8. What is commonly rendered "conduit" (2 Kings xviii, 17 ; xx, 20 ; Isa. vii, 3 ; xxxvi, 2), once a " water- course" (Job xxviii, 25), is in one verse transformed into "little rivers," but with "conduits" on the margin (Ezek. xxxi, 4). The word is il3"Pl, teuldh, and means simply a chainiel or conduit for the conveying of rain or water of any sort. See Conduit.
Rivers were worshipped by many nations of antiq- uity (Spanheim, on Callim. Apol. 112; Cerer. 14; Voss, Idololat. ii, 79 sq.), and especially in the East. Comp. Herod, i, 138 ; Strabo, xv, 732 ; Arnob. A dr. Gent, vi, 1 1. On the Persians, see Heliodor. ^47/^ ix, 9 ; so the Egj-p- tians. Some trace of the reverence for them so gen- erally felt has been supposed by some to have existed among the idolatrous Hebrews (from Isa. Ivii, 6 ; Bos- seck, Be Cidtu Fhiminnm [Lips. 1740]; Van Speren, in Bihlioth. Hag. IV, i, 81 sq.), but without ground (see Rosenmiiller and Gesen. iV; Jes. ad loc). — Winer. The principal rivers mentioned in the Bible are the Eu- phrates, the Nile, and the Jordan (see each). See Swe- die. Lakes and Riveis of the Bible (Lond. 1864). See Palestine.
RIVER OF EGYPT. This term occurs eight times in the Old Test. (Gen. xv, 18; Numb, xxxiv, 5; Josh. XV, 4, 47 ; 1 Kings viii, 05 ; 2 Kings xxiv, 7 ; Isa. xxvii, 12,in the last passage translated "the stream of Egypt"). In the first of these the word translated river is "riS, nahur, while in all the others it is ?ri3, ndchal. The preceding remarks on these two terms, and the clear distinction drawn between them by the sacred writers, will show that in the above passages they can scarcely be regarded as identical in meaning, and that in all probability Nehdr Mitzrdyim is to be regarded as dis- tinct from Ndchal Mitzi'dyim. To determine this point, it will be necessary to examine critically the several passages in which the words occur, and the light that may be thrown upon them by parallels. Geographi- cally, the question is of importance, as determining the southern border of " the land of promise" and of " the land of possession."
1. Nehdr Mitzrdyim (Bi'^:£''2 "iflS, " The river of Egypt"). The land which the Lord gave in covenant promise to Abraham is thus described in (ien. xv, 18: " Unto thy seed have I givpn this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Eu]dirates." The Sept. renders the phrase, otto tov iroTaf^iov Aiyvir- rov ; and the Vulg., a Jliivio yKgypti. The word ~r!3, as has been stated, like n-oro/jdc and fuviiis, means I'iver. But the Nile is the only river of Egypt, and hence it is natural to conclude that the Nile is meant, and here — as the western border of the promised land, of which the eastern liorder was tlie Euphrates — the Pelu- siac or easternmost branch. So it is understood b}' most commentators (Kalisch, Dclitzsch, etc., ad loc). It is true the extent of territory' thus defined was never actu- ally occupied by the seed of Abraham ; nor was it pos- sessed except, perhaps, during the reigns of David and Sohnnon. See Palestine,
RIVER
41
RIVET
2. Ndchal Mitzrdyim ( "0 5H3) occurs seven times in the Bible. In six of these the A. Y. translates " riv- er," and in one "stream" (Isa. xxvii, 12). The Sept. lias ^'fijuappooc in Numb. xxxiv,5; Josh. xv, 47; 2 Kings xxiv, 7; and 2 Chron. vii, 8; (papay^ in Josh, xv, 4; TTOTafiuc in 1 Kings viii, 65; and 'Pii'OKopoupwv in Isa. xxvii, 12. The Vulg. has virus in 1 Kings viii, 65 and 2 Kings xxiv, 7, but ton-ens in the others. The proper meaning of ndchal is " valley," though it is sometimes, as has been stated (see above), applied to the winter streams of Palestine. It could not with any propriety be applied to a large permanent river like the Nile. What, therefore, do the sacred writers mean by Ndchal Mitzrdyim?
In describing to Moses the land of Canaan, which the Israelites were about to enter and possess, the Lord stated that the southern boundarj' should extend from Kadesh-Barnea to " the ricer of Egypt," or more cor- rectly " the wady (valley) of Egypt" (Numb, xxxiv, 5). After the conquest, the southern border of Judah ex- tended to the same points (Josh, xv, 4, 47). The coun- try over which the Israelites had spread in the time of Solomon was -'from the entering-in of Hamath unto the river of Egypf' (1 Kings viii, 65; 2 Chron. vii, 8). In all these passages it will be observed that the coun- try described is much smaller than that given in cove- nant-promise to Abraham, extending only on the north as far as the entrance of Hamath. Tliis has already been explained in the article Pai.kstine.
Two other passages in which the term is employed are more difficult. In 2 Kings xxiv, " the river of Egypt" is mentioned as the proper boundary of that co\mtry; and it is said of the king of Babylon, that he had taken "from the rieer of Ej/ypt to the river Eu- phrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt." The expression nearly resembles that in Gen. xv, 18, where the river Nile is meant (see above). A similar form is used by Isaiah (xxvii, 12); and there the Sept. has rendered Ndchal Mitzrdyim by Rhinocorura, which was the name of a town now called el-Arish. If this be correct, then Ndchal Mitzrdyim must be identitied with Wady el-A rish, a valley and small winter stream which falls into the Mediterranean near this town. This is the view adopted by most of the old commenta- tors (see in Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 872; Reland, Pukest. p. 969, and authorities there cited). Jerome states that Rhinocorura was situated on the borders of Palestine and Egypt, and that the "river {torrens) of Egypt" was near it (Comment, ad Jes. xix et xxvii; ad Amos vi). Ancient geographers and historians describe Egypt as extending to this city (Eusebius, Onomast, s. v.; Diod. Sic. i, 60; Strabo, xvi, p. 780; Reland, p. 286). This torrent, or valley, derived its notoriety from being the boundary of two great countries ; and hence in Ezek. xlvii, 19 and xlviii, 28 it is called emphatically "the valley'' (A. V. " the river").