John says that the Baptist's activity occurred at Bethany beyond the Jordan. Readers can easily confuse this with the Bethany near Jerusalem associated with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
The Gospel distinguishes the baptism location by placing it across the Jordan.
The earliest and strongest textual evidence generally supports the name Bethany, although some later textual traditions read Bethabara. The exact archaeological identification remains debated, with proposals on the eastern side of the Jordan and in the broader Jordan Valley region.
Because the site cannot be established with certainty from the text alone, maps should avoid presenting one proposed location as indisputable.
The geographical qualifier prevents two distinct Gospel locations from being collapsed into one. John expects readers to recognize that the Baptist's Bethany is associated with the Jordan, not the village near Jerusalem.
The uncertainty about its exact modern coordinates is also a useful reminder that historical confidence can be strong about a regional setting without pretending that every ancient place name has been securely identified.