Reference: Arabah
Easton
plain, in the Revised Version of 2Ki 14:25; Jos 3:16; 8:14; 2Sa 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has "plain"); Am 6:14 (A.V. "wilderness"). This word is found in the Authorized Version only in Jos 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor. But the Ghor is sometimes spoken of as extending 10 miles south of the Dead Sea, and thence to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red Sea is called the Wady el-Arabah.
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Fausets
(Jos 18:18) ("the plain", is akin to "Arabia".) The article in Hebrew marks it as some definite spot, namely, the deep sunken gorge extending from mount Hermon to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea; the most extraordinary depression on the earth. The Jordan rushes for 150 miles through its northern part (el Ghor) by lakes Huleh and Gennesareth, to the deep abyss of the Dead Sea. The Ghor extends to precipitous cliffs, 10 miles S. of the Dead Sea. Thence to the gulf of Akaba it resumes its old name, wady el Arabah. In Jos 11:16; 12:8, the Arabah takes its place among the natural divisions of the country, and in De 3:17 in connection with the sea of Chinnereth (Gennesareth) and the Dead Sea.
In the plural it is connected with either Jericho or Moab; the Arabah being in Jericho's case W. of Jordan, in Moab's case E. of Jordan, bore and parched as contrasted with the rich fields of the upper level. The S. Arabah was the scene of Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, N. of which stood Hormah and Kadesh. They went down the Arabah southwards (after Edom's refusal to let them pass), from mount Hor, toward the head of the gulf, then up one of the left wadies, by the back of mount Seir to Moab. Remains of a Roman road are traceable along this route. From the absence of the Jordan in S. Arabah circles of verdure are scarce, such as are met in the Ghor. Its length is 100 miles, its breadth narrowing from 14 at its broadest to about three miles at its entrance into the gulf. The limestone ranges of The in long white lines stand on the W. crowned with the table land of "the wilderness of the wanderings" (et Tih), and rise 1500 feet above the Arabah.
The pass En Nukb is that of the Mecca pilgrims, between the Akabah and Suez mounts. The other pass, Es Sufah, is probably that at which Israel was defeated by the Canaanites (De 1:44; Nu 14:45). It goes not, as En, Nukb, from the Arabah to the plateau, but from it to a level 1000 feet higher. The Ghor stands nearly due N. and S.; the Arabah N.N.E. by S.S.W. On the E. dark porphyry is the body of the mountain; above it sandstone ridges, and highest of all limestone. But Hor is 5000 feet high. According to Isaac's promise to Esau, the dwelling of his descendants is "the fatness of the earth, with grain and wine" (Ge 27:37-39). A line of chalk cliffs six miles S.W. of the Dead Sea is the bound between the Ghor on the N. and the Arabah on the S. The Ghor ends with the marsh beneath them. The Arabah begins level with their summit.
The wady el Jeib is the drain of the Arabah, and the route for entering the valley from the N. Heat, desolation, and barrenness characterize this desert. The sirocco blows almost continually, and the ghudah, the arta, the Anthia variegata, the coloquinta, and the tamarisk, almost the only traces of vegetation. The supposition that the Jordan once flowed through the Arabah into the Red Sea is not likely; for the Red Sea and the Mediterranean are nearly on one level. The depression of the surface of the sea of Galilee is 652 feet, that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet, below the surface of the Mediterranean, and so of the Red Sea. The Jordan therefore could not have flowed into the gulf of Akabah. The northern part of the Arabah drains into the Dead Sea, the land rising from the N. to the S. The southern part drains into the gulf of Akabah, the land rising from it to the N.
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Hastings
The name given by the Hebrews to the whole of the great depression from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Akabah. (For the part N. of the Dead Sea, see Jordan.) The name is now applied only to the southern part, extending from a line of white cliffs that cross the valley a few miles S. of the Dead Sea. The floor of the valley, about 10 miles broad at the N. end, gradually rises towards the S., and grows narrower, until, at a height of 2000 feet above the Dead Sea, nearly opposite Mt. Hor, the width is only about /2 mile. The average width thence to Akabah is about 5 miles. The surface is formed of loose gravel, stones, sand, with patches of mud. Up to the level of the Red Sea everything indicates that we are traversing an old sea-bottom. Apart from stunted desert shrub and an occasional acacia, the only greenery to be seen is around the springs on the edges of the valley, and in the wadys which carry the water from the adjoining mountains into the W
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Morish
This occurs as a proper name only once in the A.V. where it should read 'the Arabah,' Jos 18:18; but it occurs in many other passages where it is translated 'a plain' or 'the plain,' and is also translated 'desert,' 'wilderness,' etc. It refers to the plain situated between two series of hills that run from the slopes of Hermon in the north to the Gulf of Akaba in the far south. It is in this plain that the Jordan runs, and in which is the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, also called 'the Sea of the Plain.' About 7 miles south of the Dead Sea the plain is crossed by some hills: all north of this is now called el-Ghor, but the plain south of it retains the name of the Wady-el-Arabah. This latter part is about 100 miles in length, and the northern part about 150, so that for nearly 250 miles this wonderful plain or valley extends.
It might naturally be thought that the Jordan had at some time, after running into the Dead Sea, continued to run south until it poured itself into the Gulf of Akaba. But this is not probable, for the Dead Sea is nearly 1,300 feet below the sea, and the southern part is from end to end higher than the Ghor, The width of the Arabah is in some parts about 15 miles, but further south not more than 3 or 4. The southern end is also called the Wilderness of Zin, and it was in this part of the Arabah that a good deal of the wanderings of the people of Israel took place, before they turned to the east and left the plain on their left.
There can be no doubt that scripture uses the name 'Arabah' for the whole of the plain, both north and south. The northern part is referred to in De 3:17; 4:49; Jos 3:16; 12:3; 18:18: and the southern part in De 1:1; 2:8. In other passages, especially in the prophetic books, the plain in general may be alluded to. It extends nearly due north and south, but bears toward the west before it reaches the Gulf.
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Smith
Ar'abah
(burnt up). Although this word appears in the Authorized Version in its original shape only in
yet in the Hebrew text it is of frequent occurrence. It indicates more particularly the deep-sunken valley or trench which forms the most striking among the many striking natural features of Palestine, and which extends with great uniformity of formation from the slopes of Hermon to the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akabah) of the Red Sea; the most remarkable depression known to exist on the surface of the globe. Through the northern portion of this extraordinary fissure the Jordan rushes through the lakes of Huleh and Gennesaret down its tortuous course to the deep chasm of the Dead Sea. This portion, about 150 miles in length, is known amongst the Arabs by the name of el-Ghor. The southern boundary of the (Ghor is the wall of cliffs which crosses the valley about 10 miles south of the Dead Sea. From their summits, southward to the Gulf of Akabah, the valley changes its name, or, it would be more accurate to say, retains old name of Wady el-Arabah.