which they flow. Amana, "perennial"), is the reading of the Hebrew margin (the Qeri): "b" and "m" often are interchanged in eastern languages. Soon after issuing from Antilebanon, it parts into three smaller streams, the central flowing through Damascus and the other two one on each side of the city, diffusing beauty and fertility where otherwise there would be the same barrenness as characterizes the vast contiguous plains. Spiritually, men through proud self sufficiency refuse the waters of Shiloah that go softly (Isaiah 8:6), the gospel "fountain opened for uncleanness," preferring earthly "waters" (Jeremiah 2:18; Zechariah 13:1).