Of Abraham and his generation.
AND ye shall understande that Lothe was Arons sone, Abraham's brother, and Sara Abraham's wyfe was Loths syster, and Sara was xc yere olde when she gate Ysaac and Abraham had another son named Ismael that he had gotten on his mayden Ager. And when Ysaac was viii days olde he was circumcised and his other son Ismaell was cyrcumcised the same day and was xiiii yeare of age, therefore the Jewes that be of the generation of Isaac do circumcyse them at the viii day of theyr age and the Sarasyns that be of Ismaels kinde doe cyrcumsise them at theyr xiii yeare of age. And into that dead sea aforesayde runneth flome Jordan and maketh there an ende and this is within a myle of saint Jhons church & a lyttle beneth that same church Westward, were the Christen men are wont to bath them & a myle thence is the river Loth, through which Jacob went when he came from Mesopotamye.
CAP. XXXII.
Of the river Jordan.
THIS flom Jordan is no great ryver nor depe, but there is much good fishe therein, and it commeth from mount Lybany from two welles, that men call Jor and Dane and of them it taketh the name. And upon the one syde of that river is mount Gelboe,[1] and there is a fayre playne. And on that other syde men goe by mount Lybany, to the desert of Pharon.[2] These hylles departe the kingdome of Surry and the countreys of Phenys.[3] On that hyll grow Cedres that beare longe apples which are as muche as a mannes heade. Thys flom Jordan departeth Galily and the lande of Idumea and the lande of Botron[4] & it runneth into a playne that men call Meldam[5] in Sarasyns language, and in Englyshe, fayre, because ofte tymes bee there kepte great fayres, and in the playne is the tombe of Job. In this flom Jordane our Lord was baptised, and there was the voice of the Father hearde saying, Hic est filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum audite. That is to saye in English, Here is my sonne that I love, in whome I am well pleased, heare him. And the holy ghost descended on him in lykenesse of a doue & so was there in thys baptysing all the Trinitie. And through the flome Jordan passed the children of Israell all dry, and they sette stones in the myddest of the water, in token of great myracle. And also in that flome Naaman of Surry bathed him, that was mesel, and he was made hole, and a lyttle from thence is the citie of Hay, the which Josue assayled and toke. And about flom Jordan are many churches where Christen men dwel, also by flom Jordan, is the vale of Mambre that is a fayre vale & a plenteous.
[1:] Gilboa.
[2:] Pharan.
[3:] Phœnicia.
[4:] Betron.
[5:] In all probability the same as the Arabic word Multamin, which means a congregation of visitors.
CAP. XXXIII.
Of many other mervailes.