Arabah

Arabah, from a Hebrew root meaning burnt up or arid, designates the great rift valley running from the Sea of Galilee southward through the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. The term appears both as a proper geographic name and as a common noun for desert or wilderness terrain. In the Revised Version it replaces the King James “plain” in numerous passages, giving readers a clearer sense of the distinct geographic feature involved (2 Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16).

The Arabah played a significant role in Israel's history. The Israelites traveled through it during the wilderness wandering, and its southern section served as the route of march in several later military campaigns. Amos 6:14 names the “brook of the Arabah” as a boundary marker, and the Israelite copper mines in the Arabah south of the Dead Sea (the Wadi Arabah) supplied material for the Solomonic building projects. The term's various applications—to the Jordan valley, to the Dead Sea region, and to the broader rift depression—reflect the flexibility of Hebrew geographic terminology.