יְאֹר

From the study of Amos 9:5

Range of meaning

'River, stream, channel'. It comes from Egyptian itrw, 'river'. In the Hebrew Bible it almost always means the Nile or its branches (Gen 41; Exod 1–7). Once or twice it means another river or mine-shafts (Job 28:10; Dan 12:5–7 of the Tigris).

Against the English

KJV's 'flood' (twice) hides the reference to Egypt. Modern versions (BSB, ESV, NIV) say 'Nile' and 'river of Egypt'. WEB has 'the River'.

How it drifted

KJV followed the older idea of 'flood' as any great body of flowing water. Modern readers hear 'flood' as a sudden disaster, which is not the Nile's predictable yearly swelling.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Nile's flood rose for weeks in late summer and then went down. Every neighbouring people knew of it, and Egyptian records measured it with Nilometers. Jer 46:7–8 uses the same image: 'who is this rising like the Nile?' for Egypt's army.

From the study of Exodus 7:19

Range of meaning

A word borrowed from Egyptian. Egyptian itrw meant 'river' and was used especially of the Nile. Its later spoken form survives in Coptic eiero, 'river'. In Hebrew the singular almost always means the Nile itself (Gen 41:1; Exod 1:22; 7:17–18). The plural ye'orim means the Nile's branches and the irrigation channels and canals cut from it (Isa 7:18; 19:6). Very occasionally it is used of other streams (Job 28:10, 'channels' in rock; Dan 12:5–7 of the Tigris).

Against the English

Translations put naharot and ye'orim in different orders. KJV has 'streams… rivers', and BSB, ESV and WEB have 'rivers… canals/streams'. BSB's 'canals' gets closest to the Egyptian picture of a man-made irrigation network. 'Rivers' and 'streams' sound like natural waterways.

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT and BDB both trace the word to Egyptian itrw. The Greek translation of this verse (the Septuagint) renders the plural with diōrygas, 'canals, dug channels', which shows that Jewish translators in Egypt understood it as irrigation works. Isaiah 19:5–8 uses the same vocabulary for a judgment drying up the Nile and its channels.

From the study of Ezekiel 29:10

Range of meaning

A loanword from Egyptian itrw, 'river', which by the later periods became the name of the Nile. In Hebrew the singular almost always means the Nile. The plural means its branches, canals and irrigation channels, especially the Delta arms. Rarely it is used of other streams (Job 28:10; Dan 12:5–7).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and BSB have 'rivers' and YLT has 'floods'. These can suggest many separate rivers, but Egypt had one river with many channels. 'Your Niles' or 'your Nile streams' is the sense.

How it drifted

'Rivers' is a general English word that loses the fact that this is an Egyptian word for Egypt's one life-source.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used throughout the Exodus plague story (Exod 7:15–25) and in Isa 19:6–8. In the prophets the Nile is Egypt's pride and its weak point at the same time. Ezek 29:3 and 29:9 quote Pharaoh: 'My Nile is mine; I made it.'