Jabbok, "puring out", is a river on the east side of the Jordan River, one of the so-called torrent valleys. Its modern Arabic name, Zarka, means "the blue river".
The headwaters of the Jabbok begin in Amman and the river flows to the north before heading west to the Jordan River. Rising on the eastern side of the mountains of Gilead, it runs a course of about 65 miles in a wild and deep ravine before flowing into the Jordan River.
The Biblical Jacob crossed the Jabbok on his way back to Israel, after leaving Harran. It leads west into the Sukkot Valley , from where one crosses over the Jordan and can easily reach Shechem, as Jacob eventually did. The biblical cities of Zartan and Adam are also at the mouth of the valley.
