Bible Locations

Pharpar was one of the two rivers of Damascus mentioned by Naaman, the Syrian army commander. Elisha told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan to be healed of his skin disease, and Naaman was angry: "Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" (2 Kings 5:12). His servants persuaded him to obey, and his flesh became "clean like that of a young boy." Pharpar is usually identified with the Awaj River, which flows from the southern slopes of Mount Hermon east across the plain south of Damascus to a marshy lake. The Abana is identified with the Barada, which flows through Damascus. The Awaj waters farmland in the region. Naaman's story shows God's grace reaching a foreigner, which Jesus mentioned in Luke 4:27.