While the word Jordan is used today for the "Jordan" river as well as the nation of "Jordan," in the Bible this word is only used for the river. The Jordan River is a 156 mile long river that runs north to south, and flows through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. In Hebrew this name is spelled ירדן (yarden, Strong's #3383). This word is derived from the verb ירד (Y.R.D, Strong's #3381), which means "to go down," or "descend." The name yarden means "descender."
