Aenon (Ancient Greek:Αἰνών,Ainṓn), distinguished asAenon near Salim, is the site mentioned by theGospel of JohnJohn 3:23) as one of the places whereJohn wasbaptising people, after baptizingJesus inBethany-beyond-the-Jordan.[1][2]
Aenon is theHellenized form of the term for 'spring' or 'natural fountain' in manySemitic languages, includingHebrewayn (עין) andArabicain orein (عين). In the water-poor Middle East, places owning a spring tend to be named after that water source, so that toponyms consisting of or containing theconstruct element are common. The particular site mentioned in the Gospel of John is therefore distinguished as "Aenon near Salim".[3]
The name Aenon is commonly used amongstBaptist organizations and churches.[citation needed]
Neither "Aenon" nor "Salim" is a unique name, and the Gospel text offers only two additional hints about where Aenon might be located: the most direct information is that "there was plenty of water there" (John 3:22), and the second is that it was west of the River Jordan because at Aenon John's disciples talk of the site where John first encountered Jesus as being "on the other side of the Jordan" (John 3:26) which is taken to mean east of the river. We also know fromJohn 1:28 that that first encounter happened at "Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan",[4] named relative to the entrance of the Hebrews from the desert during theExodus.
One possible location is near the upper source of theWadi Far'a, an open valley extending fromMount Ebal to theJordan River, which is full of springs. There is a place called 'Ainun four miles north of the springs.[5][4]
Another possible location, which is byEusebius' description in hisOnomasticon (written before AD 324), is at "a village in the (Jordan) valley, at the eighth milestone from Scythopolis (Beit She'an), ... called Salumias."[6] This view was already supported by the 19th-centurySmith's Bible Dictionary and the 1915International Standard Bible Encyclopedia[4] and is still favoured by some.[7][8][9]
In addition to Aenon near Salem, the 6th-centuryMadaba Map shows a second Aenon right across the Jordan fromBethabara, nearJericho. In the Gospel of John, "Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan" is indicated as the place where Jesus was baptized by John; in some translations of the Bible, the nameBethany is instead transcribed as "Bethabara" (1:28). On the Madaba Map, Bethabara is on the right bank of the Jordan, while this Aenon is on the left.[citation needed][clarification needed]
Aenon is the site mentioned by the Gospel of John (3:23) as one of the places where John was baptising people, after baptizing Jesus in Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan.[10][11]Dale Allison finds the claim to perhaps be a true historical memory.[12]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Aenon".Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)31°50′15″N35°32′58″E / 31.83750°N 35.54944°E /31.83750; 35.54944
