Arabah

The Hebrew noun 'arab, ordinarily, means "desert," "steppe," but, depending on context, can mean "Arabia." This can be seen, e.g., in the differing English translations of Isa 21:13, where NIV/NKJ speak of "Arabia" while NRS speaks of "the desert plain."

When used with the definite article in the Old Testament, it always refers to the region we now call the Jordan Rift Valley. The width and length of this valley that was thought to be the Arabah, however, is difficult to determine. In the OT the entire length of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea (which was called "the Sea of the Arabah" - Deut 3:17; 4:49; Jos 3:16; 12:3; 2 Ki 14:25) were included in the expression. The Arabah is not mentioned in the NT at all. In more modern times, the expression is used only of the valley south of the Dead Sea.

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CONCORDANCE:

Arabah occurs 29x spread over 28 verses in the OT:

Deut 1:1 — These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—>opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

Deut 1:7 — Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighbouring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

Deut 2:8 — So we went on past our brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and travelled along the desert road of Moab.

Deut 3:17 — ts western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.

Deut 4:49 — [They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. This land extended from . . . ] and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

Deut 11:30 — As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, west of the road, towards the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.

Jos 3:16 — [Now the Jordan is in flood all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet . . .] the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

Jos 8:14 — When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city.

Jos 11:2 — [When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Acshaph,] and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; . . .

Jos 11:16 — So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills,

Jos 12:1 — These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah: . . .

Jos 12:3 — He [Sihon] also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), to Beth Jeshimoth, and then southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

Jos 12:8 — [These are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan . . . (their lands Joshua gave as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions—] the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the desert and the Negev—>the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites): . . .

Jos 18:18 — [The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph: On the north side their boundary began at . . .] It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah and on down into the Arabah.

1 Sam 23:24 — So they [Saul's party] set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.

2 Sam 2:29 — All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the whole Bithron and came to Mahanaim.

2 Sam 4:7 — They [Recab and Baanah] had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they travelled all night by way of the Arabah.

2 Ki 14:25 — He [Jehoash] was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

2 Ki 25:4 — Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled towards the Arabah,

Isa 33:9 — The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

Jer 39:4 — When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed towards the Arabah.

Jer 52:7 — Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled towards the Arabah,

Eze 47:8 — He said to me, "This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.

Amos 6:14 — For the Lord God Almighty declares, "I will stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah."

Zec 14:10 — The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.