Jabbok

Jabbok [Heb. yabboq]. Name of a river.
One of the four major rivers of the Transjordan, which is known today as the Wadi Zerqa or the Nahr ez-Zerqa, "the blue river." The first biblical reference to Jabbok is in Genesis 32:22 where Jacob struggles with the divine 'adversary' after crossing the ford of the river. Verses 22 and 24 apparently contain a wordplay between the Hebrew words for Jacob (ya'aqob), wrestled (wayye'abeq), and Jabbok (yabboq).

At the time of the exodus, the Jabbok served as a border of the Amorite kingdom that was destroyed and possessed by Israel (Num 21:24; Deut 2:37; Judg 11:22).

After the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan during the time of Joshua, Jabbok's lower courses divided the tribe of Manasseh to the north and the tribe of Gad to the south. The upper courses of the river separated Gad and Reuben from the Ammonites to the east (Deut 3:12, 16; Josh 12:2-6; Judg 11:13).