Reference: Plains
Fausets
abel ("meadow"; compare ABEL MEHOLAH.) Biqu'ah, the great, plain Coele ("hollow") Syria between Lebanon and Antilebanon; Bikath Aven, Am 1:5; "the valley (Biqa'ath) of Lebanon" (Jos 11:17; 12:7), Biqua'ath Mizpeh (Jos 11:8); still called el Bekaa, 60 miles long, five broad. Also 2Ch 35:22; Ge 11:2; Ne 6:2; Da 3:1. Hac Ciccar, the region round about the Jordan valley (Ge 13:10; 19:17,25-29). Ham Mishor (De 3:10; 4:43), the smooth (from yaashar, "straight") downs of Moab stretching from Jordan E. of Jericho into the Arabian desert, contrasting with the rugged country W. of Jordan and with the higher lands of Bashan and Argob.
The Belka pasture, regular in its undulations, good in its turf (2Ch 26:10). Ha 'Arabah, the Jordan valley and its continuation S. of the Dead Sea. Ha shephelah, the undulating, rolling, "low hills" between the mountainous part of Judah and the coast plain of the Mediterranean (De 1:7, "the vale"; 2Ch 28:18, "the low country"); Seville in Spain is derived from it. 'Elon ought to be translated "oak" or "oaks" (Ge 12:6; 13:18; Jg 4:11; 9:6,37; 1Sa 10:3). Emek the valley of Jezreel (Esdraelon), the eastern part, Megiddo the western part, of the one plain.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
Abram passed through the land to the locality of Shechem, to the oak or terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.
And when they had brought them forth, they said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in the whole valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], lest you be consumed.
He overthrew, destroyed, and ended those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. read more. Abraham went up early the next morning to the place where he [only the day before] had stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and saw, and behold, the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace. When God ravaged and destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He [earnestly] remembered Abraham [imprinted and fixed him indelibly on His mind], and He sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities where Lot lived.
Turn and take up your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South (the Negeb), and on the coast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who smote them and chased them [toward] populous Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpah; they smote them until none remained.
From Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and slew them.
These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their allotments,
Now Heber the Kenite, of the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had separated from the Kenites and encamped as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
And all the men of Shechem gathered together and all of Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak (terebinth) of the pillar at Shechem.
And Gaal spoke again and said, See, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the oak of Meonenim [the sorcerers].
Also he built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the tableland. And he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile fields [of Carmel], for he loved farming.
The Philistines had invaded the cities of the low country and of the South (the Negeb) of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco, and also Timnah and Gimzo, with their villages, and they settled there.
Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not heed the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight with him in the valley of Megiddo.
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm.
Nebuchadnezzar the king [caused to be] made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits or ninety feet and its breadth six cubits or nine feet. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
I will break also the bar [of the gate] of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven or On, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria [conquered by the Assyrians] shall go into exile to Kir, says the Lord.
Smith
Plains.
This one term does duty in the Authorized Version for no less than seven distinct Hebrew words.
1. Abel. This word perhaps answers more nearly to our word "meadow" than any other. It occurs in the names of Abel-maim Abel-meholah, Abel-shittim and is rendered "plain" in
"plain of vineyards."
2. Bik'ah. Fortunately we are able to identify the most remarkable of the bik'ahs of the Bible, and thus to ascertain the force of the term. The great plain or valley of Coele-Syria, the "hollow land" of the Greeks, which separates the two ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon is the most remarkable of them all. Out of Palestine we find denoted by the word bik'ah the "plain of the land of Shiner,"
the "plain of Mesopotamia,"
and the "plain in the province of Dura."
3. Ha shefelah the invariable designation of the depressed, flat or gently-undulating region which intervened between the highlands of Judah and the Mediterranean, and was commonly in possession of the Philistines.
4. Elon. Our translators have uniformly rendered this word "plain;" but this is not the verdict of the majority or the most trustworthy of the ancient versions. They regard the word as meaning an "oak" or "grove of oaks," a rendering supported by nearly all the commentators and lexicographers of the present day, The passages in which the word occurs erroneously translated "plain" are as-follows: Plain of Moreh,
Ge 12:6; De 11:30
plain of Mamre,
plain of Zaanaim,
plain of the pillar,
plain of Meonenim,
plain of Tabor,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
Abram passed through the land to the locality of Shechem, to the oak or terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew [one from the other side], who was living by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and of Aner -- "these were allies of Abram.
Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre; as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day,
Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites living in the Arabah opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks or terebinths of Moreh?
Now Heber the Kenite, of the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had separated from the Kenites and encamped as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
And all the men of Shechem gathered together and all of Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak (terebinth) of the pillar at Shechem.
And Gaal spoke again and said, See, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the oak of Meonenim [the sorcerers].
After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is; and when you come to the city, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.
And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, and He said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain and I will talk with you there. Then I arose and went forth into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory I had seen by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.
And behold, there was the glory of the God of Israel [Who had loved and chosen them], like the vision I saw in the plain.
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And He caused me to pass round about among them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley or plain, and behold, they were very dry.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and these men were brought before the king.