Joshua 3:16

We should probably render 'a great way off, at the city Adam, which is beside Zaretan.' The incident of the stoppage of Jordan's waters is not without parallel in history, if we may trust the Arabic historian Nowairi (see Sayce, 'Early Hist of Hebr.,' p. 249). According to his account the water was dammed up by a landslip from midnight on DeJoshua 8, 1267, 'till the 4th hour of the day.' The narrative is very artless, and whether it be true or simply an echo of the book of Joshua, enables us to conceive how the miracle of the crossing may have happened; for miracle it still remains, even if wrought out at the will of the author of nature by natural means: being a clear exhibition of personal providential purpose in connexion with the great plan of Israel's mission to the world. The position of Adam has been identified with Tel Damieh (a place mentioned, curiously, in Nowairi's narrative), near the mouth of the Jabbok. Zaretan may probably be the 'Zarthan' of 1 Kings 7:46.