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 be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled and exceeding great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
And shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and shall go out at the sea.
For the land whither thou goest to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt whence thou camest out, where thou sowedest thy seed and wateredest it with thy labour as a garden of herbs:
And Joshua said unto all the people, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, 'Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the water in old time even Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, and served strange gods. But I took your father Abraham from the other side of the water, and brought him into the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
Mine own brethren pass over by me, as the water brook that hastily runneth through the valleys.
Mine own brethren pass over by me, as the water brook that hastily runneth through the valleys. But they that fear the hoarfrost, the snow shall fall upon them. read more. When their time cometh, they shall be destroyed and perish: and when they be set on fire, they shall be removed out of their place, for the paths that they go in are crooked: they haste after vain things, and shall perish. Consider the paths of Tema, and the ways of Sheba, wherein they have put their trust. Confounded are they that put any confidence in them: For when they came to obtain the things that they looked for, they were brought to confusion.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like as are the rivers of water; he may turn it whithersoever he will.
Shall my heaviness endure forever? Are my plagues then so great, that they may never be healed? Wilt thou be as a water that faileth, and cannot continue?"
The waters made him great, and the deep set him up on high. Round about the roots of him ran there floods of water; he sent out his little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
So I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other two: one upon this shore of the water, the other upon yonder side. And one of them said, unto him which was clothed in linen and stood above upon the waters of the flood, "How long shall it be to the end of these wondrous works?"
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 there sprung a river out of Eden to water the garden, and thence divided itself, and grew into four principal waters.
And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates:
And it fortuned, at two years' end, that Pharaoh dreamed; and thought that he stood by a river's side, and that there came out of the river seven goodly cows and fat fleshed, and fed in a meadow. read more. And him thought that seven other cows came up after them out of the river; evil favored and lean fleshed and stood by the other upon the brink of the river.
depart therefore and take your journey and go unto the hills of the Amorites and unto all places nigh thereunto, both fields, hills and dales: and unto the south and unto the sea's side in the land of Canaan, and unto Lebanon: even unto the great river Euphrates.
'Rise up, take your journey and go over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land. Go to, and conquer and provoke him to battle.
And unto Reuben and Gad, I gave from Gilead unto the river of Arnon and half the valley and the coast, even unto the river Jabbok which is the border of the children of Ammon,
And the bottom of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were seen, by the reason of the rebuking of the LORD, and through the blasting of the breath of his nostrils.
And with the stones he made an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a gutter round about the altar, able to receive two pecks of corn.
When my ways ran over with butter, and when the stony rocks gave me rivers of oil;
"Who divideth the abundance of waters into rivers, or who maketh a way for the stormy weather,
And he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth his fruit in due season. His leaf, also, shall not wither; and, look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
He turned the sea into dry land, so that they went through the water on foot; there did we rejoice thereof.
Let thy wells flow out abroad, that there may be rivers of water in the streets:
His breath is like a vehement flood of water, which goeth up to the throat. That he may take away the people, which have turned themselves unto vanity, and the bridle of error, that lieth in other folks' jaws.
For the glorious Majesty of the LORD shall there be present among us. In that place, where fair broad rivers and streams are, shall neither Galley row, nor great ship sail.
For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the waterside: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat cannot harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.
{Tsadi} Let thine heart cry unto the LORD, O thou city of the daughter Zion; let thy tears run down like a river day and night. Rest not, and let not the apple of thine eye leave off.
and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD God, O ye mountains of Israel: Thus hath the LORD God spoken to the mountains, hills, rivers, valleys and dales. Behold, I will bring a sword over you, and destroy your high places.
and they were lifted up above. This is the beast, that I saw at the water of Chebar.
The waters made him great, and the deep set him up on high. Round about the roots of him ran there floods of water; he sent out his little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
The enemies shall destroy him, and the mighty men of the Heathen shall so scatter him, that his branches shall lie upon all mountains and in all valleys: his boughs shall be broken down to the ground throughout the land. Then all the people of the land shall go from his shadow, and forsake him.
I will water the land with the abundance of thy blood even to the mountains, and the valleys shall be full of thee.
I will bring them out from all people, and gather them together out of all lands, I will bring them into their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the places of the country.
Yea, all that live and move, whereunto this river cometh, shall recover. And where this water cometh, there shall be many fish; For all that cometh to this water, shall be lusty and whole.
I saw in a vision, and when I saw it, I was at Susa in the chief city, which lieth in the land of Elam, and in the vision me thought I was by the river of Ulai.
And abundance of rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
But he that heareth and doth not, is like a man, that without foundation built a house upon the earth, against which, the flood did beat: and it fell by and by. And the fall 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 fortuned, at two years' end, that Pharaoh dreamed; and thought that he stood by a river's side, and that there came out of the river seven goodly cows and fat fleshed, and fed in a meadow.
Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, "All the men children that are born, cast into the river; and save the maid children alive."
And when she could no longer hide him, she took a basket of bulrushes and daubed it with slime and pitch, and laid the child therein, and put it in the flags by the river's brink.
And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river to wash herself, and her maidens walked along by the river's side. And when she saw the basket among the flags, she sent one of her maids and caused it to be fetched.
And they went up even unto the river of Eshcol and saw the land, and discouraged the hearts of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.
The lords of Issachar were with Deborah. And as Barak, even so was Issachar sent into the valley afoot. But in the divisions of Reuben, were great imaginations of heart. Wherefore abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? In the divisions of Reuben, great were the imaginations of heart.
And the bottom of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were seen, by the reason of the rebuking of the LORD, and through the blasting 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 to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and went and stood by the conduit of the uppermost pool, which is in the way to the fuller's field,
Mine own brethren pass over by me, as the water brook that hastily runneth through the valleys.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth his fruit in due season. His leaf, also, shall not wither; and, look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
The LORD shall ever be thy guide, and satisfy the desire of thine heart, and fill thy bones with marrow. Thou shalt be like a fresh watered garden, and like the fountain of water, that never leaveth running.
Shall my heaviness endure forever? Are my plagues then so great, that they may never be healed? Wilt thou be as a water that faileth, and cannot continue?"
For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the waterside: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat cannot harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.
But what is he, this that swelleth up as it were a flood, roaring and raging like the streams of water? It is Egypt that riseth up like a flood, and casteth out the waters with so great noise. For they say, 'We will go up, and will cover the earth; we will destroy the cities, with them that dwell therein.'
I will water the land with the abundance of thy blood even to the mountains, and the valleys shall be full of thee.
Shall not the land tremble; and all they that dwell therein, mourn for this? Shall not their destruction come upon them like a water stream; and flow over them, as the flood of Egypt?
For when the LORD God of hosts toucheth a land, it consumeth away, and all they that dwell therein, must needs mourn: And why? Their destruction shall arise as every stream and run over them, as the flood in Egypt.
He shall go upon the sea of trouble, and smite the sea waves: so that all the deep floods shall be dried up. The proud boasting of Assyria shall be cast down, and the scepter of Egypt shall be taken away.
Hastings
For the meaning and use of '
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And there sprung a river out of Eden to water the garden, and thence divided itself, and grew into four principal waters.
And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates:
And that same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt, even unto the great river Euphrates:
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed, and had of all manner goods of his master with him, and stood up and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
So fled he, and all that he had, and made himself ready, and passed over the rivers, and set his face straight toward the mount Gilead.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, 'Take thy staff and stretch out thine hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, rivers, ponds and all pools of water, that they may be blood, and that there may be blood in all the land of Egypt: both in vessels of wood and also of stone.'"
And the LORD spake unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, 'Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, rivers, and ponds. And bring up frogs upon the land of Egypt.'"
depart therefore and take your journey and go unto the hills of the Amorites and unto all places nigh thereunto, both fields, hills and dales: and unto the south and unto the sea's side in the land of Canaan, and unto Lebanon: even unto the great river Euphrates.
because they met you not with bread and water in the way when ye came out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, the interpreter of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Might I not rather wash in them and be clean?" And so he turned and departed in an anger.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh, from Lachish, to king Hezekiah with a great Host to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and went and stood by the conduit of the uppermost pool, which is in the way to the fuller's field,
The remnant of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his power, and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought the water into the city, are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
And even there at the water beside Ahava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and our children and all our substance.
When my ways ran over with butter, and when the stony rocks gave me rivers of oil;
"Who divideth the abundance of waters into rivers, or who maketh a way for the stormy weather,
Behold, he drinketh up whole rivers and feareth not: he thinketh that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth his fruit in due season. His leaf, also, shall not wither; and, look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling of the most highest.
The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling of the most highest.
Thou visitest the earth, thou waterest it, and makest it very plenteous. The river of God is full of waters; thou preparest man his corn, and thus thou providest for the earth.
By the waters of Babylon we sat down; and wept, when we remembered Zion.
Then said God unto Isaiah, "Go meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shearjashub, at the head of the over pole, in the foot path by the fuller's ground,
Behold, the Lord shall bring mighty and great floods of water upon them: namely, the king of the Assyrians with all his power. Which shall pour out his furiousness upon every man, and run over all their banks.
His breath is like a vehement flood of water, which goeth up to the throat. That he may take away the people, which have turned themselves unto vanity, and the bridle of error, that lieth in other folks' jaws.
And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish toward Jerusalem, against king Hezekiah, with a grievous Host; which set him by the conduit of the over pool, in the way that goeth through the fuller's land.
If thou goest through the water, I will be with thee, that the strong floods should not pluck thee away. When thou walkest in the fire, it shall not burn thee, and the flame shall not kindle upon thee.
If thou wilt now regard my commandment, thy wealthiness shall be as the water stream: and thy righteousness as the waves flowing in the sea.
For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the waterside: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat cannot harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.
But what is he, this that swelleth up as it were a flood, roaring and raging like the streams of water?
"Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, there shall waters arise out of the North: And shall grow to a great flood, running over and covering the land, the cities, and them that dwell therein. And the men shall cry, and all they that dwell in the land
It chanced, in the thirtieth year, the fifth day of the fourth Month, that I was among the prisoners by the river of Chebar: where the heavens opened, and I saw a vision of God.
The waters made him great, and the deep set him up on high. Round about the roots of him ran there floods of water; he sent out his little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
I saw in a vision, and when I saw it, I was at Susa in the chief city, which lieth in the land of Elam, and in the vision me thought I was by the river of Ulai. Then I looked up, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river, a ram, which had horns: and these horns were high, but one was higher than another, and the highest came up last.
and came unto the ram, that had the two horns, whom I had seen afore by the river side, and ran fiercely upon him with his might.
Upon the twenty fourth day of the first month, I was by the great flood called Tigris.
but see that equity flow as the water, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
The queen herself shall be led away captive, and her gentlewomen shall mourn as the doves, and groan within their hearts.
And all the land of Jewry, and they of Jerusalem went out unto him, and were all baptised of him in the river 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 satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house, and thou shalt give them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling of the most highest.
After this he measured a thousand again, then was it such a river, that I might not wade through it: The water was so deep, that it was needful to have swimmed, for it might not be waded over. And he said unto me, "Hast thou seen this, O thou son of man?" And with that, he brought me to the river bank again. read more. Now when I came there, there stood many trees upon either side of the riverbank. Then said he unto me, "This water that floweth out toward the East, and runneth down into the plain field, cometh into the sea: and from the sea it runneth out, and maketh the waters whole. Yea, all that live and move, whereunto this river cometh, shall recover. And where this water cometh, there shall be many fish; For all that cometh to this water, shall be lusty and whole. By this river shall the fishers stand from Engedi unto Eneglaim, and there spread out their nets: for there shall be great heaps of fish, like as in the main sea. As for his clay and pits, they shall not be whole. For why? It shall be occupied for salt. By this river upon both the sides of the shore, there shall grow all manner of fruitful trees, whose leaves shall not fall off, neither shall their fruit perish: but ever be ripe at their months, for their water runneth out of the Sanctuary. His fruit is good to eat, and his leaf profitable 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 fled he, and all that he had, and made himself ready, and passed over the rivers, and set his face straight toward the mount Gilead.
And I will make thy coasts from the reed sea unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river. I will deliver the inhabiters of the land into thine hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
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 my ways ran over with butter, and when the stony rocks gave me rivers of oil;
They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house, and thou shalt give them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Wast thou not angry, O LORD, in the waters? Was not thy wrath in the floods, and thy displeasure in the sea? Yes, when thou sattest upon thine horse, and when thy chariots had the victory.