RIVER OF EGYPT. This term occurs eight times in the O. T. In one of these the word translated river is"IM, while in all the others it is 1-1). The preceding remarks on these two terms, and the clear distinction drawn between them by the sacred writers, will show that in the above pas sages they can scarcely be regarded as identical in meaning, and that in all probability Nahar Metz raim is to be regarded as distinct from Nakhal Mitzraim. To determine this point, it will be necessary to examine critically the several passages in which the words occur, and the light that may be thrown upon them by parallels. Geographi cally, the question is of importance, as determining the southern border of 'the land of promise,' and of the land of possession.' i. Mahar Mitzraim cn The river oi Egypt'). The land which the Lord gave in cove nant promise to Abraham is thus described in Gen. xv. Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.' The Septuagint renders river of Egypt,' dm:. ror) rorap.o0 till•Orrou ; and the Vulgate, a Aim.° Aegypti. The word in), as has been stated, like vorapis andfluvizes, means 'river.' But tbe Nile is the only river of Egypt, and hence it is natural to conclude that the Nile is here meant. So it is understood by most commentators (Kalisch, Delitzsch, etc., ad loc.) It is true the extent of territory thus defined was never actually occupied by the seed of Abraham ; nor was it posscssed except perhaps during the reigns of David and SOIOMOn [PALESTINE].
2. Nakhal Mitzraim cn ri.)) occurs seven times in the Bible. In six of these the A. V. translates 'river,' and in one 'stream' (Is. xxvii. i2). The Septuagint has xetiecippoos in Num. xxxiv. 6 ; Josh. xv. 47 ; 2 Kings xxiv. 7 ; and 2 Chron. vii. 8 ; cpdpali in Josh. xv. 4 ; vora,u6s in Kings viii. 65 ; and 'Pevolcopo6pcov in Is. xxvii. 12. The Vul gate has )77.111.9 in Kings viii. 65 and 2 KillaS xxiv. 7, but torrens in the others. The proper meaning of nakhal is valley ,' though it is some times, as has been stated (see above), applied to the winter-streams of Palestine. It could not with any propriety be applied to a large permanent river like tbe Nile. What, therefore, do the sacred writers mean by Nakhal Mitzraim? In describing to Moses the land of Canaan, which the Israelites were about to enter and pos sess, the Lord stated that the southern boundary should extend from Kadesh-Barnea to ' the river of RDA' or more correctly the wady (valley) of Egypt' (Num. xxxiv. 5). And, after the conquest, the southern border of Judah extended to the same Points (Josh. xv. 4, 47)- The country over which the Israelites had spread in the time of Solomon was from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt' (t Kings viii. 65 ; 2 Citron. vii. 8).
In all these passages it will be observed that the country described is much smaller than that given in covenant-promise to Abraham, extending only on the north as far as the entrance of Hamath. This has already been explained in the article PALESTINE.
TWO other passages in which tbe term is em ployed are more difficult. In 2 Kings xxiv. the river of Egypt' is mentioned as the proper boundary of that country ; and it is said of the king of Baby lon, that he had taken from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.' The expression nearly resembles that in Gen. xv. 18, where the river Nile is meant (see above). A similar form is used by Isaiah (xxvii. 12) ; and there the Septuagint has rendered Nakhal Mitzraim by Rhinocorura. which was the narne of a town now called el-Arish. If this be correct, then A'akhal-Milzraimm ust be identified. with Wady el-Arish, a valley and small winter stream which falls into the Mediterranean near this town. This is the view adopted by most of the old commenta tots (see in Gesenius, Thes., p. 872; Reland, Pal., p. 969, and authorities there cited). Jerome states that Rhinocorura was situated on the borders of Palestine and Egypt, and that the river (lorrens) of Egypt ' was near it (Comment. ad yes. xix., and gxvii. ; ad Amos vi.) Ancient geographers and historians describe Egypt as extending to this city (Eusebius, Onomase., s.v. ; Diod. Sic., i. 60 ; Strabo, xvi. p. 78o ; Reland, p. 286). This tor rent, or valley, derived its notoriety from being the boundary of two great countries ; and hence in Ezek. xlvii. 19 and xlviii. 28 it is called emphati cally the valley' (A. V., the river ').
Thete is nothing, therefore, in any of the pas sages of Scripture in which this term occurs, nor in the geographical notices in other passages, nor is there anything in the old geographers or historians tending to identify Nakhal Mitzraim with the Nile. This appears more clearly when the proper dis tinction is drawn between the country given in covenant promise to Abraham, and that actually allotted to the Israelites (PaLEsTINE; Bochart, Opera, i. 62).
It may be inferred that the first term, .11Tahar Milzraim, ought to be translated the river of Egypt ; ' and that it was the designation of the Nile in Abraham's time, before the Egyptian word year became known. The other term, Nakhal Milzraim, might be rendered torrent, or wady, of Egypt.' It was applied to Wady el-Ari`sh, which acquired its importance and notoriety from the fact of its marking the boundary between Palestine and Egypt.—J. L. P.