Reference: River
American
This word answers in our Bible to various Hebrew terms, of which the principal are the following:
1. Yeor, an Egyptian word signifying river. It is always applied to the Nile and its various canals, except in Job 28:10; Da 12:5-6,7.
2. Nahar, applied, like our word river, to constantly flowing streams, such as the Euphrates. In our version this word is sometimes rendered "flood," Jos 24:2-3, etc.
3. Nahal, a torrent-bed, or valley through which water flows in the rainy season only, Nu 34:5, etc; frequently rendered "brook," Nu 13:28; Job 6:15, etc. Such streams are to the orientals striking emblems of inconstancy and faithlessness. Flowing only in the rainy season, and drying up when the summer heat sets in-and some of them in desert places failing prematurely-they sadly disappoint the thirsty and perhaps perishing traveller who has looked forward to them with longing and with hope, Job 6:15-20; Jer 15:18.
In some passages in our Bible the word "rivers" seems to denote rivulets or canals, to conduct hither and thither small streams of water from a tank or fountain, Eze 31:4. Such conduits were easily turned by moulding the soil with the foot; and some think this is the idea in De 11:10; "where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs." See also Pr 21:1.
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Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in that land, and the cities are very great and strong; and moreover we saw the sons of Anak there.
and the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the western sea.
For the land, into which thou goest to inherit it, is not as the land of Egypt, from which ye came out, where thou didst sow thy seed and water it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs.
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Long ago your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his generation and gave him Isaac.
My brethren have lied to me as a brook; they passed away as an impetuous stream, which was hidden by ice and covered by snow. read more. Which in the time of heat, they vanish; when they are heated, they disappear out of their place; they turn aside out of the paths of their way; they go to nothing and perish. The travelers of Tema looked; the traveling companies of Sheba waited for them. They were put to shame because of their hope; they came there and found them confused.
He cut rivers out of the rocks; and his eye saw every precious thing.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he will.
Why was my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar and as waters that fail?
The waters made him grow; the deep set him up on high; her rivers ran round his feet and sent her flow to all the trees of the field.
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, another two who stood, one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the Man clothed in linens, who was upon the waters of the river, When shall be the end of these wonders?
Easton
(1.) Heb 'aphik, properly the channel or ravine that holds water (2Sa 22:16), translated "brook," "river," "stream," but not necessarily a perennial stream (Eze 6:3; 31:12; 32:6; 34:13).
(2.) Heb nahal, in winter a "torrent," in summer a "wady" or valley (Ge 32:23; De 2:24; 3:16; Isa 30:28; La 2:18; Eze 47:9).
These winter torrents sometimes come down with great suddenness and with desolating force. A distinguished traveller thus describes his experience in this matter:, "I was encamped in Wady Feiran, near the base of Jebel Serbal, when a tremendous thunderstorm burst upon us. After little more than an hour's rain, the water rose so rapidly in the previously dry wady that I had to run for my life, and with great difficulty succeeded in saving my tent and goods; my boots, which I had not time to pick up, were washed away. In less than two hours a dry desert wady upwards of 300 yards broad was turned into a foaming torrent from 8 to 10 feet deep, roaring and tearing down and bearing everything upon it, tangled masses of tamarisks, hundreds of beautiful palmtrees, scores of sheep and goats, camels and donkeys, and even men, women, and children, for a whole encampment of Arabs was washed away a few miles above me. The storm commenced at five in the evening; at half-past nine the waters were rapidly subsiding, and it was evident that the flood had spent its force." (Comp. Mt 7:27; Lu 6:49.)
(3.) Nahar, a "river" continuous and full, a perennial stream, as the Jordan, the Euphrates (Ge 2:10; 15:18; De 1:7; Ps 66:6; Eze 10:15).
(4.) Tel'alah, a conduit, or water-course (1Ki 18:32; 2Ki 18:17; 20:20; Job 38:25; Eze 31:4).
(5.) Peleg, properly "waters divided", i.e., streams divided, throughout the land (Ps 1:3); "the rivers [i.e., 'divisions'] of waters" (Job 20:17; 29:6; Pr 5:16).
(6.) Ye'or, i.e., "great river", probably from an Egyptian word (Aur), commonly applied to the Nile (Ge 41:1-3), but also to other rivers (Job 28:10; Isa 33:21).
(7.) Yubhal, "a river" (Jer 17:8), a full flowing stream.
(8.) 'Ubhal, "a river" (Da 8:2).
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And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided into four heads.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven beautiful cows and very fat, and they fed in a meadow. read more. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river.
turn and take your journey and go to the mount of the Amorite and unto all the places nearby, in the plain, in the hills, and in the valleys and to the Negev and by the sea side to the land of the Canaanite and unto Lebanon unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass the river Arnon; behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land; begin, take possession and contend with him in battle.
And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon, half the valley for a border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the sons of Ammon,
Then the springs of the sea appeared and the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; then he made a trench round about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
He cut rivers out of the rocks; and his eye saw every precious thing.
when I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters or a way for the lightning of thunder,
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in him.
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of thy waters in the streets.
And his Spirit, as an overflowing stream, shall break even unto the neck to sift the Gentiles with the sieve of vanity and to put a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
For the LORD shall surely be strong unto us there, a place of broad rivers and wide streams in which no galley with oars shall go, neither shall any great ship pass thereby.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be fatigued in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Tsade Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion; let tears run down like a river day and night; give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
and thou shalt say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus hath the Lord GOD said to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
And the cherubim rose up. These are the living creatures that I saw by the river of Chebar.
The waters made him grow; the deep set him up on high; her rivers ran round his feet and sent her flow to all the trees of the field.
And strangers, the strong ones of the Gentiles, shall cut him down and shall leave him; his branches shall fall upon the mountains and by all the valleys, and his boughs shall be broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth shall go forth from his shadow and shall leave him.
I will also water with thy blood the land in which thou dost swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the habitations of the country.
And it shall come to pass, that every living soul, which swims wherever these two rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because of these waters going there: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live that shall enter into this river.
And I saw in the vision; (and it came to pass, when I saw it, that I was at Shushan, which is the head of the kingdom in the province of Persia); so that I saw in that vision, being by the river of Ulai,
and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.
But he that hears and does not do is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation against which the river beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Fausets
A river in our sense is seen by few in Palestine.
(1) Nahar, "a continuous and full river", as Jordan, and especially "the river" Euphrates. The streams are dried up wholly in summer, or hid by dense shrubs covering a deeply sunk streamlet. When the country was wooded the evaporation was less.
(2) Nahal, "a winter torrent," flowing with force during the rainy season, but leaving only a dry channel or bed in the wady in summer. "Brook" in the KJV has too much the idea of placidity. "Valley" or wady (Nu 32:9), e.g. "the bed" (or, in winter, "the torrent") of Arnon, Jabbok, Kishon. Some of these are abrupt chasms in the rocky hills, rugged and gloomy, unlike our English "brook." Translated Job 6:15, "deceitfully as a winter torrent and as the stream in ravines which passes away," namely, in the summer drought, and which disappoint the caravan hoping to find water there. The Arab proverb for a treacherous friend is "I trust not in thy torrent." The fullness and noise of those temporary streams answer to the past large and loud professions; their dryness when wanted answers to the failure of friends to make good their professions in time of need (compare Isa 58:11; margin Jer 15:18).
(3) 'Aphik, from a root "to contain"; so "the channels" or "deep rock-walled ravines that hold the waters" (2Sa 22:16); so for "rivers" (Eze 32:6) translated "channels."
(4) Yeor, "the river Nile" (Ge 41:1-2; Ex 1:22; 2:3,5). In Jer 46:7-8; Am 8:8; 9:5, translated "the river of Egypt" for "flood." The word is Egyptian, "great river" or "canal." The Nile's sacred name was Hapi, i.e. Apis. The profane name was Aur with the epithet act "great." Zec 10:11, "all the deeps of the river shall dry up," namely, the Nile or else the Euphrates. Thus the Red "sea" and the Euphrates "river" in the former part of the verse answer to "Assyria." and "Egypt" in the latter.
(5) Peleg (compare Greek pelagos), from a root "divide," "waters divided", i.e. streams distributed through a land. Ps 1:3, "a tree planted by the divisions of water," namely, the water from the well or cistern divided into rivulets running along the rows of trees (See REUBEN on Jg 5:15-16, where "divisions" mean "waters divided for irrigation"); but Gesenius from the root to flow out or bubble up.
(6) Yubal, "a full flowing stream" (Jer 17:8).
(7) "A conduit" or "watercourse" (2Ki 18:17); tealah.
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And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven beautiful cows and very fat, and they fed in a meadow.
Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall give them their lives.
And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch and put the child in it, and she laid it in the reeds by the river's brink.
And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and walking with her maidens along by the river's side, she saw the ark among the reeds; she sent her maid to bring it.
For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.
Also princes of Issachar were with Deborah; and Issachar, like Barak, went on foot into the valley. From the divisions of Reuben, great are the thoughts of the heart. Why didst thou abide among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? From the divisions of Reuben great are the searchings of the heart.
Then the springs of the sea appeared and the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the washer's field.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Why was my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar and as waters that fail?
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be fatigued in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Who is this that comes up as a flood, whose waters move as rivers? Egypt rises up like a flood, and his waters move like rivers; and he said, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.
I will also water with thy blood the land in which thou dost swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwells therein? and it shall all rise up as a flood, and it shall be cast out and sunk, as the river of Egypt.
The Lord GOD of the hosts is he that touches the earth, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall all rise up like a river and shall be sunk, as the river of Egypt.
And the tribulation shall pass through the sea and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up; and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be lost.
Hastings
For the meaning and use of '
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And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided into four heads.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed shall I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
And the slave took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed with the best of what his master had in his hand; and he arose and went to Ara-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.
So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed the river and set his face toward Mount Gilead.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their rivers, upon their streams, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the ponds and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
turn and take your journey and go to the mount of the Amorite and unto all the places nearby, in the plain, in the hills, and in the valleys and to the Negev and by the sea side to the land of the Canaanite and unto Lebanon unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
because they did not meet you with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt and because they hired against thee Balaam, the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the washer's field.
The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.
when I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters or a way for the lightning of thunder,
Behold, he shall drink up a river and not change; he trusts that he can draw up the Jordan into his mouth.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most High.
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most High.
Thou dost visit the earth, and when thou hast caused it to want, thou dost greatly enrich it with the river of God, which is full of water; thou dost prepare their grain, according to thy will.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Then the LORD said unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the washer's field
now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his power, and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks:
And his Spirit, as an overflowing stream, shall break even unto the neck to sift the Gentiles with the sieve of vanity and to put a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he camped by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the washer's field.
When thou dost pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou dost walk through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
O that thou would look unto my commandments! Then thy peace would be as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be fatigued in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Who is this that comes up as a flood, whose waters move as rivers?
Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, waters rise up out of the north and shall be an overflowing flood and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the cities and those that dwell therein; then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
Now it came to pass at thirty years, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
The waters made him grow; the deep set him up on high; her rivers ran round his feet and sent her flow to all the trees of the field.
And I saw in the vision; (and it came to pass, when I saw it, that I was at Shushan, which is the head of the kingdom in the province of Persia); so that I saw in that vision, being by the river of Ulai, and I lifted up my eyes and saw, and, behold, a ram was standing before the river, which had two horns; and even though they were high, the one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.
And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing before the river and ran against him in the fury of his power.
And in the twenty-fourth day of the first month as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
And the queen shall be taken captive; they shall order her to go up, and her maids shall take her, mourning as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea and those of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
Morish
The three principal rivers referred to in scripture are the Nile, the Jordan, and the Euphrates. The word employed for the Nile is yeor, 'a fosse or channel'; for the Jordan and the Euphrates the word used is nahar, 'a river' always supplied with water. The other streams in Palestine, though called 'rivers,' as the Arnon, are torrents running in valleys; for the most part they have water only in the winter, and are then often impassable: these are described by the word nachal. For the symbolical river that Ezekiel saw issuing from the house this latter word is used. Eze 47:5-12.
God will make His people drink of the river of His pleasures, Ps 36:8; here the word is nachal. In Ps 46:4 it is nahar. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." It will never run dry.
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They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most High.
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over; for the waters were risen; a river that could not be passed over without swimming. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. read more. And as I turned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country and shall go down into the desert and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters of the sea shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every living soul, which swims wherever these two rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because of these waters going there: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live that shall enter into this river. And it shall come to pass, that the fishermen shall stand next to it; and from Engedi even unto Eneglaim there shall be a place to spread forth nets; according to their kinds, their fish shall be as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every fruitful tree for food, whose leaf shall not fall, neither shall its fruit be lacking; it shall bring forth mature fruit in its months, because their waters come forth out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for medicine.
Smith
River.
In the sense in which we employ the word viz. for a perennial stream of considerable size, a river is a much rarer object in the East than in the West. With the exception of the Jordan and the Litany, the streams of the holy land are either entirely dried up in the summer months converted into hot lanes of glaring stones, or else reduced to very small streamlets, deeply sunk in a narrow bed, and concealed from view by a dense growth of shrubs. The perennial river is called nahar by the Hebrews. With the definite article, "the river," it signifies invariably the Euphrates.
Ge 31:21; Ex 23:31; Nu 24:6; 2Sa 10:16
etc. It is never applied to the fleeting fugitive torrents of Palestine. The term for these is nachal, for which our translators have used promiscuously, and sometimes almost alternately, "valley" "brook" and "river." No one of these words expresses the thing intended; but the term "brook" is peculiarly unhappy. Many of the wadys of Palestine are deep, abrupt chasms or rents in the solid rock of-the hills, and have a savage, gloomy aspect, far removed from that of an English brook. Unfortunately our language does not contain any single word which has both the meanings of the Hebrew nachal and its Arabic equivalent wady which can be used at once for a dry valley and for the stream which occasionally flows through it.
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So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed the river and set his face toward Mount Gilead.
And I will set thy borders from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD has planted, and as cedars beside the waters.
Watsons
RIVER. The Hebrews give the name of "the river," without any addition, sometimes to the Nile, sometimes to the Euphrates, and sometimes to Jordan. It is the tenor of the discourse that must determine the sense of this vague and uncertain way of speaking. They give also the name of river to brooks and rivulets that are not considerable. The name of river is sometimes given to the sea, Hab 3:8; Ps 78:16. It is also used as a symbol for plenty, Job 29:6; Ps 36:8.
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when I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Oh LORD, wast thou displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath even against the sea when thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of saving health?