View source for Aenon

{{short description|Site, mentioned in the Gospel of John (3:23) as the place where John the Baptist was baptizing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[File:Sapsaphas Madaba.jpg|thumb|Aenon marked on the 6th-century [[Madaba Map]], marked as ''Ainon, where is now Sapsaphas''.]]
'''Aenon''' ({{langx|grc|Αἰνών}}, ''Ainṓn''), distinguished as '''Aenon near Salim''', is the site mentioned by the [[Gospel of John]]  {{Bibleverse||John|3:23}}) as one of the places where [[John the Baptist|John]] was [[baptism|baptising]] people, after baptizing [[Jesus]] in [[Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan]].<ref name=BigPic>Nichols (2009), p. 12.</ref><ref name=Sloyan11>Sloyan (1987), p. 11.</ref>

==Etymology==
Aenon is the [[Ancient Greek|Hellenized]] form of the term for 'spring' or 'natural fountain' in many [[Semitic languages]], including [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''ayn'' ({{lang|he|{{linktext|עין}}}}) and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''ain'' or ''ein'' ({{lang|ar|{{linktext|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 the [[construct state|construct]] element are common. The particular site mentioned in the Gospel of John is therefore distinguished as "Aenon near Salim".<ref>{{bibleverse|John|3:23}}</ref>

The name Aenon is commonly used amongst [[Baptist]] organizations and churches.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

==Identification attempts==
===Information from the Gospel===
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" ({{bibleverse|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" ({{bibleverse|John|3:26}}) which is taken to mean east of the river. We also know from {{bibleverse|John|1:28}} that that first encounter happened at "Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan",<ref name=BibleHub>{{cite web |url= http://biblehub.com/topical/a/aenon.htm |title= Aenon |work= BibleHub.com |access-date= 20 March 2015 }}</ref> named relative to the entrance of the Hebrews from the desert during the  [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]].

==='Ainun in Wadi Far{{'}}a===
One possible location is near the upper source of the [[Wadi al-Far'a (river)|Wadi Far'a]], an open valley extending from [[Mount Ebal]] to the [[Jordan River]], which is full of springs. There is a place called 'Ainun four miles north of the springs.<ref>[[Easton's Bible Dictionary]]</ref><ref name=BibleHub/>

===Eusebius: Saloumias south of Scythopolis===
Another possible location, which is  by [[Eusebius]]' description in his ''[[Eusebius#Onomasticon|Onomasticon]]'' (written before AD 324), is at "a village in the (Jordan) valley, at the eighth milestone from Scythopolis ([[Beit She'an]]), ... called Salumias."<ref name=OFM>Piccirillo et al. (2000)</ref> This view was already supported by the 19th-century [[Smith's Bible Dictionary]] and the 1915 [[International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]]<ref name=BibleHub/> and is still favoured by some.<ref name=Noort>Noort (2004), p. 229.</ref><ref name=GibsonCave>Gibson (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=nCdvvTsvuVAC&pg=PT245 quote]: "About twelve kilometres (or eight miles according to Eusebius) to the south of Beth Shean (Scythopolis), there is a region which would fit Aenon perfectly. This location has numerous springs: I have counted thirteen of them in a small area four by four kilometres and, interestingly, [[Ambrose]] in his writings (II, 1432) claimed that there were twelve springs at 'Ennon'. On the north side of this area is Tell Shalem, which undoubtedly must be Salim/Salumnias (map ref. 2098-1998), and so the place where John baptised at Aenon may have been at any of the springs in the vicinity of Tell Shalem."</ref><ref name=ICCS>Bernard (2000) [1928], p. 128.</ref>

===Madaba Map: east of the Jordan near Jericho===
In addition to Aenon near Salem, the 6th-century [[Madaba Map]] shows a second Aenon right across the Jordan from [[Bethabara]], near [[Jericho]]. 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 name ''Bethany'' is instead transcribed as "Bethabara" ({{bibleverse-nb||John|1:28|KJV}}). On the Madaba Map, Bethabara is on the right bank of the Jordan, while this Aenon is on the left.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}{{clarify|reason=Is it from Piccirillo & al.? Noort might also be helpful, is worth checking.|date=November 2021}}

==Religious significance==
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.<ref name="BigPic2">Nichols (2009), p. 12.</ref><ref name="Sloyan112">Sloyan (1987), p. 11.</ref> [[Dale Allison]] finds the claim to perhaps be a true historical memory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allison |first=Dale |title=The Gospel of John in Historical Inquiry |publisher=T&T Clark |year=2019 |isbn=978-0567681348 |pages=61}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Al Maghtas]], the traditional site of Jesus' baptism
** [[Qasr el Yahud]], the western ([[West Bank]]) side of Al Maghtas
* [[Baptism of Jesus]]
* [[Bethabara]], a name used by some versions of the New Testament for the site of Jesus' baptism
* [[Chronology of Jesus]]
* [[Ministry of Jesus]]
* [[New Testament places associated with Jesus]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{EBD|Aenon}}
*{{cite book| last= Bernard |first= John Henry |author-link= John Bernard (bishop) |title= A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John |series= International Critical Commentary Series |year= 2000 |orig-year= 1928 |publisher= Bloomsbury T&T Clark |page= 128 |isbn= 9780567050243 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VxB4GqeXjSoC&pg=PA128 |access-date= 25 January 2016 }}
*{{cite book |last= Gibson |first= Shimon |author-link= Shimon Gibson |title= The Cave of John the Baptist: The Stunning Archaeological Discovery that has Redefined Christian History |year= 2004 |location= New York |publisher= Doubleday |isbn= 9780385503471 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nCdvvTsvuVAC |access-date=25 January 2016 }}
*{{cite book |last= Noort |first= Ed |title= Βεθαβαρα Τò Του̑ Άγίου 'Ιωάννου Του̑ Βαπτίσματος Remarks About Storied Places at the Jordan, John the Baptist and the Madaba Mosaic Map |pages= 221–241 |editor-last= García Martínez |editor-first= Florentino |editor-link= Florentino García Martínez |editor-last2= Luttikhuizen |editor-first2= Gerard P. |editor2-link=Gerard Luttikhuizen |work= Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome: Studies in Ancient Cultural Interaction in Honour of A. Hilhorst |publisher= BRILL |series= Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism |year= 2004 |isbn= 9789047402794 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VMtKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |access-date= 24 November 2021}}
*Nichols, Lorna Daniels (2009). ''Big Picture of the Bible: New Testament''. {{ISBN|1-57921-928-4}}. page 12.
*{{cite web |last= Piccirillo |first= Michele |author-link= Michele Piccirillo |author2= Eugenio Alliata |author3= Stefano de Luca |title= Aenon near Salem which is also Saloumias - (Kh. Khisas al-Dayr) |work= The Madaba Map: a virtual travel through the Holy Places |publisher= Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem |date= 2000 |url= http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources006.html |access-date= 25 January 2016}}
*Sloyan, Gerard Stephen (1987). ''John''. {{ISBN|0-8042-3125-7}}. page 11.

==External links==
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=73&letter=S Jewish Encyclopedia: Salem]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1556/ UNESCO: The Baptismal Site (Bethany beyond the Jordan)]

{{New Testament places associated with Jesus}}
{{coord|31|50|15|N|35|32|58|E|type:landmark_region:JO|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aenon}}
[[Category:John the Baptist]]
[[Category:Gospel of John]]
[[Category:Baptism]]
[[Category:New Testament places]]
[[Category:Jordan River]]