Zaretan (also known as Zarethan or Zeredathah) is a city mentioned in the Bible, as near the location where the Hebrews crossed the Jordan. In the books of Joshua and 2 Kings, it is called Zarethan, but in 2 Chronicles it is called Zeredathah.
Zaredathah stood in the Jordan Valley, on the east bank of the river, a few kilometres northwest of Succoth and approximately 70 kilometres north-northeast of Jerusalem. These clay grounds were where the bronze castings for the Temple of Solomon were made by Hiram I.
As soon as the feet of the priests were dipped in the water, the flow of the stream was arrested. The point of arrest was the "city of Adam beside Zaretan," probably near Succoth, at the mouth of the Jabbok, some 30 miles up the river from where the people were encamped. Apparently the water "stood and rose upon an heap." Thus the whole length of 30 miles of the riverbed was dry, so that the tribes might pass over (Joshua 3:16, 17; compare Psalms 104:3).
This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.