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Map of the World of Abram the First Hebrew
Abraham is originally called by the name of Abram which means "father of a multitude" but later God changed his name to Abraham which means "father of many nations". Abraham first migrated to Haran and then to Canaan. (Gen 11:31, 12:4-5). He then arrived at Shechem where he built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. Later he moved on to a mountain near Bethel, and here he built another altar. Later he journeyed south again into the hot Negev desert and then came back to the mountain near Bethel. He finally separated from his nephew Lot because of strife with the herdsmen. Lot chose the Jordan Valley (Sodom and Gomorrah) and Abraham settled west of the Jordan River, at Mamre near Hebron (Genesis 13). The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar were vassal kings of Elam and when they refused to pay tribute they were attacked by 4 kings and their armies of Elam. They were defeated and Lot was captured. Abraham pursued them and at Dan they caught them and defeated them. Abraham returned to Canaan with the spoils (Gen 14). Later God tested Abraham and commanded him to sacrifice his only son Isaac at one of the mountains of Moriah (Gen 22:2). This was a type of Christ and Abraham learned a valuable lesson about Gods plan of salvation. Later Sarah and Abraham died and were buried at the Cave of Macpelah east of Mamre and Hebron.
The Bible shifts its focus in Genesis 12 from the history of the entire human race to a man named Abram, the first Hebrew, and he lived in Ur of the Chaldees. Later God appeared to Abram and promised him that if he would leave his country and journey to a land that he has never seen, God would make of his descendants a great nation and through them the Savior of the world would come, through his "seed." Later God changed his name to Abraham which means "father of a many nations" and he obeyed God and journeyed to the land of Canaan. The Lord also spoke a promise that anyone who blessed Abraham and his descendants would be blessed and anyone who cursed Abraham and his descendants would be cursed.
The Journey (Abraham Visits 17 Locations)
The land of Canaan would be the inheritance of Abraham's descendants but Abraham would only be a pilgrim there. On his journey to Canaan there were seventeen places that Abraham visited recorded in the Old Testament. Each of these places are important in the history of Israel and there is evidence of their existence in ancient times through archaeology.
1. Ur of the Chaldees was the original home of Abraham. It was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, and Ur was the capital of the ancient Chaldean Empire in ancient Mesopotamia. Sometime around 1900 BC the Lord told Abraham to leave his home and country and go to a land that He would show him. He obeyed and departed from Ur with his father Terah and his nephew Lot. (Gen. 11:31; Acts 7:2-4).
2. Haran in Mesopotamia was the first stopping place recorded inn the Bible. They dwelt here until after the death of his father Terah, and in Haran the Lord called Abraham again (Gen. 12:1-4; Acts 7:4). Nahor, Abraham's brother, had probably settled in Haran before they departed.
3. Damascus was a great city in the ancient world and it was located in ancient Aram (Syria). Abraham and his nephew Lot had departed Haran and followed the leading of the Lord. They moved southward and passed by the city of Damascus along the way and it might have been at this time that Abraham secured his servant Eliezer (Gen. 15:2).
4. Shechem or Sichem was the first place where Abraham came to in Canaan. The Lord appeared to Abraham again and confirmed his promises, and It was here at Shechem that Abraham built the first altar to the Lord (Gen. 12:6, 7). There is much history in this place (Joshua 24:1, Judges 9:6, 1 Kings 12:1).
5. Bethel. Abraham continued his journey southward and came to a mountain near Bethel, where he built a second altar (Genesis 12:8).
6. Egypt. Abraham and his family journeyed southward through the land of Canaan and a major famine hit they migrated to Egypt. In Egypt Abraham deceived the King in order to save his own life and was expelled from the land of Egypt (Gen. 12:9-20). The king of Egypt feared Abraham because of a dream and allowed him to leave with all of his possessions.
7. Bethel. Abraham and his nephew Lot returned to their former home at Bethel, but on account of strife between their herdsmen they parted each others company as friends. (Gen. 13:1-9).
8. Hebron. Lot chose the warm climate and lush plains of the Jordan Valley and pitched his tent toward Sodom, and Abraham left the desirable Sodom and Gomorrah and sojourned at Hebron in Mamre where he heard again from the Lord and built an altar (Gen. 13:10-18). An interesting note is that Hebron was one of the oldest cities in ancient Canaan and Numbers 13:22 says that "it was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt."
9. Dan. Four kings of the east came to Canaan who were united under Chedorlaomer of Elam (the territory of ancient Ur) and made war against the five kings of Canaan. In their conquest of the Jordan Valley they captured Lot as a prisoner of war, and when Abraham heard of it he pursued the four kings and overtook them at Dan and defeated them with the help of the Lord (Gen. 14:1-14), Abraham had assembled an army of 318 men. The city of Dan was located in the north between Hazor and Damascus.
10. Hobah. Abraham and his army of servants smote the army of the 4 kings of Chedorlaomer and chased them to Hobah, which was located near Damascus. Lot and all the people with them were rescued including their belongings (Gen. 14:15, 16).
11. Salem. On his return Abraham passed through Salem (Jerusalem) and was met by a man named Melchizedek whose name means "king of righteousness". Melchizedek was a mysterious man regarded in the Bible as the priest and king of Salem. This was the first mention of the word "priest" in the Bible and he gave to Abraham bread and wine. The Bible also mentions that Abraham paid him 1/10th of all his spoils from the war as a "tithe". Hebrews 7:3 gives an interesting description of Melchizedek and therefore his identity remains a mystery. The king of Sodom also came out to meet Abraham at the same place (Gen. 14:17-21).
12. Hebron. When Abraham finally returned to Hebron God reminded him of his covenant with him and changed his name from Abram to Abraham (Gen. 15:1-21; 17:1-27). During his stay at this place Ishmael was born (Gen. 16: 1-16) and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed (Gen. 18:1 - 19:38)
13. Gerar. Abraham left Hebron and for a time sojourned among the Philistines in Gerar which was in southern Canaan west of Beersheba. It was in Gerar that Abraham deceived King Abimelech (Gen. 20:1-18).
14. Beersheba. Abraham remained at Beersheba for some time. During this time he made a covenant with king Abimelech. Later he gave birth to a natural son of him and Sarah in his old age, he named him Isaac which means "laughter". When Isaac was born Ishmael was expelled and his mother Hagar fled and was met by "the Angel of the Lord" which was the Lord Himself (Gen. 21:1-34).
15. Moriah. It was in Beersheba that Abraham received the command from the Lord to take his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah, a mountain of Salem, to offer Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:1-18).
16. Beersheba. Abraham returned to Beersheba and dwelt there for some time.
17. Hebron. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah as the family sepulcher and buried his wife Sarah there (Gen. 23: 1-20). At the age of 175 Abraham died, and was also buried in the cave at Machpelah.
Ur of the Chaldees
Ur in Easton's Bible Dictionary light, or the moon city, a city "of the Chaldees," the birthplace of Haran (Gen. 11:28,31), the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well as the centre of political power. It stood near the mouth of the Euphrates, on its western bank, and is represented by the mounds (of bricks cemented by bitumen) of el-Mugheir, i.e., "the bitumined," or "the town of bitumen," now 150 miles from the sea and some 6 miles from the Euphrates, a little above the point where it receives the Shat el-Hie, an affluent from the Tigris. It was formerly a maritime city, as the waters of the Persian Gulf reached thus far inland. Ur was the port of Babylonia, whence trade was carried on with the dwellers on the gulf, and with the distant countries of India, Ethiopia, and Egypt. It was abandoned about B.C. 500, but long continued, like Erech, to be a great sacred cemetery city, as is evident from the number of tombs found there. (See ABRAHAM The oldest king of Ur known to us is Ur-Ba'u (servant of the goddess Ba'u), as Hommel reads the name, or Ur-Gur, as others read it. He lived some twenty-eight hundred years B.C., and took part in building the famous temple of the moon-god Sin in Ur itself. The illustration here given represents his cuneiform inscription, written in the Sumerian language, and stamped upon every brick of the temple in Ur. It reads: "Ur-Ba'u, king of Ur, who built the temple of the moon-god." "Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of the moon-god at Ur. "Between Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a close connection in early times, the record of which has not yet been recovered. It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring bond of union that existed in the ancient world. That Terah should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a temple into another. "Such a remarkable coincidence between the Biblical narrative and the evidence of archaeological research cannot be the result of chance. The narrative must be historical; no writer of late date, even if he were a Babylonian, could have invented a story so exactly in accordance with what we now know to have been the truth. For a story of the kind to have been the invention of Palestinian tradition is equally impossible. To the unprejudiced mind there is no escape from the conclusion that the history of the migration of Terah from Ur to Harran is founded on fact" (Sayce).
Ur in Fausset's Bible Dictionary Of the Chaldees (Genesis 11:28; Genesis 11:31; Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7), from which Terah, Abraham, and Lot were called. In Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2). Now Mugheir (a ruined temple of large bitumen bricks, which also "mugheir" means, namely, Um Mugheir "mother of bitumen"), on the right bank of the Euphrates, near its junction with the Shat el Hie from the Tigris; in Chaldaea proper. Called Hur by the natives, and on monuments Ur. The most ancient city of the older Chaldaea. Its bricks bear the name of the earliest monumental kings, "Urukh king of Ur"; his kingdom extended as far N. as Niffer. The royal lists on the monuments enumerate Babylonian kings from Urukh (2230 B.C., possibly the Orchanus of Ovid, Met. 4:212) down to Nabonid (540 B.C.) the last. The temple was sacred to 'Urki, the moon goddess; Ilgi son of Urukh completed it. For two centuries it was the capital, and always was held sacred. One district was "Ibra," perhaps related to "Hebrew," Abraham's designation. Ur was also a cemetery and city of tombs, doubtless because of its sacred character, from whence the dead were brought to it from vast distances for 1,800 years. Eupolemos (in Eusebius, Praep. Ev. 9:17) refers to Ur as "the moon worshipping (kamarine; kamar being Arabic for moon) city." The derivation from Ur, "fire," led to the Koran and Talmud legends that Abraham miraculously escaped out of the flames into which Nimrod or other idolatrous persecutors threw him. Ur lies six miles distant from the present coarse of the Euphrates, and 125 from the sea; though it is thought it was anciently a maritime town, and that its present inland site is due to the accumulation of alluvium (?). The buildings are of the most archaic kind, consisting of low mounds enclosed within an enceinte, on most sides perfect, an oval space 1,000 yards long by 800 broad. The temple is thoroughly Chaldaean in type, in stages of which two remain, of brick partly sunburnt, partly baked, cemented with bitumen.
Ur in Hitchcock's Bible Names fire
Ur in Naves Topical Bible 1. Abraham's native place Ge 11:27,28 Abraham leaves Ge 11:31; 15:7; Ne 9:7 -2. Father of one of David's mighty men 1Ch 11:35
Ur in Smiths Bible Dictionary was the land of Haran's nativity, Ge 11:28 the place from which Terah and Abraham started "to go into the land of Canaan." Ge 11:31 It is called in Genesis "Ur of the Chaldaeans," while in the Acts St. Stephen places it, by implication, in Mesopotamia. Ac 7:2,4 These are all the indications which Scripture furnishes as to its locality. It has been identified by the most ancient traditions with the city of Orfah in the highlands of Mesopotamia, which unite the table-land of Armenia to the valley of the Euphrates. In later ages it was called Edessa, and was celebrated as the capital of Abgarus or Acbarus who was said to have received the letter and portrait of our Saviour. "Two, physical features must have secured Orfah, from the earliest times, as a nucleus for the civilization of those regions. One is a high-crested crag, the natural fortifications of the crested citadel....The other is an abundant spring, issuing in a pool of transparent clearness, and embosomed in a mass of luxuriant verdure, which, amidst the dull brown desert all around, makes and must always have made, this spot an oasis, a paradise, in the Chaldaean wilderness. Round this sacred pool,'the beautiful spring Callirrhoe,' as it was called by the Greek writers, gather the modern traditions of the patriarch." --Stanley, Jewish Church, part i.p.7. A second tradition, which appears in the Talmud, finds Ur in Warka, 120 miles southeast from Babylon and four east of the Euphrates. It was the Orchoe of the Greeks, and probably the Ereck of Holy Scripture. This place bears the name of Huruk in the native inscriptions, and was in the countries known to the Jews as the land of the Chaldaeans. But in opposition to the most ancient traditions, many modern writers have fixed the site of Ur at a very different position, viz. in the extreme south of Chaldaea, at Mugheir, not very far above-- and probably in the time of Abraham actually upon-- the head of the Persian Gulf. Among the ruins which are now seen at the spot are the remains of one of the great temples, of a model similar to that of Babel, dedicated to the moon, to whom the city was sacred. (Porter and Rawlinson favor this last place.)
Ur in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE ur ('ur, "flame"; Codex Vaticanus Sthur; Codex Sinaiticus Ora): Father of Eliphal, one of David's "mighty men," in 1 Ch 11:35; in the parallel 2 Sam 23:34 called "Ahasbai."
Ur Scripture - Genesis 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
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2 Kings 25:13 - And the pillars of brass that [were] in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that [was] in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
2 Kings 24:2 - And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
2 Chronicles 36:17 - Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave [them] all into his hand.
Genesis 11:31 - And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
2 Kings 25:4 - And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which [is] by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.
Genesis 15:7 - And he said unto him, I [am] the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
2 Kings 25:5 - And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.
2 Kings 25:25 - But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
2 Kings 25:24 - And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.
2 Kings 25:26 - And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
Nehemiah 9:7 - Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
Isaiah 13:19 - And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
2 Kings 25:10 - And all the army of the Chaldees, that [were with] the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Genesis 11:28 - And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Ancient Haran
Haran in Easton's Bible Dictionary (1.) Heb. haran; i.e., "mountaineer." The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Gen. 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees. (2.) Heb. haran, i.e., "parched;" or probably from the Accadian charana, meaning "a road." A celebrated city of Western Asia, now Harran, where Abram remained, after he left Ur of the Chaldees, till his father Terah died (Gen. 11:31, 32), when he continued his journey into the land of Canaan. It is called "Charran" in the LXX. and in Acts 7:2. It is called the "city of Nahor" (Gen. 24:10), and Jacob resided here with Laban (30:43). It stood on the river Belik, an affluent of the Euphrates, about 70 miles above where it joins that river in Upper Mesopotamia or Padan-aram, and about 600 miles northwest of Ur in a direct line. It was on the caravan route between the east and west. It is afterwards mentioned among the towns taken by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). It was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name Carrhae. (3.) The son of Caleb of Judah (1 Chr. 2:46) by his concubine Ephah.
Haran in Fausset's Bible Dictionary HARAN was Terah's firstborn son, oldest brother of Abram (who is named first in Genesis 11:27, because heir of the promises), father of Lot, and Milcah who married her uncle Nahor, and Iscah or Sarai who married her uncle Abram, being "daughter (i.e. granddaughter) of his father not of his mother" (Genesis 20:12). That Haran was oldest brother appears from his brothers marrying his daughters, Sarai being only ten years younger than Abram (Genesis 17:17). Haran died in Ur, his native place, before his father. In the Hebrew the country Haran begins with 'ch', the man Haran with 'h', as also the Haran the Gershonite Levite under David of Shimei's family (1 Chronicles 23:9). Hara begins with 'h'; Caleb's son by Ephah (1 Chronicles 2:46) begins with 'ch'. Jewish tradition makes Haran to have been cast into Nimrod's furnace for wavering during Abram's fiery trial.
Haran in Hitchcock's Bible Names mountainous country
Haran in Naves Topical Bible 1. Father of Lot and brother of Abraham Ge 11:26-31 -2. Son of Caleb 1Ch 2:46 -3. A Levite 1Ch 23:9 -4. Also called CHARRAN A place in Mesopotamia to which Terah and Abraham migrated Ge 11:31; 12:4,5; Ac 7:4 Death of Terah at Ge 11:32 Abraham leaves, by divine command Ge 12:1-5 Jacob flees to Ge 27:43; 28:7; 29 Returns from, with Rachel and Leah Ge 31:17-21 Conquest of, king of Assyria 2Ki 19:12 Merchants of Eze 27:23 Idolatry in Jos 24:2,14; Isa 37:12
Haran in Smiths Bible Dictionary (a mountaineer). 1. The third son of Terah, and therefore youngest brother of Abram. Ge 11:26 (B.C. 1926.) Three children are ascribed to him --Lot, vs. Ge 11:27,31 and two daughters, viz., Milcah, who married her uncle Nahor, ver. Ge 11:29 and Iscah. ver. Ge 11:29 Haran was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and he died there while his father was still living. ver. Ge 11:28 2. A Gershonite Levite in the time of David, one of the family of Shimei. 1Ch 23:9 3. A son of the great Caleb by his concubine Ephah. 1Ch 2:46 4. HARAN or CHARRAN, Ac 7:2,4 name of the place whither Abraham migrated with his family from Ur of the Chaldees, and where the descendants of his brother Nahor established themselves. Comp. Ge 24:10 with Gene 27:43 It is said to be in Mesopotamia, Ge 24:10 or more definitely in Padan-aram, ch. Ge 25:20 the cultivated district at the foot of the hills, a name well applying to the beautiful stretch of country which lies below Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates. Here, about midway in this district, is a small village still called Harran. It was celebrated among the Romans, under the name of Charrae, as the scene of the defeat of Crassus.
Haran in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE ha'-ran (charan; Charhran): The city where Terah settled on his departure from Ur (Gen 11:31 f); whence Abram set out on his pilgrimage of faith to Canaan (Gen 12:1 ff). It was probably "the city of Nahor" to which Abraham's servant came to find a wife for Isaac (Gen 24:10 ff). Hither came Jacob when he fled from Esau's anger (Gen 27:43). Here he met his bride (Gen 29:4), and in the neighboring pastures he tended the flocks of Laban. It is one of the cities named by Rabshakeh as destroyed by the king of Assyria (2 Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12). Ezekiel speaks of the merchants of Haran as trading with Tyre (27:23). The name appears in Assyro-Babalonian as Charran, which means "road"; possibly because here the trade route from Damascus joined that from Nineveh to Carchemish. It is mentioned in the prism inscription of Tiglath-pileser I. It was a seat of the worship of Sin, the moon-god, from very ancient times. A temple was built by Shalmaneser II. Haran seems to have shared in the rebellion of Assur (763 BC, the year of the solar eclipse, June 15). The privileges then lost were restored by Sargon II. The temple, which had been destroyed, was rebuilt by Ashurbanipal, who was here crowned with the crown of Sin. Haran and the temple suffered much damage in the invasion of the Umman-Manda (the Medes). Nabuna`id restored temple and city, adorning them on a lavish scale. Near Haran the Parthians defeated and slew Crassus (53 BC), and here Caracalla was assassinated (217 AD). In the 4th century it was the seat of a bishopric; but the cult of the moon persisted far into the Christian centuries. The chief temple was the scene of heathen worship until the 11th century, and was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th. The ancient city is represented by the modern Charran to the Southeast of Edessa, on the river Belias, an affluent of the Euphrates. The ruins lie on both sides of the stream, and include those of a very ancient castle, built of great basaltic blocks, with square columns, 8 ft. thick, which support an arched roof some 30 ft. in height. Remains of the old cathedral are also conspicuous. No inscriptions have yet been found here, but a fragment of an Assyrian lion has been uncovered. A well nearby is identified as that where Eliezer met Rebekah. In Acts 7:2,4, the King James Version gives the name as Charran.
Genesis 11:29 - And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife [was] Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Genesis 12:4 - So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Genesis 12:5 - And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Genesis 11:32 - And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Ezekiel 27:23 - Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, [and] Chilmad, [were] thy merchants.
2 Kings 19:12 - Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Thelasar?
Isaiah 37:12 - Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Telassar?
Genesis 11:26 - And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Genesis 27:43 - Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
1 Chronicles 23:9 - The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These [were] the chief of the fathers of Laadan.
Genesis 11:28 - And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Genesis 28:10 - And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Genesis 29:4 - And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence [be] ye? And they said, Of Haran [are] we.
Genesis 11:27 - Now these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
1 Chronicles 2:46 - And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.
Genesis 11:31 - And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Shechem
THE city of Nabulus, one of the most ancient in Israel, is also one of the most interesting. It lies in the beautiful Valley of Shechem, which is about 500 yards wide, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. The place was originally called Shechem, and it was the first spot where Abraham pitched his tent after entering Canaan. It was a prominent place in the days of the Patriarchs, and is frequently mentioned in the Book of Genesis. It became, four centuries later, the first great gathering place of the Israelites after their occupation of the Promised Land. (Josh. 8:30-35.) Shechem was assigned to the Levites, and made a city of refuge. It was the first capital of the kingdom of Israel. It was called by the Romans Neapolis, and the Arabs have corrupted this into Nabulus, its modern name. Near the city is the well at which the Saviour held his discourse with the woman of Samaria. Jacob's well and the tomb of Joseph are also close by in the valley. A small remnant of the ancient Samaritans dwell here still, despised and persecuted by their Mahommedan masters. - Ancient Geography
Shechem in Easton's Bible Dictionary shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts 7:16). It stood in the narrow sheltered valley between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south, these mountains at their base being only some 500 yards apart. Here Abraham pitched his tent and built his first altar in the Promised Land, and received the first divine promise (Gen. 12:6, 7). Here also Jacob "bought a parcel of a field at the hands of the children of Hamor" after his return from Mesopotamia, and settled with his household, which he purged from idolatry by burying the teraphim of his followers under an oak tree, which was afterwards called "the oak of the sorcerer" (Gen. 33:19; 35:4; Judg. 9:37). (See MEONENIM ?T0002483.) Here too, after a while, he dug a well, which bears his name to this day (John 4:5, 39-42). To Shechem Joshua gathered all Israel "before God," and delivered to them his second parting address (Josh. 24:1-15). He "made a covenant with the people that day" at the very place where, on first entering the land, they had responded to the law from Ebal and Gerizim (Josh. 24:25), the terms of which were recorded "in the book of the law of God", i.e., in the roll of the law of Moses; and in memory of this solemn transaction a great stone was set up "under an oak" (comp. Gen. 28:18; 31:44-48; Ex. 24:4; Josh. 4:3, 8, 9), possibly the old "oak of Moreh," as a silent witness of the transaction to all coming time. Shechem became one of the cities of refuge, the central city of refuge for Western Israel (Josh. 20:7), and here the bones of Joseph were buried (24:32). Rehoboam was appointed king in Shechem (1 Kings 12:1, 19), but Jeroboam afterwards took up his residence here. This city is mentioned in connection with our Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria (John 4:5); and thus, remaining as it does to the present day, it is one of the oldest cities of the world. It is the modern Nablus, a contraction for Neapolis, the name given to it by Vespasian. It lies about a mile and a half up the valley on its southern slope, and on the north of Gerizim, which rises about 1,100 feet above it, and is about 34 miles north of Jerusalem. It contains about 10,000 inhabitants, of whom about 160 are Samaritans and 100 Jews, the rest being Christians and Mohammedans. The site of Shechem is said to be of unrivalled beauty. Stanley says it is "the most beautiful, perhaps the only very beautiful, spot in Central Israel." Gaza, near Shechem, only mentioned 1 Chr. 7:28, has entirely disappeared. It was destroyed at the time of the Conquest, and its place was taken by Shechem. (See SYCHAR ?T0003542.)
Shechem in Fausset's Bible Dictionary ("shoulder", or "upper part of the back just below the neck"); explained as if the town were on the shoulder of the heights dividing the waters that flow toward the Mediterranean on the W. and to the Jordan on the E.; or on a shoulder or ridge connected with Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Also called SICHEM, SYCHEM, and SYCHAR (John 4:5; Joshua 20:7; Judges 9:9; 1 Kings 12:25). Mount Gerizim is close by (Judges 9:7) on the southern side, Mount Ebal on the northern side. These hills at the base are but 500 yards apart. Vespasian named it Neapolis; coins are extant with its name "Flavia Neapolis"; now Nablus by corruption. The situation is lovely; the valley runs W. with a soil of rich, black, vegetable mold, watered by fountains, sending forth numerous streams flowing W.; orchards of fruit, olive groves, gardens of vegetables, and verdure on all sides delight the eye. On the E. of Gerizim and Ebal the flue plain of Mukhna stretches from N. to S. Here first in Canaan God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 12:6), and here he pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak or terebinth (not "plain") of Moreh; here too Jacob re-entered the promised land (Genesis 33:18- 19), and "bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent," from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, and bequeathed it subsequently to Joseph (Genesis 48:22; Joshua 24:32; John 4:5); a dwelling place, whereas Abraham's only purchase was a burial place. It lay in the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was increased by the well Jacob dug there. Joshua made "Shechem in Mount Ephraim" one of the six cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7). The suburbs in our Lord's days reached nearer the entrance of the valley between Gerizim and Ebal than now; for the narrative in John 4:30; John 4:35, implies that the people could be seen as they came from the town toward Jesus at the well, whereas Nablus now is more than a mile distant, and cannot be seen from that point. Josephus (B. J. 3:7, section 32) says that more than 10,000 of the inhabitants were once destroyed by the Romans, implying a much larger town and population than at present. (See DINAH; HAMOR.) frontJACOB on the massacre by Simeon and Levi, Genesis 34.) Under Abraham's oak at Shechem Jacob buried the family idols and amulets (Genesis 35:1-4). Probably too "the strange gods" or "the gods of the stranger" were those carried away by Jacob's sons from Shechem among the spoils (Genesis 35:2; Genesis 34:26-29). The charge to "be clean and change garments" may have respect to the recent slaughter of the Shechemites, which polluted those who took part in it (Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences). Shechem was for a time Ephraim's civil capital. as Shiloh was its religious capital (Judges 9:2; Judges 21:19; Joshua 24:1-25-26; 1 Kings 12:1). At the same "memorial terebinth" at Shechem the Shechemites made Abimelech king (Judges 9:6). Jotham's parable as to the trees, the vine, the fig, and the bramble, were most appropriate...
Shechem in Hitchcock's Bible Names part; portion; back early in the morning
Shechem in Naves Topical Bible 1. Also called SICHEM and SYCHEM, a district in the central part of the land of Canaan Abraham lives in Ge 12:6 The flocks and herds of Jacob kept in Ge 37:12-14 Joseph buried in Jos 24:32 Jacob buried in Ac 7:16; with Ge 50:13 -2. Also called SYCHAR, a city of refuge in Mount Ephraim Jos 20:7; 21:21; Jud 21:19 Joshua assembled the tribes of Israel at, with all their elders, chiefs, and judges, and presented them before the Lord Jos 24:1-28 Joshua buried at Jos 24:30-32 Abimelech made king at Jud 8:31; 9 Rehoboam crowned at 1Ki 12:1 Destroyed by Abimelech Jud 9:45 Rebuilt by Jeroboam 1Ki 12:25 Men of, killed by Ishmael Jer 41:5 Jesus visits; disciples made in Joh 4:1-42 -3. Son of Hamor; seduces Jacob's daughter; killed by Jacob's sons Ge 33:19; 34; Jos 24:32; Jud 9:28 Called SYCHEM Ac 7:16 -4. Ancestor of the Shechemites Nu 26:31; Jos 17:2 -5. Son of Shemidah 1Ch 7:19
Shechem in Smiths Bible Dictionary (back or shoulder). 1. An important city in central Israel, in the valley between mounts Ebal and Gerizim, 34 miles north of Jerusalem and 7 miles southeast of Samaria. Its present name, Nablus, is a corruption of Neapolis, which succeeded the more ancient Shechem, and received its new name from Vespasian. On coins still extant it is called Flavia Neapolis. The situation of the town is one of surpassing beauty. It lies in a sheltered valley, protected by Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north. The feet of these mountains, where they rise from the town, are not more than five hundred yards apart. The bottom of the valley is about 1800 feet above the level of the sea, and the top of Gerizim 800 feet higher still. The sit of the present city, which was also that of the Hebrew city, occurs exactly on the water-summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there flow down the opposite slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Travellers vie with each other in the language which they employ to describe the scene that here bursts so suddenly upon them on arriving in spring or early summer at this paradise of the holy land. "The whole valley," says Dr. Robinson, "was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams. it came upon us suddenly like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Israel." The allusions to Shechem in the Bible are numerous, and show how important the place was in Jewish history. Abraham, on his first migration to the land of promise, pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak (or terebinth) of Moreh at Shechem. "The Canaanite was then in the land;" and it is evident that the region, if not the city, was already in possession of the aboriginal race. See Ge 12:6 At the time of Jacob's arrival here, after his sojourn in Mesopotamia, Ge 33:18; 34 Shechem was a Hivite city, of which Hamor, the father of Shechem, was the headman. it was at this time that the patriarch purchased from that chieftain "the parcel of the field" which he subsequently bequeathed, as a special patrimony, to his son Joseph. Ge 33:19; Jos 24:32; Joh 4:5 The field lay undoubtedly on the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was the greater on account of the well which Jacob had dug there, so as not to be dependent on his neighbors for a supply of water. In the distribution of the land after its conquest by the Hebrews, Shechem fell to the lot of Ephraim, Jos 20:7 but was assigned to the Levites, and became a city of refuge. Jos 21:20,21 It acquired new importance as the scene of the renewed promulgation of the law, when its blessings were heard from Gerizim and its curses from Ebal, and the people bowed their heads and acknowledged Jehovah as their king and ruler. De 27:11; Jos 24:23-25 it was here Joshua assembled the people, shortly before his death, and delivered...
Shechem in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE she'-kem (shekhem, "shoulder"; Suchem, he Sikima, ta Sikima, etc.; the King James Version gives "Sichem" in Gen 12:6; and "Sychem" in Acts 7:16): 1. Historical: This place is first mentioned in connection with Abraham's journey from Haran. At the oak of Moreh in the vicinity he reared his first altar to the Lord in Israel (Gen 12:6 f). It was doubtless by this oak that Jacob, on his return from Paddan-aram, buried "the strange (the American Standard Revised Version "foreign") gods" (Gen 35:4). Hither he had come after his meeting with Esau (Gen 33:18). Eusebius, in Onomasticon, here identifies Shechem with Shalem; but see SHALEM. To the East of the city Jacob pitched his tent in a "parcel of ground" which he had bought from Hamor, Shechem's father (Gen 33:19). Here also he raised an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel, "God, the God of Israel" (Gen 33:20). Then follows the story of Dinah's defilement by Shechem, son of the city's chief; and of the treacherous and terrible vengeance exacted by Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34). To the rich pasture land near Shechem Joseph came to seek his brethren (Gen 37:12 ff). It is mentioned as lying to the West of Michmethath (el-Makhneh) on the boundary of Manasseh (Josh 17:7). It was in the territory of Ephraim; it was made a city of refuge, and assigned to the Kohathite Levites (Josh 20:7; 21:21). Near the city the Law was promulgated (Dt 27:11; Josh 8:33). When his end was approaching Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel here and addressed to them his final words of counsel and exhortation (chapter 24). Under the oak in the neighboring sanctuary he set up the stone of witness (24:26). The war of conquest being done, Joseph's bones were buried in the parcel of ground which Jacob had bought, and which fell to the lot of Joseph's descendants (24:33). Abimelech, whose mother was a native of the city, persuaded the men of Shechem to make him king (Jdg 9:1-6), evidently seeking a certain consecration from association with "the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem." Jotham's parable was spoken from the cliff of Gerizim overhanging the town (Jdg 9:7 ff). After a reign of three years Abimelech was rejected by the people. He captured the city, razed it to the foundations, and sowed it with salt. It was then the seat of Canaanite idolatry, the temple of Baal-berith being here (Jdg 9:4,46). In the time of the kings we find that the city was once more a gathering-place of the nation. It was evidently the center, especially for the northern tribes; and hither Rehoboam came in the hope of getting his succession to the throne confirmed (1 Ki 12:1; 2 Ch 10:1). At the disruption Jeroboam fortified the city and made it his residence (2 Ch 10:25; Ant, VIII, viii, 4). The capital of the Northern Kingdom was moved, however, first to Tirzah and then to Samaria, and Shechem declined in political importance. Indeed it is not named again in the history of the monarchy. Apparently there were Israelites in it after the captivity, some of whom on their way to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem met a tragic fate at the hands of Ishmael ben Nethaniah (Jer 41:5 ff). It became the central city of the Samaritans, whose shrine...
Joshua 17:2 - There was also [a lot] for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these [were] the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.
1 Chronicles 7:28 - And their possessions and habitations [were], Bethel and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:
Genesis 34:24 - And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
1 Chronicles 6:67 - And they gave unto them, [of] the cities of refuge, Shechem in mount Ephraim with her suburbs; [they gave] also Gezer with her suburbs,
Judges 21:19 - Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
Genesis 34:20 - And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,
Numbers 26:31 - And [of] Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and [of] Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:
Judges 9:2 - Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether [is] better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, [which are] threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I [am] your bone and your flesh.
Joshua 20:7 - And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
Joshua 24:1 - And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
Judges 9:31 - And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.
Judges 9:49 - And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put [them] to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
Judges 9:7 - And when they told [it] to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
Genesis 33:18 - And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which [is] in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.
Joshua 21:21 - For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,
Judges 9:1 - And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
1 Kings 12:25 - Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
Genesis 35:4 - And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which [were] in their hand, and [all their] earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by Shechem.
Judges 9:18 - And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he [is] your brother;)
Jeremiah 41:5 - That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, [even] fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring [them] to the house of the LORD.
Judges 9:24 - That the cruelty [done] to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.
Judges 9:3 - And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He [is] our brother.
Genesis 34:13 - And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
Joshua 17:7 - And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that [lieth] before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of Entappuah.
Genesis 34:8 - And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
Genesis 37:14 - And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Judges 9:41 - And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
Psalms 60:6 - God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
Psalms 108:7 - God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
Genesis 34:26 - And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
Hebron
HEBRON is one of the most ancient cities in the world still existing, and it is in this respect the rival of Damascus. It was originally called Kirjath-Arba, " The city of Arba." It was afterwards known as Mamre. The vicinity was long the favorite camping-ground of the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt here, and it was here that Abraham bought a tomb - the Cave of Machpelah. After the occupation of the land by the Israelites, Hebron became one of the cities of refuge. It was David's first capital. The town was situated in a narrow valley - the "Valley of the Eschol; " whose sides are clothed with vineyards, groves of olives, and other fruit trees. The valley runs from north to south, and the main quarter of the town, surmounted by the lofty walls of the great mosque, lies partly on the eastern slope. The houses are stone, solidly built, flat-roofed, and have each one or two little cupolas, such as are seen in several parts of Israel. The town has no walls; but the main streets opening on the principal roads have gates. The population is about 8000, of which about 600 are Jews; the remainder Turks and Arabs. - Ancient Geography
Hebron in Easton's Bible Dictionary a community; alliance. (1.) A city in the south end of the valley of Eshcol, about midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, from which it is distant about 20 miles in a straight line. It was built "seven years before Zoan in Egypt" (Gen. 13:18; Num. 13:22). It still exists under the same name, and is one of the most ancient cities in the world. Its earlier name was Kirjath-arba (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 14:15; 15:3). But "Hebron would appear to have been the original name of the city, and it was not till after Abraham's stay there that it received the name Kirjath-arba, who [i.e., Arba] was not the founder but the conqueror of the city, having led thither the tribe of the Anakim, to which he belonged. It retained this name till it came into the possession of Caleb, when the Israelites restored the original name Hebron" (Keil, Com.). The name of this city does not occur in any of the prophets or in the New Testament. It is found about forty times in the Old. It was the favorite home of Abraham. Here he pitched his tent under the oaks of Mamre, by which name it came afterwards to be known; and here Sarah died, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 23:17- 20), which he bought from Ephron the Hittite. From this place the patriarch departed for Egypt by way of Beersheba (37:14; 46:1). It was taken by Joshua and given to Caleb (Josh. 10:36, 37; 12:10; 14:13). It became a Levitical city and a city of refuge (20:7; 21:11). When David became king of Judah this was his royal residence, and he resided here for seven and a half years (2 Sam. 5:5); and here he was anointed as king over all Israel (2 Sam. 2:1-4, 11; 1 Kings 2:11). It became the residence also of the rebellious Absalom (2 Sam. 15:10), who probably expected to find his chief support in the tribe of Judah, now called el-Khulil. In one part of the modern city is a great mosque, which is built over the grave of Machpelah. The first European who was permitted to enter this mosque was the Prince of Wales in 1862. It was also visited by the Marquis of Bute in 1866, and by the late Emperor Frederick of Germany (then Crown-Prince of Prussia) in 1869. One of the largest oaks in Israel is found in the valley of Eshcol, about 3 miles north of the town. It is supposed by some to be the tree under which Abraham pitched his tent, and is called "Abraham's oak." (See OAK ?T0002758.) (2.) The third son of Kohath the Levite (Ex. 6:18; 1 Chr. 6:2, 18). (3.) 1 Chr. 2:42, 43. (4.) A town in the north border of Asher (Josh. 19:28).
Hebron in Fausset's Bible Dictionary 1. Third son of Kohath; younger brother of Amram, father of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:18). The family of Hebronites sprang from him. In the 40th year of David's reign 2,700 of them, at Jazer in Gilead, "mighty men of valor," superintended for the king the two and a half tribes "in matters pertaining to God and the king" (1 Chronicles 26:30- 32); Jerijah was their chief. Also Hashabiah and 1,700 Hebronites were officers "in all the Lord's business and the king's service" on the W. of Jordan. 2. 1 Chronicles 2:42-43. 3. A city in the hill country of Judah, originally Kirjath (the city of) Arba (Joshua 15:13; Joshua 14:15). "Arba was a great man among the Anakims, father of Anak." (See Joshua 21:11; Judges 1:10.) Twenty Roman miles S. of Jerusalem, and twenty N. of Beersheba. Rivaling Damascus in antiquity. Built seven years before Zoan in Egypt (Numbers 13:22). Well known at Abram's entrance into Canaan, 3,780 years ago (Genesis 42:18). Hebron was the original name, changed to Kirjath Arba during Israel's sojourn in Egypt, and restored by Caleb, to whom it was given at the conquest of Israel (Genesis 23:2; Joshua 14:13-15). The third resting place of Abram; Shechem was the first, Bethel the second. Near Hebron was the cave of Machpelah, where he and Sarah were buried. Now El Khalil, the house of "the friend" of God. Over the cave is now the mosque El Haran, from which all but Muslims are excluded jealously (though the Prince of Wales was admitted), and in which probably lie the remains of Abraham and Isaac, and possibly Jacob's embalmed body, brought up in state from Egypt (Genesis 50:13). Near it was the oak or terebinth, a place of pagan worship. Hebron was called for a time also Mamre, from Abram's ally (Genesis 23:19; Genesis 35:27). It was made a Levite city of refuge (Joshua 21:11-13). Still there is an oak bearing Abraham's name, 23 ft. in girth, and covering 90 ft. space in diameter. In Hebron, David reigned over Judah first for seven and a half years (2 Samuel 5:5). Here Absalom set up the standard of revolt. On the return from Babylon some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kirjath Arba (Nehemiah 11:25). After various vicissitudes it fell into the Moslems' hands in A.D. 1187, and has continued so ever since. It is picturesquely situated in a narrow valley running from N. to S. (probably that of Eshcol, whence the spies got the great cluster of grapes, Numbers 13:23), surrounded by rocky hills, still famed for fine grapes. S. of the town in the bottom of the valley is a tank, 130 ft. square by 50 deep. At the western end is another, 85 ft. long by 55 broad. Over the former probably David hung Ishbosheth's murderers (2 Samuel 4:12). 4. A town in Asher; spelled in Hebrew differently from the former Hebron. Abdon is read in many manuscripts
Hebron in Hitchcock's Bible Names society; friendship
Hebron in Naves Topical Bible 1. A city of the territory of the tribe of Asher Jos 19:28 -2. A city of the tribe of Judah, south of Jerusalem When built Nu 13:22 Fortified 2Ch 11:10 Called KIRJATH-ARBA Ge 23:2 ARBA Ge 35:27; Jos 15:13 Abraham lived there and Sarah died at Ge 23:2 Hoham, king of, confederated with other kings of the Canaanites against Joshua Jos 10:3-39 Descendants of the Anakim live at Nu 13:22; Jos 11:21 Conquest of, by Caleb Jos 14:6-15; Jud 1:10,20 A city of refuge Jos 20:7; 21:11,13 David crowned king of Judah at 2Sa 2:1-11; 3 David crowned king of Israel at 2Sa 5:1-5 The burial place of Sarah Ge 23:2 The burial place of Abner 2Sa 3:32 The burial place of Ish-bosheth 2Sa 4:12 The conspirators against Ish-bosheth hanged at 2Sa 4:12 Absalom made king at 2Sa 15:9,10 Jews of the Babylonian captivity lived at Ne 11:25 Pool of 2Sa 4:12 -3. Son of Kohath Ex 6:18; Nu 3:19; 1Ch 6:2,18; 23:12,19
Hebron in Smiths Bible Dictionary (alliance). 1. The third son of Kohath, who was the second son of Levi. Ex 6:18; Nu 3:19; 1Ch 6:2,18; 23:12 He was the founder of a family of Hebronites, Nu 3:27; 26:58; 1Ch 26:23,30,31, or Bene-Hebron. 1Ch 15:9; 23:19 2. A city of Judah, Jos 15:54 situated among the mountains, Jos 20:7 20 Roman miles south of Jerusalem, and the same distance north of Beersheba. Hebron is one of the most ancient cities in the world still existing; and in this respect it is the rival of Damascus. It was a well-known town when Abraham entered Canaan, 3800 years ago. Ge 13:18 Its original name was Kirjath-arba, Jud 1:10 "the city of Arba;" so called from Arba the father of Anak. Jos 15:13,14; 21:13 Sarah died at Hebron; and Abraham then bought from Ephron the Hittite the field and cave of Machpelah, to serve as a family tomb Ge 23:2-20 The cave is still there, and the massive walls of the Haram or mosque, within which it lies, form the most remarkable object in the whole city. Abraham is called by Mohammedans el-Khulil, "the Friend," i.e. of God, and this is the modern name of Hebron. Hebron now contains about 5000 inhabitants, of whom some fifty families are Jews. It is picturesquely situated in a narrow valley, surrounded by rocky hills. The valley runs from north to south; and the main quarter of the town, surmounted by the lofty walls of the venerable Haram, lies partly on the eastern slope. Ge 37:14 comp. Gene 23:19 About a mile from the town, up the valley, is one of the largest oak trees in Israel. This, say some, is the very tree beneath which Abraham pitched his tent, and it still bears the name of the patriarch. 3. One of the towns in the territory of Asher, Jos 19:28 probably Ebdon or Abdom.
Hebron in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE he'-brun (chebhron, "league" or "confederacy"; Chebron): One of the most ancient and important cities in Southern Israel, now known to the Moslems as el Khalil (i.e. Khalil er Rahman, "the friend of the Merciful," i.e. of God, a favorite name for Abraham; compare Jas 2:23). The city is some 20 miles South of Jerusalem, situated in an open valley, 3,040 ft. above sea-level. I. History of the City. Hebron is said to have been rounded before Zoan (i.e. Tanis) in Egypt (Nu 13:22); its ancient name was Kiriath-arba, probably meaning the "Four Cities," perhaps because divided at one time into four quarters, but according to Jewish writers so called because four patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Adam were buried there. According to Josh 15:13 it was so called after Arba, the father of Anak. 1. Patriarchal Period: Abram came and dwelt by the oaks of MAMRE (which see), "which are in Hebron" Gen (13:18); from here he went to the rescue of Lot and brought him back after the defeat of Chedorlaomer (14:13 f); here his name was changed to Abraham (17:5); to this place came the three angels with the promise of a son (18:1 f); Sarah died here (23:2), and for her sepulcher Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah (23:17); here Isaac and Jacob spent much of their lives (35:27; 37:14); from here Jacob sent Joseph to seek his brethren (37:14), and hence, Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt (46:1). In the cave of Machpelah all the patriarchs and their wives, except Rachel, were buried (49:30 f; 50:13). 2. Times of Joshua and Judges: The spies visited Hebron and near there cut the cluster of grapes (Nu 13:22 f). HOHAM (which see), king of Hebron, was one of the five kings defeated by Joshua at Beth-horon and slain at Makkedah (Josh 10:3 f). Caleb drove out from Hebron the "three sons of Anak" (Josh 14:12; 15:14); it became one of the cities of Judah (Josh 15:54), but was set apart for the Kohathite Levites (Josh 21:10 f), and became a city of refuge (Josh 20:7). One of Samson's exploits was the carrying of the gate of Gaza "to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron" (Jdg 16:3). 3. The Days of the Monarchy: David, when a fugitive, received kindness from the people of this city (1 Sam 30:31); here Abner was treacherously slain by Joab at the gate (2 Sam 3:27), and the sons of Rimmon, after their hands and feet had been cut off, were hanged "beside the pool" (2 Sam 4:12). After the death of Saul, David was here anointed king (2 Sam 5:3) and reigned here 7 1/2 years, until he captured Jerusalem and made that his capital (2 Sam 5:5); while here, six sons were born to him (2 Sam 3:2). In this city Absalom found a center for his disaffection, and repairing there under pretense of performing a vow to Yahweh, he raised the standard of revolt (2 Sam 15:7 f). Josephus mistakenly places here the dream of Solomon (Ant., VIII, ii, 1) which occurred at Gibeon (1 Ki 3:4). Hebron was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Ch 11:10). 4. Later History: Probably during the captivity Hebron came into the hands of Edom, though it appears to have been colonized by returning Jews (Neh 11:25); it was recovered from Edom by Simon Maccabeus (1 Macc 5:65; Josephus, Ant, XII, viii, 6). In the first great revolt...
Bethel
Bethel in Easton's Bible Dictionary house of God. (1.) A place in Central Israel, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The name Bethel was at first apparently given to the sanctuary in the neighbourhood of Luz, and was not given to the city itself till after its conquest by the tribe of Ephraim. When Abram entered Canaan he formed his second encampment between Bethel and Hai (Gen. 12:8); and on his return from Egypt he came back to it, and again "called upon the name of the Lord" (13:4). Here Jacob, on his way from Beersheba to Haran, had a vision of the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached unto heaven (28:10, 19); and on his return he again visited this place, "where God talked with him" (35:1-15), and there he "built an altar, and called the place El- beth-el" (q.v.). To this second occasion of God's speaking with Jacob at Bethel, Hosea (12:4,5) makes reference. In troublous times the people went to Bethel to ask counsel of God (Judg. 20:18, 31; 21:2). Here the ark of the covenant was kept for a long time under the care of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (20:26-28). Here also Samuel held in rotation his court of justice (1 Sam. 7:16). It was included in Israel after the kingdom was divided, and it became one of the seats of the worship of the golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-33; 13:1). Hence the prophet Hosea (Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5, 8) calls it in contempt Beth-aven, i.e., "house of idols." Bethel remained an abode of priests even after the kingdom of Israel was desolated by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:28, 29). At length all traces of the idolatries were extirpated by Josiah, king of Judah (2 Kings 23:15-18); and the place was still in existence after the Captivity (Ezra 2:28; Neh. 7:32). It has been identified with the ruins of Beitin, a small village amid extensive ruins some 9 miles south of Shiloh. (2.) Mount Bethel was a hilly district near Bethel (Josh. 16:1; 1 Sam. 13:2). (3.) A town in the south of Judah (Josh. 8:17; 12:16).
Bethel in Fausset's Bible Dictionary ("house of God".) 1. Abram pitched his tent on a mountain E. of Bethel, abounding in pasture (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). The city, near the place, then bore the Canaanite name Luz. Bethel is the name given by anticipation to the place; appropriately so, as Abram virtually made it the "house of God." It was expressly so named by Jacob, when he had the vision of the heavenly ladder, on his way from his father at Beersheba to Harsh (Genesis 28:19; Genesis 31:13). He set up a pillar, and anointed it with oil, to mark the place where God spoke with him. Bethel, the place, is expressly distinguished from Luz, the old Canaanite city. "Jacob called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city was called Luz at the first" (Joshua 16:1-2). The naming of Bethel Jacob repeated more publicly on his return home, 20 years later, with his family purified of idols, when God again appeared to him, and confirmed his change of name to Israel (Genesis 35:1-15; Genesis 32:28). Bethel belonged by lot to Benjamin, but was falcon by Ephraim (Bethel being on his southern border) through the treachery of an inhabitant (Judges 1:22-26). It was about 12 miles N. of Jerusalem. In Judges 20:26 translate for "the house of God" Bethel. During the civil war with Benjamin the tribes took the ark thither to consult God (compare 1 Samuel 10:3). It was one of Samuel's towns of circuit for judging (1 Samuel 7:16). One of Jeroboam's two sanctuaries for the calf worship, selected doubtless because of its religious associations (1 Kings 12-13). There the prophet from Judah foretold the overthrow of the calf altar by Josiah. Abijah, king of Judah, took Bethel from Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:19), but it was soon recovered by Israel. Under Ahab the Baal worship at Samaria and Jezreel drew off attention from the calf worship at Bethel. This accounts for a school of prophets of Jehovah being there in Elijah's time (2 Kings 2:2-3). The existence of "bears," two, near the town, implies that Bethel was then less frequented (2 Kings 2:23- 25). Under Jehu, who restored the calf worship, and Jeroboam II his great grandson, Bethel comes again into prominence (2 Kings 10:29). Bethel became the king's chapel" (sanctuary) "the king's court" ("house of the kingdom") (Amos 7:13; Amos 3:14-15). More altars, besides the original one were erected. "Summer and winter houses" too, and "great houses" and "houses of ivory." After the overthrow of Israel, the king of Assyria sent one of the Israelite priests to settle at Bethel, and teach the new settlers from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, "the manner of the god of the land," and "how they should fear Jehovah" (2 Kings 17:27- 28). Josiah, as foretold, defiled the altar with dead men's bones, but disturbed not the sepulchre of the prophet of Judab when he discerned its title. It was ordered by God that the votaries of the calf worship at Bethel never dared to violate the sepulchre and title of the prophet who denounced their idol. The worship of Jehovah and of the calves had been all along strangely blended. (See BETHAVEN.) Among those returning from captivity were men of Bethel (Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32; Nehemiah 11:31.) The ruins, covering three or four acres, still bear a like name, Beitin, on a low bill, between two wadies, which unite in the main valley of es-Suweinit, toward the S.E. Bethel still abounds in stones such as Jacob used for his pillow and afterward for a sanctuary. On the round mount S.E. of Bethel. Abram doubtless built the altar, and afterwards stood with Lot when giving him his choice of the land (Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:10). E. of this mount stands the ruin Tel er Rijmah, "the mound of the heap," answering to Ai or Hai. Ritter makes Medinet Gai answer to Ai. 2. A town in southern Judah (Joshua 12:16; 1 Samuel 30:27). Bethel in Joshua 19:4 answers to Chesil in Joshua 15:30. Bethuel, 1 Chronicles 4:30. Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho under the curse (1 Kings 16:34).
Bethel in Hitchcock's Bible Names the house of God
Bethel in Naves Topical Bible 1. A city north of Jerusalem The ancient city adjacent to, and finally embraced in, was called Luz Jos 18:13; Jud 1:23-26 Abraham estblishes an altar at Ge 12:8; 13:3,4 The place where Jacob saw the vision of the ladder Ge 28:10-22; 31:13; Ho 12:4 And builds an altar at Ge 35:1-15 Deborah dies at Ge 35:8 Conquered by Joshua Jos 8:17; with 12:16 Conquered by the household of Joseph Jud 1:22-26 Allotted to Benjamin Jos 18:13,22 Court of justice held at By Deborah Jud 4:5 By Samuel 1Sa 7:16 Tabernacle at, and called HOUSE OF GOD Jud 20:18,31; 21:2 Jeroboam institutes idolatrous worship at 1Ki 12:25-33; 2Ki 10:29 Idolatry at Jer 48:13; Am 4:4 Shalmanezer sends a priest to 2Ki 17:27,28 Prophecies against the idolatrous altars at 1Ki 13:1-6,32; 2Ki 23:4,15-20; Am 3:14 The school of prophets at 2Ki 2:3 The young men of, mock Elisha 2Ki 2:23,24 People of, return from Babylon Ezr 2:28; Ne 7:32 Prophecies against Am 5:5 -2. A city in the south of territory of the tribe of Judah 1Sa 30:27 -3. A mountain 1Sa 13:2
Bethel in Smiths Bible Dictionary (the house of God) well known city and holy place of central Israel, about 12 mlles north of Jerusalem. If we are to accept the precise definition of Ge 12:8 the name of Bethel would appear to have existed at this spot even before the arrival of Abram in Canaan. Ge 12:8; 13:3,4 Bethel was the scene of Jacob's vision. Ge 28:11-19; 31:13 Jacob lived there. Ge 35:1-8 The original name was Luz. Jud 1:22,23 After the conquest Bethel is frequently heard of. In the troubled times when there was no king in Israel, it was to Bethel that the people went up in their distress to ask counsel of God. Jud 20:18,26,31; 21:2 Authorized Version, "house of God." Here was the ark of the covenant. Jud 20:26- 28; 21:4 Later it is named as one of the holy cities to which Samuel went on circuit. 1Sa 7:16 Here Jeroboab placed one of the two calves of gold. Toward the end of Jeroboam's life Bethel fell into the hands of Judah. 2Ch 13:19 Elijah visited Bethel, and we hear of "sons of the prophets" as resident there. 2Ki 2:2,3 But after the destruction of Baal worship by Jehu Bethel comes once more into view. 2Ki 10:29 After the desolation of the northern kingdom by the king of Assyria, Bethel still remained an abode of priests. 2Ki 17:27,28 In later times Bethel is named only once under the scarcely-altered name of Beitin. Its ruins still lie on the righthand side of the road from Jerusalem to Nablus. 2. A town in the south part of Judah, named in Jos 12:16 and 1Sam 30:27 In Jos 15:30; 19:4; 1Ch 4:29,30 the place appears under the name of CHESIL, BETHUL and BETHUEL. Hiel the Bethelite is recorded as the rebuilder of Jericho. 1Ki 16:34 3. In Jos 16:1 and 1Sam 13:2 Mount Bethel, a hilly section near Beth-el, is referred to.
Bethel in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE beth'-el (beth-'el; Baithel and oikos theou, literally, "house of God"): (1) A town near the place where Abraham halted and offered sacrifice on his way south from Shechem. 1. Identification and Description: It lay West of Ai (Gen 12:8). It is named as on the northern border of Benjamin (the southern of Ephraim, Josh 16:2), at the top of the ascent from the Jordan valley by way of Ai (Josh 18:13). It lay South of Shiloh (Jdg 21:19). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 12 Roman miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. It is represented by the modern Beitin, a village of some 400 inhabitants, which stands on a knoll East of the road to Nablus. There are four springs which yield supplies of good water. In ancient times these were supplemented by a reservoir hewn in the rock South of the town. The surrounding country is bleak and barren, the hills being marked by a succession of stony terraces, which may have suggested the form of the ladder in Jacob's famous dream. 2. The Sanctuary: The town was originally called Luz (Gen 28:19, etc.). When Jacob came hither on his way to Paddan-aram we are told that he lighted upon "the place" (Gen 28:11. Hebrew). The Hebrew maqom, like the cognate Arabic maqam, denotes a sacred place or sanctuary. The maqom was doubtless that at which Abraham had sacrificed, East of the town. In the morning Jacob set up "for a pillar" the stone which had served as his pillow (Gen 28:18; see PILLAR, matstsebhah), poured oil upon it and called the name of the place Bethel, "house of God"; that is, of God whose epiphany was for him associated with the pillar. This spot became a center of great interest, lending growing importance to the town. In process of time the name Luz disappeared, giving place to that of the adjoining sanctuary, town and sanctuary being identified. Jacob revisited the place on his return from Paddan-aram; here Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under "the oak" (Gen 35:6 f). Probably on rising ground East of Bethel Abraham and Lot stood to view the uninviting highlands and the rich lands of the Jordan valley (Gen 13:9 ff). 3. History: Bethel was a royal city of the Canaanites (Josh 12:16). It appears to have been captured by Joshua (8:7), and it was allotted to Benjamin (Josh 18:22). In Jdg 1:22 ff it is represented as held by Canaanites, from whom the house of Joseph took it by treachery (compare 1 Ch 7:28). Hither the ark was brought from Gilgal (Jdg 2:1, Septuagint). Israel came to Bethel to consult the Divine oracle (Jdg 20:18), and it became an important center of worship (1 Sam 10:3). The home of the prophetess Deborah was not far off (Jdg 4:5). Samuel visited Bethel on circuit, judging Israel (1 Sam 7:16). With the disruption of the kingdom came Bethel's greatest...
2 Kings 23:15 - Moreover the altar that [was] at Bethel, [and] the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, [and] stamped [it] small to powder, and burned the grove.
1 Chronicles 7:28 - And their possessions and habitations [were], Bethel and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:
2 Kings 2:23 - And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2 Chronicles 13:19 - And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
1 Samuel 10:3 - Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
1 Kings 12:33 - So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, [even] in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Joshua 8:17 - And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
1 Samuel 13:2 - Saul chose him three thousand [men] of Israel; [whereof] two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
2 Kings 23:4 - And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
Joshua 12:9 - The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which [is] beside Bethel, one;
Joshua 12:16 - The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
Genesis 31:13 - I [am] the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, [and] where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
Joshua 18:13 - And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which [is] Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that [lieth] on the south side of the nether Bethhoron.
1 Kings 13:4 - And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
Joshua 16:1 - And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel,
Genesis 28:19 - And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city [was called] Luz at the first.
Amos 7:10 - Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
Amos 7:13 - But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it [is] the king's chapel, and it [is] the king's court.
Joshua 8:9 - Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
Amos 3:14 - That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
Jeremiah 48:13 - And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
1 Samuel 7:16 - And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.
2 Kings 23:19 - And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
Genesis 35:1 - And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
1 Kings 13:32 - For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which [are] in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
Judges 4:5 - And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
2 Kings 2:3 - And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace.
2 Kings 23:17 - Then he said, What title [is] that that I see? And the men of the city told him, [It is] the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
Joshua 7:2 - And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which [is] beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
1 Kings 13:1 - And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
The Ancient Nile River
Nile River in Easton's Bible Dictionary dark; blue, not found in Scripture, but frequently referred to in the Old Testament under the name of Sihor, i.e., "the black stream" (Isa. 23:3; Jer. 2:18) or simply "the river" (Gen. 41:1; Ex. 1:22, etc.) and the "flood of Egypt" (Amos 8:8). It consists of two rivers, the White Nile, which takes its rise in the Victoria Nyanza, and the Blue Nile, which rises in the Abyssinian Mountains. These unite at the town of Khartoum, whence it pursues its course for 1,800 miles, and falls into the Mediterranean through its two branches, into which it is divided a few miles north of Cairo, the Rosetta and the Damietta branch. (See EGYPT ?T0001137.)
Nile River in Fausset's Bible Dictionary Not so named in the Bible; related to Sanskrit Nilah, "blue." The Nile has two names: the sacred name Hapi, or Hapi-mu, "the abyss of waters," Hp-ro-mu, "the waters whose source is hidden"; and the common name Yeor Aor, Aur (Atur): both Egyptian names. Shihor, "the black river," is its other Bible name, Greek Melas or Kmelas, Latin Melo, darkened by the fertilizing soil which it deposits at its overflow (Jeremiah 2:18). The hieroglyphic name of Egypt is Kam, "black." Egyptians distinguished between Hapi-res, the "southern Nile" of Upper Egypt, and Hapi-meheet, the "northern Nile" of Lower Egypt. Hapi-ur, "the high Nile," fertilizes the land; the Nile low brought famine. The Nile god is painted red to represent the inundation, but blue at other times. An impersonation of Noah (Osburn). Famine and plenty are truly represented as coming up out of the river in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41). Therefore they worshipped it, and the plague on its waters, was a judgment on that idolatry (Exodus 7:21; Psalm 105:29). (See EGYPT; EXODUS.) The rise begins at the summer solstice; the flood is two months later, after the autumnal equinox, at its height pouring through cuttings in the banks which are higher than the rest of the soil and covering the valley, and lasting three months. (Amos 8:8; Amos 9:5; Isaiah 23:3). The appointed S.W. bound of Israel (Joshua 13:3; 1 Chronicles 13:5; 2 Chronicles 9:26; Genesis 15:18). 1 Kings 8:65 "stream" (nachal, not "river".) Its confluent is still called the Blue river; so Nilah means "darkblue," or "black." The plural "rivers" is used for the different mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile. The tributaries are further up than Egypt (Psalm 78:44; Exodus 7:18-20; Isaiah 7:18; Isaiah 19:6; Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 30:12). "The stream (nachal) of Egypt" seems distinct (Isaiah 27:12), now "wady el Arish" (where was the frontier city Rhino-corura) on the confines of Israel and Egypt (Joshua 15:4; Joshua 15:47, where for "river" should stand "stream," nachal)). Smith's Bible Dictionary suggests that nachal) is related to the Nile and is that river; but the distinctness with which nachal) is mentioned, and not as elsewhere Sihor, or "river," Ye'or, forbids the identification. "The rivers of Ethiopia" (Isaiah 18:1-2), Cush, are the Atbara, the Astapus or Blue river, between which two rivers Meroe (the Ethiopia meant in Isaiah 18) lies, and the Astaboras or White Nile; these rivers conjoin in the one Nile, and wash down the soil along their banks from Upper Egypt, and deposit it on Lower Egypt; compare "whose land (Upper Egypt) the rivers have spoiled" or "cut up" or "divided." The Nile is called "the sea" (Isaiah 19:5), for it looks a sea at the overflow; the Egyptians still call it El Bahr "the sea" (Nahum 3:8). Its length measured by its course is probably 3,700 miles, the longest in the world. Its bed is cut through layers of nummulitic limestone (of which the pyramids of Ghizeh are built, full of nummulites, which the Arabs call "Pharaoh's beans"), sandstone under that, breccia verde under that, azoic rocks still lower, with red granite and syenite rising through all the upper strata...
Nile River in Naves Topical Bible Called THE RIVER Isa 11:15; 19:5-10; Eze 29:4; Am 8:8 -Called SIHOR Isa 23:3; Jer 2:18
Nile River in Smiths Bible Dictionary (blue, dark), the great river of Egypt. The word Nile nowhere occurs in the Authorized Version but it is spoken of under the names of Sihor [SIHOR] and the "river of Egypt." Ge 15:18 We cannot as yet determine the length of the Nile, although recent discoveries have narrowed the question. There is scarcely a doubt that its largest confluent is fed by the great lakes on and south of the equator. It has been traced upward for about 2700 miles, measured by its course, not in a direct line, and its extent is probably over 1000 miles more. (The course of the river has been traced for 3300 miles. For the first 1800 miles (McClintock and Strong say 2300) from its mouth it receives no tributary; but at Kartoom, the capital of Nubia, is the junction of the two great branches, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, so called from the color of the clay which tinges their waters. The Blue Nile rises in the mountains of Abyssinia and is the chief source of the deposit which the Nile brings to Egypt. The White Nile is the larger branch. Late travellers have found its source in Lake Victoria Nyanza, three degrees south of the equator. From this lake to the mouth of the Nile the distance is 2300 miles in a straight line --one eleventh the circumference of the globe. From the First Cataract, at Syene, the river flows smoothly at the rate of two or three miles an hour with a width of half a mile. to Cairo. A little north of Cairo it divides into two branches, one flowing to Rosetta and the other to Damietta, from which place the mouths are named. See Bartlett's "Egypt and Israel," 1879. The great peculiarity of the river is its annual overflow, caused by the periodical tropical rains. "With wonderful clock-like regularity the river begins to swell about the end of June, rises 24 feet at Cairo between the 20th and 30th of September and falls as much by the middle of May. Six feet higher than this is devastation; six feet lower is destitution." --Bartlett. So that the Nile increases...
Nile River in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE nil (Neilos, meaning not certainly known; perhaps refers to the color of the water, as black or blue. This name does not occur in the Hebrew of the Old Testament or in the English translation): I. THE NILE IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 1. Description 2. Geological Origin 3. The Making of Egypt 4. The Inundation 5. The Infiltration II. THE NILE IN HISTORY 1. The Location of Temples 2. The Location of Cemeteries 3. The Damming of the Nile 4. Egyptian Famines III. THE NILE IN RELIGION 1. The Nile as a God 2. The Nile in the Osirian Myth 3. The Celestial Nile A river of North Africa, the great river of Egypt. The name employed in the Old Testament to designate the Nile is in the Hebrew ye'or, Egyptian aur, earlier, atur, usually translated "river," also occasionally "canals" (Ps 78:44; Ezek 29:3 ff). In a general way it means all the water of Egypt. The Nile is also the principal river included in the phrase nahare kush, "rivers of Ethiopia" (Isa 18:1). Poetically the Nile is called yam, "sea" (Job 41:31; Nah 3:8; probably Isa 18:2), but this is not a name of the river. shichor, not always written fully, has also been interpreted in a mistaken way of the Nile (see SHIHOR). Likewise nahar mitsrayim, "brook of Egypt," a border stream in no way connected with the Nile, has sometimes been mistaken for that river. See RIVER OF EGYPT. I. The Nile in Physical Geography. 1. Description: The Nile is formed by the junction of the White Nile and the Blue Nile in latitude 15 degree 45' North and longitude 32 degree 45' East. The Blue Nile rises in the highlands of Abyssinia, latitude 12 degree 30' North, long. 35 degree East, and flows Northwest 850 miles to its junction with the White North. The White Nile, the principal branch of the North, rises in Victoria Nyanza, a great lake in Central Africa, a few miles North of the equator, long. 33 degree East (more exactly the Nile may be said to rise at the headwaters of the Ragera River, a small stream on the other side of the lake, 3 degree South of the equator), and flows North in a tortuous channel, 1,400 miles to its junction with the Blue Nile. From this junction-point the Niles flows North through Nubia and Egypt 1,900 miles and empties into the Mediterranean Sea, in latitude 32 degree North, through 2 mouths, the Rosetta, East of Alexandria, and the Damietta, West of Port Said. There were formerly 7 mouths scattered along a coast-line of 140 miles. 2. Geological Origin: The Nile originated...
Ancient Memphis
Hosea 9:6 - For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles.
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