Chebar
“Length or joining”
Summary
A river or canal in the land of the Chaldeans where Ezekiel received his prophetic visions among the Jewish exiles.
☩Location and Identity
The Chebar was a waterway 'in the land of the Chaldeans' where Jewish exiles were settled during the Babylonian captivity, and where Ezekiel received his earliest visions. Though some have identified it with the Habor (the river of Gozan mentioned in 2 Kings 17:6), this is unlikely since the Habor was far to the north, and the name Chaldea was never extended so far northward in the Old Testament. The more probable identification is with the Nahr Malcha, or Royal Canal of Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of all the cuttings in Mesopotamia. Archaeological work has confirmed mention of a 'great canal' (naru kabaru) east of Nippur in the land of the Chaldeans, which may be the ancient Chebar.
☩Prophetic Significance
On the banks of the Chebar, Ezekiel was among the captives who had been taken with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. There, in the fifth year of his captivity, the heavens were opened and Ezekiel saw visions of God, including the famous vision of the four living creatures and the glory of the Lord. The tradition placing Ezekiel's tomb at Keffil in lower Mesopotamia supports locating the Chebar in Chaldea proper rather than upper Mesopotamia.
References
- 1.George Morrish, "Chebar," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Chebar," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Chebar," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Chebar," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).