River (Hastings' Dictionary)

In the OT this is the AV rendering of the following words : 1. tn; or i.-);, an Egyptian loan-woril, which in the singular is always (except in Dn lo"'-"-'-', where it means the Tigris) used of the Nile: Gn 41'- =•»"»■"■ '«, Ex 1^ 2»'>''" i»''' •J15. 17. ISIfr. aoMj. 21(n-. 2J6(s. 2S. 28 [En". 8'] S'f''''" 17' [all JE], Am 8»9', Is 19""- 233'CJer 46 [Gr. 26]'«, Ezk 29»''-», /ec 10".

In all these nassages the LXX renders by irora^is (in Ezk 29^- », Zee 10" Trora^ioi) except Is 23'- '", where a different text ap|iears to have been followed. The plur. c^n; is used of the Nile arms or canals : Ex 7'^ 8' '" [both • The prophet's allusion in these two passages to the rise and the fall of the Nile (C^^i'tJ IN;) ia quite obscured by the AV rendering 'flood.' RIVER RIVER 287 P], Is 7" 19'37" = 2 K 19-', Nali 3«, EzU eo'-""- •• "> 30''-', Ps 7S".

The LXX lias in all these pas- sages irorauoi (in Is 7', Ezk ■29''"-° iroraMis) except Is 19', wliicli reaJs al Snipt'Xf^ '''O" toto/hou, and 37^, ■where the text is mutilated. The same word onx; is used of watercourses in general in Is 33'-' (Jiu- piiX"), and is even applied once to shafts or tunnels cut in the rock by the miner, Job 28'" (cf. Snj in v.'') 2. vi; (LXX in the following passages irorafii!

, unless otherwise noted), the most general term for river, occurs some 120 times in the OT. It is un- certain whether it is derived from a root tn: ' to How,' or whether the latter is a denominative from vi;, which may be a loan-word (cf. Ass3-r. ndrti, 'stream,' 'river'). It is used of rivers in general in Nu 24« [JE], Job 14" 40^, Ps 74" 7S'« etc. ; very fre<|uently of particular rivers : the river of Eden and its branches Gn 2"'"-"; the Nile Is 19»; esp. the Euphrates (m.

s-iii)) Gn 15'", Dt 1', Jos 1*, which is often called n.ijn as the river /car' ^^oxv" (cf. the title ' the great river,' Vran ini.i, in Gn 1.5'^ Dt 1', although this title is once, Dn W, applied to the Tigris), Gn 3P', Ex 23", Nu 22', Jos 24, 3- "■" [all E], Ezr 8", Neh2'-» 3' (.and Aram. TJ, emphat. ktj, Ezr 4'»- "■'«•"• =» and oft.), prob. also Gn 36" (P ; see Rehobotii, No. 2), witliout the art. (poet.) in Is 7» Jer 2'^ Mic 7'% Zee 9'", Ps 72» ; the river of Gozan 2 K 17« 18", cf.

I Ch 5-" ; the rivers of Cusb Zeph 3'". The reference is probably to canals in the following: the Chebar Ezk 1'-^ 3"-» 10'»-=°-«43^ the Ahava Ezr8='-''; the 'rivers' of Babylon Ps 137'; the gates of the ' rivers' of Nineveh Nah 2' (I5A Tn'Xai riiv viXcai', X* IT. r. roraiJLwi'), as niinj is u.sed of the canals of Egypt in Ex 7'" S'l"' (in both || a-iit-).

In Jol) 28" ' he tthe miner) bindeth the streams (nHij) that they trickle not,' the reference is to underground water whicli is prevented by the use of lime or clay from percolating into the mine (A. B. Davidson, ad foe. ). The Dnqj in Aram-naharaim (Gn 24'°, Dt 23^ [both Ufaairora^ia], Jg 3" [B 7rora/xoi — i^pias, A — . Mftro- Torafxia irora/^wf], Ps 60 [title ; MecroTrora/xfa Zupia?])

was probably meant by the Hebrew writers to have a dual sense (' Aram of the two rivers,' these being probably fsee Dillm. on Gn 24'°] the Euph- rates and the Cliaboras), but the original ending may have l/een a plural one (c . ), as would appear to "be implied by the Tel el-Amarna Na-ri-ma, Nahriimt, and the Egyp. Nhrima. 3. V; (etym. uncertain) is used either (a) of a torrent of ru.shing water or (6) of a valley through which a torrent flows or has flowed, a ' torrent- valley' (modern wddy).

\ For this latter sense cf. Gn 26"- '», Nu 13'^- " 21 '^ 32', Dt I-'-' 2'«" (see Driver's note; 80 Jos 12 13'- " [same phrases] ; v.'' is un- certain [.see Driver's note], so Jos 12-1-""' """O 3'^- " (toi um.) 448 [ns 2'»], 2 K 10^. For A V ' river(s) ' RV substitutes the very misleading tr. 'brook(s)' in Nu 34», Dt 10', Jos 15- ■" 16» 17" 19", 1 K 8»», 2 K 24'. 2 Ch '\ Am &\ Ezk 47" 4S'«, and the equally misleading ' valley ' in Dt 2=-'- ""' 3»- '■' 4'», Jos 12'»""' 13S!><«.1« M., 2K10»='.

The use of S-j in the sense (o) above (reproduced by the LXX in the following pa.ssages, unless otherwise noted, by X'l^uippoi'S or x<'m<"W>s) may be illustrated by its application to the Kishon Jg 4'- '» ,5-""-, Ps 8;i'»i"» ; to Elijah's stream Cherith 1 K 17». J- »■»•', which was liable to dry up in summer, cf. Sir 40'^ (iroTa/tis) ; Uj water bursting Irom the rock Ps 78-'° (' o:t). Pre- fixed to another word, it is often u.scd in the sense (6)alK)vp- VaA«;ArnonNu21" [licro phir.]

, I)t2-^ (cpapavJ)" 3«-"-" 4« Jos 12'- = 13"- ■«. 2 K 10^; X E.shcol (' Wady of the Cluster') Nu 32», Dt l" (both ♦dpa-yf ^irrpvot) ; N. hashskitiim, ' Wady of the Acacias 'Jl 4 (3)" (xfiMiippot twv axolfuv) ; N. Besor • Comill. following the LX.\, deletes the Iwit clause o( the MT, in which D'li<; occurs a third lime. I Sm Driver on Am 5W. 1 S 30'- '» =• ; .v. Gad 2 S 24» ; N. Gerar Gn 20" ; N. Zered Nu 21'-, Dt 2'^- '^ (LXX in last tiv« passages (pipayS.) ; N.

Jabbok Gn 32-'S Dt 2" 3", Jos 12= ; A'. Kidron 2 S 15-^, 1 K 2^ 15'» 18 2 K 23"- '», 2 Cli 15"> 29'« 30'^ Jer 31 (38)-'° (yd^oX) ; X Kanah Jos 16» 17' (ipapayi) ; N. Sorek Jg 16 (B ' &.\<ruip-qxt ^ ° X"Mi/5po(u)5 Swprjx) ; N. ha- Arahah Am 6'* [dub. ; Wellh. would read N. Mizraim ; LXX 6 xf'M''/'po(i')s rilv SvafiQv^. The familiar river (RV 'brook' except in Jth 1' 'river') of Egypt is N. Mizraim (modem Wdthj el- Artsh). See Egypt (River of).

Snj is once, Job 28'', used of a miner's shaft (cf. the use of cin; in v.'°). i. 5. ^31', by-form SjiN or Sjn (root hz- ' flow ' [?]) The former occurs only in Jer 17' ' he shall be as a tree jplanted by the waters (c'5, MaT-a), and that spi-eadeth out his roots by the river' (V;)-'?!', iirl iK/idda, 'to moisture'); the latter only in Dn S, '-' (Theod. transliterates t6 i)i)/id\, LXX has ^ vvXti). 6. P?

ij, from a root pen ' to hold,' is a poetical word, whose nearest English equivalent is perhaps ' channel,' the original idea being that of holding or conlining waters. It thus denotes, primarily at least, tlie stream-bed rather than the stream. Its occurrences are : Ps 18'""'i (where for ' channels of waters,' c:5 '?■?!<, we should read, as in 2 S 22', 'channels (i.e. bed)of thesea,' d; n. TheLXXhasin the Latter acp^aas SaXdaatj!

, and in the former irriyal iSdruip) 41' (AV and RV ' brooks,' LXX Tnjyal) \26 (AV and RV 'streams,' LXX xf'M<ippoi'5)> Jl l-' 4 (3) '8 (in both AV ' rivers,' RV ' brooks,' LXX atpiaets), Ca 5' (AV 'rivers,' RV 'brooks,' LXX TrXrjpw/iaTa), Job 6" (D'Sn^ 'n ' channel of torrents,' LXX xf'MpP'"'')!

Is 8' (AV and R\' 'channels,' LXX <pdf>ayi), Ezk 6» 31'- 32" 31'» 35" Sfl-'- « (AV in all the Ezekiel passages has 'rivers,' RV 'water- courses,' LXX <t>dpayi in all except 31'-, where it has vediov). 7. ''^~, from root [ihs] 'divide,' cf. the proper name Pki.eg and the explanation of it given by J in Gn lu-^. This word means an artificial ivater- course, a canal formed for the purpose of irrigation.

Its occurrences are : Job 29" ('rivers of oil,' LXX simply 7iiXa) ; Ps P (AV 'rivers,' RV 'streams,' L.XX 5i^Jo5oi) 46' ('there is a river [17] whose streams [o'jS?, LXX opfirniaTa, arms or branches led from the river through the surrounding land] make glad the city of our God') 65'" i"' {iroTap.d':, .see below) 11!)'' ('mine eyes run down with rivers [LXX oU^oSoi] of waters '), borrowed from or quoted in La 3* (LXX d<j>iuei$.

The figure in these two i)assages is probably that of the tears in their flow tracing furrows on the cheek) ; Pr 5'* ('sh(iuld thy springs be scattered abroad, thy streams of water [LXX CSaro] in the street?' an exhortation to conjugal lidelity, addressed probably to the husband, who is cautioned against seeking pleasure from sources outside his own house ; see the various interpretations di.

scussed in Wildeboer or Toy) 21' ('the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the watercourses'; so RV, which brings out the meaning more clearlv than the AV 'rivers'; L.XX op^i Wdrui') ; I.s' 30=* (LXX Mwp 5ia.Tropevdpi(voi', \\ fs -hz-) 32''' ('as rivers of water in a dry place,' LXX viup (jiepo/xevov). There is some doulit as to Jg 5'''- " and Job 2iJ". In the former of these passages AV has ' for (m.

' in ') the divisions of Reuben,' RV ' by the watercourses of Reuben,' nuSs being here and in Job 20" taken in both versions as the plural of i;'r?, a suppo.sed by- form of i^z, but it is not improbable that we should at least in Jg 5 vocalize m)t; (cf. 2 Ch 35»- '-'), giving the moaning of 'divisions' in the sense of clans ox families. In J" 5'° the LXX has pLcplSes, and in v." Sioip^ffcit, while in Job20"it readsi/MXfu ■ The word p'!

^i< is used nj^unitivcly of the bonca of the hippopotamus, fts beinR hollow, Job 40*^, and of Ihf furrowi between the scales of tiio crocodile, 41' ('^). 288 rvIVEB KouriSo,., after which Duhm emends to rfj 3":n ■milk of the pastures.' But Dillni.. Buihle, and most tr. 'streams,' viz. of honey, etc., as explained in v" (cf. '29«). In Ps 65'° W 'the nver of God ia-rhx ih^) is the eliaunel or conduit by which rain is poetically supposed to be conducted from it^ rese?^o rs in the' lieavens (cf.

Job 38'^ ' Who hath cleft a conduit for the rain ? '). See Driver, Par. Psnlt. ad loc. , , ■ • „.„,j :. 8 n'-a The proper meaning of this wora is ' co'iidult' (from knU «f^\i-)'«"'J„itis_so rendered bv both AV and KV in 2 K 18" 20-^ Is ,^ 3(r (L\X, except Is 7^ where ' conduit ' is not expressed, .Spa- S) In Job 38"-= AV has ' water-course, KV ' :;hanner (poet, forrain), LXXp.'^? ; m Ezk 31* AV ' little rivers,' KV ' channels' (for irrigation), LXX i^^n Tn 1 K 183^»»»' the same Heb.

terra is used for the ' trench ' round Elijah s altar (LAA /dWa ; but in Jer 30 [Gr. 37] " 46 [Gr. 26] "it (really a diflt. word) means either neivjlcsh or i)laister something coming up, or placed on the yound) ; LXX a..AeX(.)<a, confusing with n^in from ^ bv . ^ In the NT ' river' occurs only m iMK 1 , Jn / , Ap tfiis Rev 8'" 9" le*- '- 22'- =, in all of which it is fhe tr.'of xo.a.6,. The imagery of.Kev 22- is borrowed from Gii 2''- and from the vision m Lzk 47.

Rivers serve in Scripture, as they have done m all a'e , tolix boundaries : On 15'^ Ex 23" Nu34 , T^t P 3«->« 11« Jos 1* 12' 15^ 168 179 19", Jg4", OS 10'^ 1 K 4»''« 8«», 2 K 10^ 24', Ezr 4'«, Neh 2' etc. ; they are utUized for bathing Ex^2» for drinking 7'»-=', 1 K \V-^ for fishing Ex 7'«-=", Lv 119- 10 Ec 1', Ezk 29-' °, and for irrigation (see above); they' serve as means of defence Nah 3«, and as a highway for navigation Is 18 ; a river side appears as a place of prayer in Ac lb .

Besides the instances of figurative employment of the word 'river' which have been reterred to above, the following may be noted :— In Jer 40 • the rising of the Nile is used as a syinbol of an Egyptian invasion ; cf . the similar use in Is 8 ol ' tbe river ' to typify the invading hosts of Assyria and the language used in Jer 4,= ; in l^p- (cf.

Is m'-) rivers are a type of danger or affliction ; m I« 59'' a manifestation of Jehovah is compared to a-'Sinj, theprolKible rendering being that of KV 'He shall come as a rushing stream, which the breath of the LORD driveth' (AV ' when tie enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standarS against him ; see the Comm. ad loc.)

; in Ps 46' W a "ver (nn:) is a type of Jehovah's favour; in Job 29«, Ps liy"«, lT3« (all U'^h-f), Mic 6', Job 20" (both n-)n}) 'rivers' typify abundance; in Am 5" righteous- ness is compared to a perennial torrent {i-}): a well-spring of wisdom and a flowing torrent C^-j) are coupled in Pr 18* ; a river (im) is a symbol of peace in Is 48i8 66'-; the breath of Jehovah is compared in Is 30=» to an overflowing torrent, and in V ^ to a torrent of brimstone (both ?CJ). The 'r^3 -^ri, lit.

' torrents of Belial,' of 2 S 22» is a doubtful pi.rase. It is generally explained as 'torrents of worthlessness ( = wickedness), but Cheyne (Expositor, 1895, p. 435 if., see a.Uo Expos Times, viii. [1897], p. 423 f., and Em-yc. BM. art. ' Belial ') discovers a mythological allusion in the expression and renders it 'streams of the under- world,' identifying Belial with the Babylonian irodde'^s Bdili, whom he connects with the under- world.

Hommel agrees with this identification, but (lieynu's interpretation is opposed by Baudissin and .Knsen (see PJtE', «. 'Belial,' and the articles bv all four scholars in the Expos. Times, ix. pp. 4Utl.,yi f.,283f., 332,567). RIZPAH •The qnomtion -Out of his belly,' ^t*' "^^ '^P^jSr V^ ireneral »ir.»e o( such OT iiassoBes as Is 44J 561 68". Jer 2", lik :«J»i' 4T1"-, Jl 2'»'- stf-, Zee. \» HS-the series resting ultimately (Westcott) on Ex 17«. Nu M)". For the river system of Palestine, see vol.

iii. p 642 f., and for an account of particular rivers the articles under their respective names. J . a'\. oKLlilK.