This word answers in our Bible to various Hebrew terms, of which the principal are the following:
1. Yeor, an Egyptian word signifying river. It is always applied to the Nile and its various canals, except in Job 28:10 Daniel 12:5,6,7 2 . Nahar, applied, like our word river, to constantly flowing streams, such as the Euphrates. In our version this word is sometimes rendered "flood," Joshua 24:2,3 , etc.
3. Nahal, a torrent-bed, or valley through which water flows in the rainy season only, Numbers 34:5 , etc; frequently rendered "brook," Numbers 13:28 Job 6:15 , etc. Such streams are to the orientals striking emblems of inconstancy and faithlessness. Flowing only in the rainy season, and drying up when the summer heat sets in-and some of them in desert places failing prematurely-they sadly disappoint the thirsty and perhaps perishing traveller who has looked forward to them with longing and with hope, Job 6:15-20 Jeremiah 15:18 .
In some passages in our Bible the word "rivers" seems to denote rivulets or canals, to conduct hither and thither small streams of water from a tank or fountain, Ezekiel 31:4 . Such conduits were easily turned by moulding the soil with the foot; and some think this is the idea in Deuteronomy 11:10; "where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs." See also Proverbs 21:1 .