Place Old Testament
Abana
Also known as Abana =ESV, NIV, KJV, LK
Abana, a river near Damascus, which Naaman saw as superior to the Jordan River. Mentioned once in Scripture, at 2 Kings 5:12.
Why it matters. A river of Damascus, preferred by Naaman over the Jordan.
- Primary passages
- Location
- 33.545, 36.225 (approximate, within about 2 km)
Coordinates from STEPBible TIPNR (palopenmaps.org link). Approximate; not independently verified.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Abana
The Abana River is mentioned in 2Ki.5.12 as one of the two rivers of Damascus, along with the Pharpar. When Elisha told Naaman, commander of the army of Syria, to wash in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy, Naaman initially refused, saying, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" The Abana was apparently a significant and highly regarded river near Damascus. Naaman considered it superior to the Jordan River of Israel. After his servants reasoned with him, Naaman relented and washed in the Jordan as instructed, and his leprosy was cured. The Abana River is generally identified with the modern Barada River, the primary river that flows through Damascus.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
2 Kings (1 verse)