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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However, the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are walled, very great. And also we saw the children of Anak there.
And the border shall turn from Azmon to the torrent of Egypt, and the end of it shall be at the sea.
For the land into which you go to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from which you came out, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, like a garden of herbs.
And Joshua said to all the people, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers lived Beyond the River in times past, Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from Beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac.
My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a torrent; they pass away as the streams of torrents,
My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a torrent; they pass away as the streams of torrents, torrents black from ice, in which the snow hides itself. read more. When they become warm, they go away; when it is hot, they vanish out of their place. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing and are lost. The troops of Tema looked; the companies of Sheba hoped for them. They were ashamed because they had hoped; they came there and were ashamed.
He cuts out rivers among the rocks; and His eye sees every precious thing.
The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.
Why has my pain been without end, and why is my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You surely are to me like a deceitful brook, waters that cannot be trusted.
The waters made him great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running all around his plants, and sent out her little channels to all the trees of the field.
Then I Daniel looked, and behold, there stood another two, the one on this side, and the one on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen on the waters of the river: Until 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 and became four heads.
In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
And it happened at the end of two years of days, Pharaoh dreamed. And behold, he stood by the river. And behold! There came up out of the river seven cows beautiful of form, and fat of flesh. And they fed in the reeds! read more. And behold! Seven other cows came up after them out of the river, evil in appearance, and lean of flesh! And they stood by the other cows on the river bank.
Turn and pull up stakes, and enter the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all its neighboring places, in the Arabah in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites and of Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.
Rise up, set out and cross over the river Arnon. Behold! I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess, and fight with him in battle.
And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the river Arnon, half the valley, and the border even to the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon,
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuking of Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
And with stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah. And he made a trench around the altar big enough to contain two measures of seed.
He shall not see the rivers, the flowings of the brooks of honey and butter,
He cuts out rivers among the rocks; and His eye sees every precious thing.
when I washed my steps with curds, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me;
Who has cut a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderclaps;
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of water that brings forth its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf shall not wither, and all which he does shall be blessed.
He turns the sea into dry land; they went through the flood on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
Should your overflowing spring be scattered abroad as rivers of waters in the streets.
And like an overflowing stream, His breath shall reach to the middle of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity. And a bridle will be in the jaws of the people, causing them to go astray.
But there the glorious Jehovah will be to us a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars shall go, nor shall mighty ship pass by it.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.
Their heart cried to Jehovah. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a torrent day and night; give yourself no rest. Let not the daughter of your eye cease.
And say, Mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord. So says the Lord Jehovah to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
And the cherubs rose up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
The waters made him great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running all around his plants, and sent out her little channels to all the trees of the field.
And strangers have cut him off, the fearful of the nations, and have left him. On the mountains and in all the valleys his branches have fallen, and his boughs have been broken by all the rivers of the land. And all the people of the earth have gone from his shadow, and have left him.
I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of you.
And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the lands, and will bring them to their own land and feed them on the mountain of Israel by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live.
And it shall be that every living soul which swarms in every place, there where the two torrents go, that soul shall live. And there shall be very many fish, because these waters shall come there. And they shall be healed. And all shall live where the torrent goes.
And in a vision I looked. And it happened when I looked, I was at Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam. And in a vision I looked, and I was by the Ulai Canal.
And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall.
But he who hears and does not perform, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, on which the stream burst, 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 happened at the end of two years of days, Pharaoh dreamed. And behold, he stood by the river. And behold! There came up out of the river seven cows beautiful of form, and fat of flesh. And they fed in the reeds!
And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.
But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of papyrus for him, and daubed it with bitumen and with pitch, and put the child in it. And she laid it in the reeds by the river's edge.
And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along by the riverside. And when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her slave-girl to bring it.
For when they went up into the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they broke the hearts of the sons of Israel, so that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them.
And the rulers of Issachar were with Deborah, even Issachar, and also Barak. He was sent on foot into the valley. There were great thoughts of heart for the divisions of Reuben. Why did you stay among the sheepfolds to hear the bleating of the flocks? For in the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuking of Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the Fuller's Field.
My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a torrent; they pass away as the streams of torrents,
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of water that brings forth its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf shall not wither, and all which he does shall be blessed.
And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
Why has my pain been without end, and why is my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You surely are to me like a deceitful brook, waters that cannot be trusted.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.
Who is this rising up like the Nile, whose waters are moved like the rivers? Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its people.
I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of you.
Shall not the land tremble for this, and all who dwell in it mourn? And all of it shall rise up like the light. And it shall overflow and sink like the Nile of Egypt.
And the Lord Jehovah of Hosts is He who touches the land, and it shall melt, and all who dwell in it shall mourn. And all of it shall rise up like the Nile, and sink down like the Nile of Egypt.
And he shall pass through the sea of distress, and shall strike the waves in the sea; and all the depths of the Nile shall dry up. And the pride of Assyria shall be humbled, and the scepter of Egypt shall move away.
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 and became four heads.
In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed. For all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose, and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.
And he fled with all that was his. And he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face toward Mount Gilead.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their canals, and upon their pools, and upon every reservoir of their waters, that they may become blood. And blood shall be throughout all the land of Egypt, both in wooden and in stone vessels.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
Turn and pull up stakes, and enter the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all its neighboring places, in the Arabah in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites and of Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.
because they did not meet you with bread and with water in the way when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? And he turned and went away in a rage.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the Fuller's Field.
And 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 Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
Then I called a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God, in order to seek from Him a right way for us and for our little ones, and for all our goods.
when I washed my steps with curds, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me;
Who has cut a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderclaps;
Behold, though a flood presses, he does not run away; he feels safe even if Jordan swells up to his mouth.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of water that brings forth its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf shall not wither, and all which he does shall be blessed.
There is a river, its channels gladden the city of God glad, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
There is a river, its channels gladden the city of God glad, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
You visit the earth and water it; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for in this way You have prepared it.
There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion.
Then Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller's Field.
And therefore, behold, the Lord brings on them the waters of the River, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory. And he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks.
And like an overflowing stream, His breath shall reach to the middle of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity. And a bridle will be in the jaws of the people, causing them to go astray.
And the king of Assyria sent the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller's Field.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; nor shall the flame kindle on you.
Oh that you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.
Who is this rising up like the Nile, whose waters are moved like the rivers?
So says Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all its fullness; the city and those who dwell in it. And the men shall cry, and all the people of the land shall howl.
And it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
The waters made him great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running all around his plants, and sent out her little channels to all the trees of the field.
And in a vision I looked. And it happened when I looked, I was at Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam. And in a vision I looked, and I was by the Ulai Canal. Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked. And behold, a ram with two horns stood before the canal having two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran to 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 Tigris,
But let judgment roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
And she who stood firm is uncovered and caused to go away. And her slave women are moaning like the sound of doves, beating their breast.
And all the land of Judea, and those of Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, 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 satisfied with the fatness of Your house; and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures.
There is a river, its channels gladden the city of God glad, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
And he measured a thousand; and there was a torrent which I was not able to pass; for the water had risen, water to swim in, a torrent that could not be passed. And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen? And he led me, and caused me to return to the bank of the torrent. read more. When I returned, then behold, on the edge of the torrent were very many trees, from here and from there. And he said to me, These waters go out toward the eastern circuit, and go down into the Arabah, and go into the sea. They are brought out into the sea, and the waters shall be healed. And it shall be that every living soul which swarms in every place, there where the two torrents go, that soul shall live. And there shall be very many fish, because these waters shall come there. And they shall be healed. And all shall live where the torrent goes. And it will be, the fishermen shall stand on it from En-gedi even to En-eglaim, a spreading place for nets shall be there. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. Its swamps and its marshes shall not even be healed; they shall be given to salt. And all trees for food shall go up by the torrent, on its bank on this side, and on that side. Its leaf shall not fade, nor its fruit fail. It will bear by its months, because its waters come out from the sanctuary. And its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing.
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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And he fled with all that was his. And he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face toward Mount Gilead.
And I will stretch your bounds from the Red Sea even to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
They are spread forth like the valleys, like gardens by the river's side, like the trees of aloes which Jehovah has planted, like cedar trees 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 curds, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me;
They shall be satisfied with the fatness of Your house; and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures.
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Did Jehovah burn against rivers? Or was Your anger against the rivers? Or Your wrath against the sea? For You ride on horses, Your chariots of salvation.