BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H6554
par.par — Pharpar
§ Pharpar = "swift" a stream in the district of Damascus identified with the modern 'Awaj'; rises on the southeast slopes of Mount Hermon and flows into the southernmost lake of Damascus
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →Swift, one of the rivers of Damascus (2 Kings 5:12). It has been identified with the ‘Awaj, “a small lively river.” The whole of the district watered by the ‘Awaj is called the Wady el-‘Ajam, i.e., “the valley of the Persians”, so called for some unknown reason. This river empties itself into the lake or marsh Bahret Hijaneh, on the east of Damascus. One of its branches bears the modern name of Wady Barbar, which is probably a corruption of Pharpar.
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
