' :;hanner (poet, forrain), LXXp.'.^? ; m Ezk 31* AV
' little rivers,' KV ' channels' (for irrigation), LXX
i^^n Tn 1 K 183^»»»' the same Heb. terra
is used for the ' trench ' round Elijah s altar (LAA
/dWa ; but in Jer 30 [Gr. 37] " 46 [Gr. 26] "it
(really a diflt. word) means either neivjlcsh or i)laister
something coming up, or placed on the yound) ;
LXX a..AeX(.)<a, confusing with n^in from ^ bv . ^
In the NT ' river' occurs only m iMK 1 , Jn / , Ap tfiis Rev 8'" 9" le*- '- 22'- =, in all of which it is fhe tr.'of xo.a.6,. The imagery of.Kev 22- is borrowed from Gii 2''- and from the vision m Lzk 47. Rivers serve in Scripture, as they have done m all a'e , tolix boundaries : On 15'^ Ex 23" Nu34 , T^t P 3«->« 11« Jos 1* 12' 15^ 168 179 19", Jg4", OS 10'^ 1 K 4»''« 8«», 2 K 10^ 24', Ezr 4'«, Neh 2' etc. ; they are utUized for bathing Ex^2» for drinking 7'»-=', 1 K \V-^ for fishing Ex 7'«-=", Lv 119- 10 Ec 1', Ezk 29-' °, and for irrigation (see above); they' serve as means of defence Nah 3«, and as a highway for navigation Is 18 ; a river side appears as a place of prayer in Ac lb .
Besides the instances of figurative employment of the word 'river' which have been reterred to above, the following may be noted :— In Jer 40 • the rising of the Nile is used as a syinbol of an Egyptian invasion ; cf . the similar use in Is 8 ol ' tbe river ' to typify the invading hosts of Assyria and the language used in Jer 4,= ; in l^p- (cf. Is m'-) rivers are a type of danger or affliction ; m I« 59'' a manifestation of Jehovah is compared to a-'Sinj, theprolKible rendering being that of KV 'He shall come as a rushing stream, which the breath of the LORD driveth' (AV ' when tie enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standarS against him ; see the Comm. ad loc.) ; in Ps 46' W a "ver (nn:) is a type of Jehovah's favour; in Job 29«, Ps liy"«, lT3« (all U'^h-f), Mic 6', Job 20" (both n-)n}) 'rivers' typify abundance; in Am 5" righteous- ness is compared to a perennial torrent {i-}): a well-spring of wisdom and a flowing torrent C^-j) are coupled in Pr 18* ; a river (im) is a symbol of peace in Is 48i8 66'-; the breath of Jehovah is compared in Is 30=» to an overflowing torrent, and in V ^ to a torrent of brimstone (both ?CJ).
The 'r^3 -^ri, lit. ' torrents of Belial,' of 2 S 22» is a doubtful pi.rase. It is generally explained as 'torrents of worthlessness ( = wickedness), but Cheyne (Expositor, 1895, p. 435 if., see a.Uo Expos Times, viii. [1897], p. 423 f., and Em-yc. BM. art. ' Belial ') discovers a mythological allusion in the expression and renders it 'streams of the under- world,' identifying Belial with the Babylonian irodde'^s Bdili, whom he connects with the under- world. Hommel agrees with this identification, but (lieynu's interpretation is opposed by Baudissin and .Knsen (see PJtE', «. 'Belial,' and the articles bv all four scholars in the Expos. Times, ix. pp. 4Utl.,yi f.,283f., 332,567).
RIZPAH
•The qnomtion -Out of his belly,' ^t*' "^^ '^P^jSr V^ ireneral »ir.»e o( such OT iiassoBes as Is 44J 561 68". Jer 2", lik :«J»i' 4T1"-, Jl 2'»'- stf-, Zee. \» HS-the series resting ultimately (Westcott) on Ex 17«. Nu M)".
For the river system of Palestine, see vol. iii. p 642 f., and for an account of particular rivers the articles under their respective names.
J . a'\. oKLlilK.
RIVER OF EGYPT.— See Egypt (Kivkk of), and add that in KV of Am 8« 9' the Nile is called the ' River of Egypt ' (dp.^p in;, AV badly flood ).
RIZIA (KTi ; B Vaacii, A 'Pofftd).— An Ash<»rit«, 1 Ch 7*'.
RIZPAH (asvn; LXX Pecr^i, except 2 S 21' where A has ■Pe>.#.de).-A concubine of king Saul. She is called the daughter of Aiah (2 hi il ). which may imply that she was a descendant of Uiat Hivite clan in the S.E. of P-'f ^- ^^^°^^ which Esau is said to have taken one of his wives
'%htn the Philistines struck down the kingdom of Saul, and David established himself m Hebron, Riziiah must have withdrawn to Mahanaim amon| the few who clung to the ruined house, lor (2 S 36-") when Abner held towards Ishbosheth the position, and was suspected of cherishing the de- ii.ms, of a Mayor of the Palace, some who doubted hil loyalty accused him of having entered into an intri-'ue with his dead master's concubine. Ihe sting'of the accusation lay in the fact that such an alliance was regarded at that period as a sure step toward claiming the throne (cf. 2 S 16 , »nd
^\fa'Lte? period in David's reign (the exact date of the incident is uncertain, since the story is found in an appendix to the history of Davull a three years' famine fell upon the land (2 b -1 ). The oracle, when consulted, decided that J was angry with His people, and that the cause of that an°er was to be found in the fact tbat Saul, ins'tead of remaining true to the oath of the con- gregation (Jos 9), had deprived the Gibeonites of the privileges which the oath secured them, and had oppressed this clan. David accordingly ap- proached the Gibeonites with ofl-ers to .stanck the feud These rejected all money compensation, and,' denying that they had any quarrel with Israel at farge, demanded the blood of the giulty house. Seven descendants of Saul-hve of them sons of Merab ; two, Armoni and Alephibosheth, sons of Ki/pah— were thereupon seized and de- livered overdo their vengeance. The Gibeonites brou-ht them up to Gibeon, which, from its name 'the hUl of God,' evidently bore a sacro-sanct character, and there exposed* the ^^?'^'']'f^^J: To the rock on this hill the unhappy Kizpah resorted, and, spreading her mourning cloak of sackcloth, keptAreary watch beneath her dead l^o