Brook (75 Occurrences)
... 2. (vt) To use; to enjoy. 3. (vt) To bear; to endure; to put up with; to tolerate;
as, young men can not brook restraint. ... BESOR, THE BROOK. ...
/b/brook.htm - 45k

Kanah (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Reedy; brook of reeds. (1.) A stream forming the
boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh, from the Mediterranean ...
/k/kanah.htm - 9k

Wadi (11 Occurrences)
... (See NAS). Numbers 34:5 and the border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook
of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. (See NIV). ...
/w/wadi.htm - 9k

Ravine (26 Occurrences)
... by Medeba; (DBY). Joshua 16:8 From Tappuah the border went along westward
to the brook of Kanah; and ended at the sea. This is the ...
/r/ravine.htm - 14k

Kidron (11 Occurrences)
... This valley is known in Scripture only by the name "the brook Kidron." David crossed
t. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. KIDRON. ... KIDRON, THE BROOK. ...
/k/kidron.htm - 17k

Willows (5 Occurrences)
... The Brook of the Willows (Isaiah 15:7) must have been some stream running from Moab
to the Jordan or Dead Sea. ... EWG Masterman. WILLOWS, THE BROOK OF THE. ...
/w/willows.htm - 11k

Zered (3 Occurrences)
... Zared, luxuriance; willow bush, a brook or valley communicating with the Dead Sea
near its southern extremity (Numbers 21:12; Deuteronomy 2:14). It is call. ...
/z/zered.htm - 8k

Besor (3 Occurrences)
... Cold, a ravine or brook in the extreme south-west of Judah, where 200 of David's
men stayed behind because they were faint, while the other 400 pursued the ...
/b/besor.htm - 8k

Cherith (2 Occurrences)
... A cutting; separation; a gorge, a torrent-bed or winter-stream, a "brook," in whose
banks the prophet Elijah hid himself during the early part of the three ...
/c/cherith.htm - 8k

Outgoings (21 Occurrences)
... YLT). Numbers 34:5 and the border hath turned round from Azmon to the brook
of Egypt, and its outgoings have been at the sea. (YLT). ...
/o/outgoings.htm - 12k

Brook

See RIVER.

A torrent.

(1.) Applied to small streams, as the Arnon, Jabbok, etc. Isaiah (15:7) speaks of the "book of the willows," probably the Wady-el-Asha.

(2.) It is also applied to winter torrents (Job 6:15; Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4, 47), and to the torrent-bed or wady as well as to the torrent itself (Numbers 13:23; 1 Kings 17:3).

(3.) In Isaiah 19:7 the river Nile is meant, as rendered in the Revised Version.

1. (n.) A natural stream of water smaller than a river or creek.

2. (v. t.) To use; to enjoy.

3. (v. t.) To bear; to endure; to put up with; to tolerate; as, young men can not brook restraint.

4. (v. t.) To deserve; to earn.

BESOR, THE BROOK

be'-sor, (nachal besor; Codex Alexandrinus, Bechor, Codex Vaticanus, Beana; 1 Samuel 30:9, 20, 21; Josephus, Ant, VI, xiv, 6): A torrent-bed (nachal) mentioned in the account of David's pursuit of the Amalekites. Thought to be Wady Ghazza, which enters the sea Southwest of Gaza.

BROOK

brook (nachal, 'aphiq, ye'or, mikhal; cheimarrhos): In Palestine there are few large streams. Of the smaller ones many flow only during the winter, or after a heavy rain. The commonest Hebrew word for brook is nachal, which is also used for river and for valley, and it is not always clear whether the valley or the stream in the valley is meant (Numbers 13:23 Deuteronomy 2:13 2 Samuel 15:23). The Arabic wady, which is sometimes referred to in this connection, is not an exact parallel, for while it may be used of a dry valley or of a valley containing a stream, it means the valley and not the stream. 'Aphiq and ye'or are translated both "brook" and "river," ye'or being generally used of the Nile (Exodus 1:22, etc.), though in Daniel 12:5-7, of the Tigris. Cheirnarrhos, "winter-flowing," is applied in John 18:1 to the Kidron. Many of the streams of Palestine which are commonly called rivers would in other countries be called brooks, but in such a dry country any perennial stream assumes a peculiar importance.

Alfred Ely Day

BROOK OF EGYPT, THE

(nachal = "a flowing stream," "a valley"; best translated by the oriental word wady, which means, as the Hebrew word does, both a stream and its valley).

1. Name:

The Brook of Egypt is mentioned six times in the Old Testament (Numbers 34:5 Joshua 15:4, 47 1 Kings 8:65 Isaiah 27:12); once, Genesis 15:18, by another word, nahar. The Brook of Egypt was not an Egyptian stream at all, but a little desert stream near the borderland of Egypt a wady of the desert, and, perhaps, the dividing line between Canaan and Egypt. It is usually identified with the Wady el 'Arish of modern geography.

2. Description:

The Brook of Egypt comes down from the plateau et Tih in the Sinai peninsula and falls into the Mediterranean Sea at latitude 31 5 North, longitude 33 42 East. Its source is at the foot of the central mountain group of the peninsula. The upper portion of the wady is some 400 ft. above the sea. Its course, with one sharp bend to the West in the upper part, runs nearly due North along the western slope of the plateau. Its whole course of 140 miles lies through the desert. These streams in the Sinai peninsula are usually dry water-courses, which at times become raging rivers, but are very seldom babbling "brooks." The floods are apt to come with little or no warning when cloudbursts occur in the mountain region drained.

3. Archaeology:

The use of the Hebrew word nachal for this wady points to a curious and most interesting and important piece of archaeological evidence on the critical question of the origin of the Pentateuch. In the Pentateuch, the streams of Egypt are designated by an Egyptian word (ye'or) which belongs to Egypt, as the word bayou does to the lower Mississippi valley, while every other stream mentioned, not except this desert stream, "the Brook of Egypt," is designated by one or other of two Hebrew words, na chal and nahar. Each of these words occurs 13 times in the Pentateuch, but never of the streams of Egypt. The use of nahar in Exodus 7:19 in the account of the plagues is not really an exception for the word is then used generically in contrast with ye'or to distinguish between the "flowing streams," neharoth, and the sluggish irrigation branches of the Nile, ye'orim, "canals" (compare CANALS) (Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 33:21), while ye'or occurs 30 times but never of any other than the streams of Egypt. There is thus a most exa ct discrimination in the use of these various words, a discrimination which is found alike in the Priestly Code (P), Jahwist (Jahwist), and Elohim (E) of the documentary theory, and also where the editor is supposed to have altered the documents. Such discrimination is scarcely credible on the hypothesis that the Pentateuch is by more than one author, in later than Mosaic times, or that it is by any author without Egyptian training. The documentary theory which requires these instances of the use of these various words for "river" to have been recorded by several different authors or redactors, in different ages and all several centuries after the Exodus, far away from Egypt and opportunities for accurate knowledge of its language, seems utterly incompatible with such discriminating use of these words. And even if the elimination of all mistakes be attributed to one person, a final editor, the difficulty is scarcely lessened. For as no purpose is served by this discriminating use of words, it is evidently a natural phenomenon. In every instance of the use of ye'or, one or other of the usual Hebrew words, nachal or nahar would have served the purpose of the author, just as any foreign religious writer might with propriety speak of the "streams of Louisiana," though a Louisianian would certainly call them "bayous." How does the author come to use ye'or even where his native Hebrew words might have been used appropriately? Why never, where its appropriateness is even doubtful, not even saying ye'or for nachal of the "Brook of Egypt"? It is not art, but experience, in the use of a language which gives such skill as to attend to so small a thing in so extensive use without a single mistake. The only time and place at which such experience in the use of Egyptian words is to be expected in Israel is among the people of the Exodus not long subsequent to that event.

M. G. Kyle

CHERITH, THE BROOK

ke'-rith (nachal kerith; Cheimarrhous Chorrhath): The place where Elijah hid and was miraculously fed, after announcing the drought to Ahab (1 Kings 17:3). It is described as being "before," that is "east," of Jordan. It cannot therefore be identified with Wady el-Kelt, to the West of Jericho. The retreat must be sought in some recess of the Gilead uplands with which doubtless Elijah had been familiar in his earlier days.

KIDRON, THE BROOK

(nachal qidhron; in John 18:1 (the King James Version Cedron), ho cheimarrhous ton Kedron, according to the Revised Version margin, the last two words are to be considered as meaning "of the cedars." The Hebrew word has been very generally accepted as from qadhar, "to become black," but it is an attractive suggestion (Cheyne) that it may be a phonetic variation of gidderon, "a spot for enclosures for cattle," of which latter there must have been many around the now buried caves which lay at the base of the cliffs around the spring Gihon):

1. Wady Sitti Miriam:

The Nachal Qidhron is the valley known today as the Wady Sitti Miriam, which lies between the eastern walls of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. It commences in the plateau to the North of the city, and after making a wide sweep Southeast, under the name Wady el Joz ("Valley of the Walnuts"), passes South until level with the southeastern corner of the temple-area where its bed is spanned by an old bridge; here the bottom of the valley, 40 ft. beneath the present surface level, is 400 ft. below the temple-platform. From this point it narrows and deepens gradually, bending slightly West of South, and, after receiving the Tyropoeon valley, joins a little farther Southwest with the Valley of Hinnom to form the Wady en Nar which winds on through the "wilderness of Judea" to the Dead Sea. Where the three valleys run together is a large open space filled with gardens (the KING'S GARDEN, which see), which are kept irrigated all the year round by means of the overflow waters from the `Ain Silwan (see SILOAM). It is where the Hinnom valley runs into the Kidron that some would locate TOPHETH (which see). Except at the irrigated gardens, the ravine is a dry valley containing water only during and immediately after heavy rain, but in ancient times the rocky bottom-now buried beneath many feet of rich soil-must have contained a little stream from Gihon for at least some hundreds of yards. This was the "brook that flowed through the midst of the land" (2 Chronicles 32:4). The length of the valley from its head to Bir Eyyub is 2 3/4 miles.

2. Traditions:

Since the 4th century A.D., this valley has been known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat (see JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF), and from quite early times it was a favorite situation for interments (2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12 2 Chronicles 34:4, 5); it is by Moslem and Jewish tradition the scene of the last judgment, and was known to the Moslems in the Middle Ages as Wady Jehannum; see GEHENNA. It is probable that the "graves of the common people," where King Jehoiakim cast the body of the prophet Uriah, were here (Jeremiah 26:23), and it has been suggested, with less probability, that here too may have been the scene of Ezekiel's vision of the "valley of dry bones" (Ezekiel 37; compare Jeremiah 31:40).

3. The Fields of Kidron:

The Fields of Kidron (2 Kings 23:4), though generally identified with the open, lower part of this valley, where it is joined by the Tyropoeon valley, may more probably have been in the upper part where the wide expanded valley receives the name Wady el Joz; this part is actually on the road to Bethel.

4. Historical Associations:

The most dramatic scene associated with the Kidron is that recorded in connection with its earliest Scriptural mention (2 Samuel 15:23), when David, flying before his rebellious son Absalom, here stood on the Jerusalem side of the valley while all his adherents passed over. "And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.... toward the way of the wilderness." The passing over this brook appears to have been viewed as the solemn abandonment of the Jerusalem territory (compare 1 Kings 2:37). In 1 Kings 15:13 2 Chronicles 15:16, we read that Asa burnt at the brook Kidron "an abominable image for an Asherab" which Maacah, his mother, had set up. In the reforms of Hezekiah, "all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Yahweh" was carried by the Levites to the brook Kidron (2 Chronicles 29:16); "All the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron" (2 Chronicles 30:14). This locality was again used in the reforms of Josiah when the king "brought out the Asherah from the house of Yahweh, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people" (2 Kings 23:6). The same treatment was given to the vessels made for Baal, the Asherah and the host of heaven (2 Kings 23:4), and the two idolatrous altars of Manasseh (2 Kings 23:12). Josephus (Ant., IX, vii, 3) states that Athaliah was slain in the valley of Kidron, but this does not quite tally with the account (2 Kings 11:16). It was a valley associated with graves and the ashes of abominations, but it was prophesied that it should be "holy unto Yahweh" (Jeremiah 31:40). Twice it is mentioned simply as "the valley," nachal (2 Chronicles 33:14 Nehemiah 2:15). Very different from these earlier scenes is the last Scriptural reference (John 18:1), when Jesus "went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron" for His last hours of spiritual struggle and prayer before the turmoil of the end.

E. W. G. Masterman

MOCHMUR, THE BROOK

mok'-mur, ho cheimarrhos Mochmour): The torrent bed in a valley on which stood Chusi, not far from Ekrebel (Judith 7:18). The latter may be identified with `Aqrabeh, East of Nablus. Wady Makhfuriyeh runs to the South of `Aqrabeh, and probably represents the ancient Mochmur.

WILLOWS, THE BROOK OF THE

Evidently mentioned as the boundary of Moab (Isaiah 15:7) and generally identified with the brook Zered.

See BROOK; ZERED.

EGYPT, BROOK (RIVER, STREAM) OF

See BROOK OF EGYPT.

2748. Kedron -- Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer.
... Kedron. 2749 . Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer. ... Word Origin of Hebrew origin
Qidron Definition Kidron, a brook and wadi near Jer. NASB Word Usage Kidron (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2748.htm - 6k

5493. cheimarros -- flowing in winter, a torrent
... Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: cheimarros Phonetic Spelling:
(khi'-mar-hros) Short Definition: a winter torrent Definition: a storm-brook, a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5493.htm - 6k

4215. potamos -- a river
... Probably from a derivative of the alternate of pino (compare potos); a current,
brook or freshet (as drinkable), ie Running water -- flood, river, stream, water ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4215.htm - 7k

1068. Gethsemani -- Gethsemane, an olive orchard on the Mt. of ...
... Gethsemani Phonetic Spelling: (gheth-say-man-ay') Short Definition: Gethsemane
Definition: Gethsemane, a small place between the brook Kidron and the Mount of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1068.htm - 6k

4323. mikal -- a brook, stream
... 4322, 4323. mikal. 4324 . a brook, stream. Transliteration: mikal Phonetic
Spelling: (me-kawl') Short Definition: brook. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4323.htm - 6k

3747. Kerith -- a brook where Elijah was hidden
... Kerith. 3748 . a brook where Elijah was hidden. Transliteration: Kerith Phonetic
Spelling: (ker-eeth') Short Definition: Cherith. ... Kerith, a brook of Palestine. ...
/hebrew/3747.htm - 6k

5158. nachal -- torrent, torrent-valley, wadi
... nachal. 5158a . torrent, torrent-valley, wadi. Transliteration: nachal Phonetic
Spelling: (nakh'-al) Short Definition: brook. brook, flood, river, stream, valley ...
/hebrew/5158.htm - 5k

650. aphiq -- a channel
... tubes (1). brook, channel, mighty, river, scale, stream, strong piece. From
'acaph; properly, containing, ie A tube; also a bed or ...
/hebrew/650.htm - 6k

5158a. nachal -- torrent, torrent-valley, wadi
... 5158, 5158a. nachal or nachlah or nachalah. 5158b . torrent, torrent-valley,
wadi. Transliteration: nachal or nachlah or nachalah Short Definition: brook. ...
/hebrew/5158a.htm - 5k

2975. yeor -- stream (of the Nile), stream, canal
... brook, flood, river, stream. Of Egyptian origin; a channel, eg A fosse,
canal, shaft; specifically the Nile, as the one river of ...
/hebrew/2975.htm - 6k

2218. Zered -- a wadi East of the Dead Sea
... Zared, Zered. From an unused root meaning to be exuberant in growth; lined with
shrubbery; Zered, a brook East of the Dead Sea -- Zared, Zered. 2217, 2218. ...
/hebrew/2218.htm - 6k

6939. Qidron -- perhaps "dusky," a wadi East of Jer.
... NASB Word Usage Kidron (11). Kidron. From qadar; dusky place; Kidron, a brook near
Jerusalem -- Kidron. see HEBREW qadar. 6938, 6939. Qidron. 6940 . ...
/hebrew/6939.htm - 6k

5158b. nachal -- nachal
... 5158a, 5158b. nachal. 5159 . nachal. Transliteration: nachal Short Definition:
brook. Word Origin see nachal. 5158a, 5158b. nachal. 5159 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/5158b.htm - 5k

Creatures that are Able to Dart their Thoughts into all Spaces Can ...
... THE FIFTH CENTURY 3 Creatures that are able to dart their thoughts into
all spaces can brook no limit or restraint. Creatures that ...
/.../traherne/centuries of meditations/3 creatures that are able.htm

Elijah and the Widow's Son
... Then this message from Jehovah came to Elijah: "Go from here and hide yourself
near the Brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ...
/.../sherman/the childrens bible/elijah and the widows son.htm

Women who Saved a Nation
... Then I will draw out to you at the brook Kishon Sisera with his chariots and his
troops, and I will deliver him into your hands.'" Barak said to her, "If you ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/women who saved a nation.htm

The Greatest Trial on Record
... Our Redeemer was hurried along the road which crosses the brook Kedron.
A second time he was made like unto David, who passed over ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 9 1863/the greatest trial on record.htm

Elijah Fed by Ravens.
... "Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook
Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the old testament/elijah fed by ravens.htm

Elijah the Great Heart of Israel.
... Because he would seek to destroy Elijah, the Lord told His prophet to go to the
brook Cherith that ran into the Jordan, and there He would take care of him. ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter xxvii elijah the great.htm

A Prophet's Strange Providers
... according to my word.2. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3. Get thee
hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/a prophets strange providers.htm

The Question of the Tall Gentleman as to Whether Diamond could ...
... He met a little brook singing a song. He said, "Little brook, you are going
wrong. ... And the song-singing, sing-songing forest brook. ...
/.../macdonald/at the back of the north wind/chapter 20 the question of.htm

Call to China and Voyage Hence
... He went to a private school under the care of a Mr. Morton at the village of Bound
Brook, two miles from home, and generally stood at the head of his class. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/fagg/forty years in south china/ii call to china and.htm

The Next Night Diamond was Seated by his Open Window...
... "I am going to take you along this little brook," said North Wind. "I am not
wanted for anything else to-night, so I can give you a treat.". ...
/.../macdonald/at the back of the north wind/chapter 37 the next night.htm

In biblical terminology, a "brook" refers to a small, natural stream of water, often seasonal, that flows through a valley or low-lying area. Brooks are significant in the biblical narrative, serving as geographical markers, sites of divine encounters, and symbols of God's provision and judgment.

Hebrew and Greek Terms

The Hebrew word most commonly translated as "brook" is "נַחַל" (nachal), which can also mean "valley" or "torrent." In the Greek New Testament, the term "χείμαρρος" (cheimarros) is used, meaning "winter-flowing stream," indicating a seasonal watercourse.

Biblical Significance

1. Geographical Markers: Brooks often delineate boundaries and territories. For example, the Brook Kidron served as a boundary marker for Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:23). The Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) marked the southern border of the Promised Land (Numbers 34:5).

2. Sites of Divine Encounters: Brooks are frequently the settings for significant biblical events. Elijah was sustained by ravens at the Brook Cherith during a time of drought (1 Kings 17:3-6). This brook became a place of divine provision, illustrating God's care for His prophet.

3. Symbols of Judgment and Cleansing: The Brook Kidron is associated with acts of purification and judgment. King Asa destroyed idols and burned them by the Brook Kidron (1 Kings 15:13). Similarly, King Josiah defiled the high places and cast their ashes into the Brook Kidron (2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12).

4. Metaphorical Usage: Brooks are used metaphorically to describe the transient nature of life and the need for spiritual sustenance. Job laments the unreliability of his friends, comparing them to brooks that vanish in the heat (Job 6:15-17). In contrast, the psalmist speaks of a "brook" as a source of refreshment and blessing, as in Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God."

5. New Testament References: In the New Testament, brooks are less frequently mentioned, but they continue to symbolize spiritual truths. Jesus crossed the Brook Kidron on His way to the Garden of Gethsemane, a journey that prefigured His sacrificial death (John 18:1).

Theological Implications

Brooks in the Bible often represent God's provision and the sustenance He provides to His people. They are reminders of His faithfulness in times of need and His power to cleanse and purify. The imagery of a brook underscores the necessity of relying on God's provision and the transient nature of earthly life, pointing believers to seek eternal sustenance in Him.Who were the Canaanites? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Elijah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What happened on the Mount of Olives? | GotQuestions.org

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