Nile
“Possibly from Sanskrit 'Nilah' meaning dark blue, related to Hebrew 'Shihor' meaning black”
Summary
The Nile was the great river of Egypt, essential to the nation's existence and prosperity, and the setting for numerous biblical events including the plagues of Egypt and the preservation of the infant Moses.
☩Geography and Significance
The Nile is formed by the junction of the White Nile and Blue Nile and flows over 1,900 miles through Nubia and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. The river's annual inundation, caused by equatorial rains and mountain snow melt, deposited rich sediment that made Egypt's valley fertile. Without the Nile, Egypt would be uninhabitable desert, leading ancient writers to call the country 'the gift of the Nile.' The Egyptians measured the river's rise using Nilometers, as twelve feet below optimal meant famine while six feet above meant devastation.
☩Biblical Names
The word 'Nile' does not occur in the authorized English Bible, but the river is referred to by several Hebrew terms. The most common is 'Yeor' (יְאוֹר), derived from the ancient Egyptian 'Atur,' meaning 'the river.' It is also called 'Shihor,' meaning 'black,' referring to the dark sediment it carried, and simply 'the river of Egypt.' The Egyptians called it Bahr en-Nil, and the annual overflow was called En-Nil, while the river itself was called El-Bahr or simply 'the river.'
☩Biblical Events
The Nile features prominently in Scripture. Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew male infants cast into the river, but Moses was hidden among the reeds and discovered by Pharaoh's daughter. In the first plague, Moses struck the river with his rod and its waters turned to blood, causing all the fish to die and making the water undrinkable. The Nile appears in Pharaoh's dream of seven fat and seven lean cattle emerging from the river, symbolizing years of plenty and famine. The prophets used the Nile symbolically when pronouncing judgment on Egypt, predicting that its waters would be dried up.
☩Egyptian Religion
The Nile was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, worshipped under the name Hapi or Hapi-mu, 'the abyss of waters.' The god Nilus was represented as a stout man with woman's breasts, painted red during the inundation and blue at other times. The plague upon the Nile was therefore a direct judgment upon Egyptian idolatry. Apis, the sacred bull, was also connected with the Nile and the cycle of fertility it represented.
Related Verses6 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Nile," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VII (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Nile," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).