ARA to ARARAT

ARA

Son of Jether 1Ch 7:38

ARAB

ambush, a city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:52), now Er-Rabiyeh

A city of Judah Jos 15:52

ARABAH

plain, in the Revised Version of 2 Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16; 8:14; 2 Sam. 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has "plain"); Amos 6:14 (A.V. "wilderness").

This word is found in the Authorized Version only in Josh. 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor.

But the Ghor is sometimes spoken of as extending 10 miles south of the Dead Sea, and thence to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red Sea is called the Wady el-Arabah.

See BETH-ARABAH

ARABIA

arid, an extensive region in the south-west of Asia.

It is bounded on the west by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the east by the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates. It extends far into the north in barren deserts, meeting those of Syria and Mesopotamia. It is one of the few countries of the world from which the original inhabitants have never been expelled.

It was anciently divided into three parts:,

(1.) Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia), so called from its fertility. It embraced a large portion of the country now known by the name of Arabia. The Arabs call it Yemen. It lies between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

(2.) Arabia Deserta, the el-Badieh or "Great Wilderness" of the Arabs. From this name is derived that which is usually given to the nomadic tribes which wander over this region, the "Bedaween," or, more generally, "Bedouin,"

(3.) Arabia Petraea, i.e., the Rocky Arabia, so called from its rocky mountains and stony plains. It comprehended all the north-west portion of the country, and is much better known to travellers than any other portion. This country is, however, divided by modern geographers into (1) Arabia Proper, or the Arabian Peninsula; (2) Northern Arabia, or the Arabian Desert; and (3) Western Arabia, which includes the peninsula of Sinai and the Desert of Petra, originally inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6, etc.), but in later times by the descendants of Esau, and known as the Land of Edom or Idumea, also as the Desert of Seir or Mount Seir.

The whole land appears (Gen. 10:1 all) to have been inhabited by a variety of tribes of different lineage, Ishmaelites, Arabians, Idumeans, Horites, and Edomites; but at length becoming amalgamated, they came to be known by the general designation of Arabs. The modern nation of Arabs is predominantly Ishmaelite. Their language is the most developed and the richest of all the Semitic languages, and is of great value to the student of Hebrew.

The Israelites wandered for forty years in Arabia. In the days of Solomon, and subsequently, commercial intercourse was to a considerable extent kept up with this country (1 Kings 10:15; 2 Chr. 9:14; 17:11). Arabians were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul retired for a season into Arabia after his conversion (Gal. 1:17). This country is frequently referred to by the prophets (Isa. 21:11; 42:11; Jer. 25:24, etc.)

Tribute to Solomon 2Ch 9:14

Tribute to Jehoshaphat 2Ch 17:11

Exports of Eze 27:21

Prophecies against Isa 21:13; Jer 25:24

Paul visits Ga 1:17

ARABIAN

Pay tribute to Solomon 2Ch 9:14

To Jehoshaphat 2Ch 17:11

Invade and defeat Judah 2Ch 21:16, 17; 22:1

Defeated by Uzziah 2Ch 26:7

Oppose Nehemiah's rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem Ne 2:19; 4:7

Commerce of Eze 27:21

Gospel preached to Ac 2:11; Ga 1:17

Prophecies concerning Isa 21:13-17; 42:11; 60:7; Jer 25:24

ARAD

(1.) Now Tell Arad, a Canaanite city, about 20 miles south of Hebron.

The king of Arad "fought against Israel and took of them prisoners" when they were retreating from the confines of Edom (Num. 21:1; 33:40; Judg. 1:16). It was finally subdued by Joshua (12:14).

(2.) One of the sons of Beriah (1 Chr. 8:15).

1. A city on the south of Canaan Nu 21:1; 33:40 .Subdued by Joshua Jos 12:14

2. Son of Beriah 1Ch 8:15

ARAH

1. Son of Ulla 1Ch 7:39

2. An Israelite, whose descendants returned from Babylon Ezr 2:5; Ne 7:10 .Probably identcal with

ARAH

in Ne 6:18

ARAM

the son of Shem (Gen. 10:22); according to Gen. 22:21, a grandson of Nahor. In Matt. 1:3, 4, and Luke 3:33, this word is the Greek form of Ram, the father of Amminadab (1 Chr. 2:10).

The word means high, or highlands, and as the name of a country denotes that elevated region extending from the northeast of Palestine to the Euphrates. It corresponded generally with the Syria and Mesopotamia of the Greeks and Romans.

In Gen. 25:20; 31:20, 24; Deut. 26:5, the word "Syrian" is properly "Aramean" (R.V., marg.). Damascus became at length the capital of the several smaller kingdoms comprehended under the designation "Aram" or "Syria."

(The name of various regions, and of several men. The word signifies highlands, and is applied in its compounds to various highland districts of Syria)

1. The region whence Balaam came at Balak's command Nu 23:7

2. A region north of Canaan 1Ch 2:23

3. Son of Shem Ge 10:22, 23; 1Ch 1:17

4. Son of Kemuel Ge 22:21

5. Son of Shamer 1Ch 7:34

ARAM-NAHARAIM

Aram of the two rivers, is Mesopotamia (as it is rendered in Gen. 24:10), the country enclosed between the Tigris on the east and the Euphrates on the west (Ps. 60, title); called also the "field of Aram" (Hos. 12:12, R.V.) i.e., the open country of Aram; in the Authorized Version, "country of Syria." Padan-aram (q.v.) was a portion of this country.

ARAM-ZOBAH

(Ps. 60, title), probably the region between the Euphrates and the Orontes.

ARAN

wild goat, a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen. 36:28).

Son of Dishan Ge 36:28; 1Ch 1:42

ARARAT

sacred land or high land, the name of a country on one of the mountains of which the ark rested after the Flood subsided (Gen. 8:4).

The "mountains" mentioned were probably the Kurdish range of South Armenia. In 2 Kings 19:37, Isa. 37:38, the word is rendered "Armenia" in the Authorized Version, but in the Revised Version, "Land of Ararat."

In Jer. 51:27, the name denotes the central or southern portion of Armenia. It is, however, generally applied to a high and almost inaccessible mountain which rises majestically from the plain of the Araxes. It has two conical peaks, about 7 miles apart, the one 14,300 feet and the other 10,300 feet above the level of the plain. Three thousand feet of the summit of the higher of these peaks is covered with perpetual snow. It is called Kuh-i-nuh, i.e., "Noah's mountain", by the Persians.

This part of Armenia was inhabited by a people who spoke a language unlike any other now known, though it may have been related to the modern Georgian. About B.C. 900 they borrowed the cuneiform characters of Nineveh, and from this time we have inscriptions of a line of kings who at times contended with Assyria. At the close of the seventh century B.C. the kingdom of Ararat came to an end, and the country was occupied by a people who are ancestors of the Armenians of the present day.

A district of Armenia Jer 51:27

The ark of Noah came to rest in the mountains of Ge 8:4

Assassins of Sennacherib take refuge in Isa 37:38