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Jabbok

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A river where Jacob wrestled with a divine being and received the name Israel.

Detailed Definition
Jabbok (Genesis 32) marks Jacob’s transformation through struggle. In poetry, it symbolizes spiritual wrestling, the pain of blessing, and the liminal space where identity is forged through encounter with the divine.
Example
Example in poetry:
Jabbok—river where Jacob wrestled God—fuels transformation poetry: “At Jabbok, Jacob became Israel—not by winning, but by clinging”; A modern poem: “My Jabbok is the dark night where I fight God and find blessing”; In a sonnet on struggle: “Jabbok’s ford is narrow—only the desperate cross it”; Historical verse: “Blessed Jabbok, where limping is the mark of victory.”
Additional Notes
The Jabbok River (Genesis 32) is where Jacob wrestled with a divine being and was renamed Israel. The name may mean “wrestling” or “pouring out.” In poetry, Jabbok is the archetypal site of transformative struggle, blessing through injury, and the birth of a new identity in the dark before dawn.
Also Known As
Jabbok River
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