arabah Summary and Overview

plain, in the Revised Version of 2 Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16; 8:14; 2 Sam. 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has "plain"); Amos 6:14 (A.V. "wilderness"). This word is found in the Authorized Version only in Josh. 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor. But the Ghor is sometimes spoken of as extending 10 miles south of the Dead Sea, and thence to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red Sea is called the Wady el-Arabah.

(burnt up). Although this word appears in the Authorized Version in its original shape only in #Jos 18:18| yet in the Hebrew text it is of frequent occurrence. It indicates more particularly the deep-sunken valley or trench which forms the most striking among the many striking natural features of Israel, and which extends with great uniformity of formation from the slopes of Hermon to the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akabah) of the Red Sea; the most remarkable depression known to exist on the surface of the globe. Through the northern portion of this extraordinary fissure the Jordan rushes through the lakes of Huleh and Gennesaret down its tortuous course to the deep chasm of the Dead Sea. This portion, about 150 miles in length, is known amongst the Arabs by the name of el-Ghor. The southern boundary of the (Ghor is the wall of cliffs which crosses the valley about 10 miles south of the Dead Sea. From their summits, southward to the Gulf of Akabah, the valley changes its name, or, it would be more accurate to say, retains old name of Wady el-Arabah.

AR'ABAH (burnt up), a word of frequent use in the Hebrew, though found only once in the English, version. Josh 18:18. It is the name applied to the deep sunken valley which extends from Mount Hermon to the Elamitic Gulf of the Red Sea. This remarkable depression is about 250 miles long, and includes the Sea of Galilee and the Salt, or Dead, Sea, In some passages in Deuteronomy, the plain or "the Arabah" refers to the southern portion of the valley, between the Salt Sea and the Red Sea, Deut 1:1; Deut 2:8; in other passages the word doubtless refers to the northern portion of that valley along the Jordan, which the Arabs now call el-Ghor. See Jordan. Arabah is now applied only to that portion of the valley which stretches from the chalk-cliffs below the Dead Sea southward to the Gulf of Akabah-- Elanitic Gulf. It is about 100 miles long and from 4 to 16 miles wide. The limestone walls on the west of the valley are from 1500 to 1800 feet in height; the mountain-wall on the east side of the valley rises from 2000 to 2300 in height, and in Mount Hor to 5000 feet, and is chiefly composed of granitic and basaltic rock. The surface of the valley is covered with loose gravel, blocks of porphyry, and is furrowed with torrents, with scarcely a trace of vegetation. It is oppressively hot, is swept with burning winds, the Sirocco blowing at some seasons without intermission, a region dreary and desolate. The theory that the Jordan once ran through this valley into the Red Sea is now held to be untenable. Arabah in Josh 18:18 has also been mistaken for the name of a city, and confounded with Beth-arabah of Josh 15:61; Josh 18:22; but in v. 1 Sam 30:18 the word has the article before it in the Hebrew, and hence refers to the plain, as elsewhere. See also Zin, Wilderness of, and Salt Sea.

(Joshua 18:18) ("the plain", is akin to "Arabia".) The article in Hebrew marks it as some definite spot, namely, the deep sunken gorge extending from mount Hermon to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea; the most extraordinary depression on the earth. The Jordan rushes for 150 miles through its northern part (el Ghor) by lakes Huleh and Gennesareth, to the deep abyss of the Dead Sea. The Ghor extends to precipitous cliffs, 10 miles S. of the Dead Sea. Thence to the gulf of Akaba it resumes its old name, wady el Arabah. In Joshua 11:16; Joshua 12:8, the Arabah takes its place among the natural divisions of the country, and in Deuteronomy 3:17 in connection with the sea of Chinnereth (Gennesareth) and the Dead Sea. In the plural it is connected with either Jericho or Moab; the Arabah being in Jericho's case W. of Jordan, in Moab's case E. of Jordan, bore and parched as contrasted with the rich fields of the upper level. The S. Arabah was the scene of Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, N. of which stood Hormah and Kadesh. They went down the Arabah southwards (after Edom's refusal to let them pass), from mount Hor, toward the head of the gulf, then up one of the left wadies, by the back of mount Seir to Moab. Remains of a Roman road are traceable along this route. From the absence of the Jordan in S. Arabah circles of verdure are scarce, such as are met in the Ghor. Its length is 100 miles, its breadth narrowing from 14 at its broadest to about three miles at its entrance into the gulf. The limestone ranges of The in long white lines stand on the W. crowned with the table land of "the wilderness of the wanderings" (et Tih), and rise 1500 feet above the Arabah. The pass En Nukb is that of the Mecca pilgrims, between the Akabah and Suez mounts. The other pass, Es Sufah, is probably that at which Israel was defeated by the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 1:44; Numbers 14:48-45). It goes not, as En, Nukb, from the Arabah to the plateau, but from it to a level 1000 feet higher. The Ghor stands nearly due N. and S.; the Arabah N.N.E. by S.S.W. On the E. dark porphyry is the body of the mountain; above it sandstone ridges, and highest of all limestone. But Hor is 5000 feet high. According to Isaac's promise to Esau, the dwelling of his descendants is "the fatness of the earth, with grain and wine" (Genesis 27:37-39). A line of chalk cliffs six miles S.W. of the Dead Sea is the bound between the Ghor on the N. and the Arabah on the S. The Ghor ends with the marsh beneath them. The Arabah begins level with their summit. The wady el Jeib is the drain of the Arabah, and the route for entering the valley from the N. Heat, desolation, and barrenness characterize this desert. The sirocco blows almost continually, and the ghudah, the arta, the Anthia variegata, the coloquinta, and the tamarisk, almost the only traces of vegetation. The supposition that the Jordan once flowed through the Arabah into the Red Sea is not likely; for the Red Sea and the Mediterranean are nearly on one level. The depression of the surface of the sea of Galilee is 652 feet, that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet, below the surface of the Mediterranean, and so of the Red Sea. The Jordan therefore could not have flowed into the gulf of Akabah. The northern part of the Arabah drains into the Dead Sea, the land rising from the N. to the S. The southern part drains into the gulf of Akabah, the land rising from it to the N.