SHIHOR and SIHOR oinV, dark ' or turbid,' from the root imi; doLicrros ; jlievizes turBidus ; gpta ; Szhor ; iherapoXii ; Nllus; rnt7o aqua turbidez), one of the names given to the rivet Nile, probably arising from its dark and turbid waters, like the Greek Maar (Gesen. Thesaurus, p. 1393). The word is variously rendered in the Sept. and Vulgate, as seen above ; and there is some little doubt as to its exact meaning in every passage in which it occurs—whether it is applied to the Nile, the river of Egypt, or to Wady-el Arish, the torrent of Egypt [RtvER]. It is plain that in Is. xxiii. 3, it must be identical with lit.44, the Egyptian name of the Nile : And in great waters the fruit of Skihor, the harvest of Year, was her revenue ;' so also in Jer. IS it must like wise mean the Nile, which forms the all but ex clusive drink of the Egyptians.
There may be more doubt about the other two passages in which the name occurs. In Chron. xiii. 5 it is mentioned as the southern boundary of David's kingdom : David gathered all Israel, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath.' At this penod the kingdom of Israel was at the highest pitch of its prosperity. David's rule ex tended over a wider space than any other monarch who ever sat upon the throne ; and probably as an evidence of this fact, and as a recognition of the fulfilment of the divine promise to Abraham— ' Unto thy seed have I given this land, from thz. river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates '—the sacred historian may here have meant the Nile. Yet in other places, where the northern boundary is limited to the entrance of Hamath,' the southern is usually the torrent of Egypt,' that is, Wady 611), not -irD) el-Arish (Num. xxxiv. 5 ; Kings viii. 65).
The passage in Josh. xfii. 3 is even more obscure. The sacred writer is describing the 'territory still remaining to be conquered at the close of his life, and when about to allot the conquered portion to the tribes : ' This is the land that yet remaineth : all the borders of the Philistines and all Geshuri, from Sihar, which is before 0=4V, 'in the face of ;' not east of,' but rather on the front of') Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward.' Keil argues that Wady el-Artsh, and not the Nile, must here be meant (ad lac.); but his arguments are not conclusive. Joshua may have had the Lord's covenant promise to Abraham in view ; if so, Sihor means the Nile ; but, on the other hand, if he had the boundaries of the land as described by Moses in Num. xxxiii. 5, sty., in view, then Sihor must mean Wady el-Arish. It is worthy of note, that while in all the other passages in which this word is used, it is anarthrous, here it has the ar ticle. This does not seem to indicate any specific meaning ; for it can scarcely be doubted that here and in Chron. xiii. 5 the word is employed in the same sense. Gesenius considers that Sihor, xvherever used, means the Nile ; and upon a care ful consideration of the several passages, and of the etymology of the word, the writer is of opinion that it cannot :appropriately be applied to Wady el-Arish, and must therefore be regarded as a name of the river Nile (see Ges. Thes. p. 1393 ; Jerome, ad Isa. xxiii. 3; Reland, Pal. p. 286).—J. L. P.