What is the significance of the Arabah in the Bible?

This occurs as a proper name only once in the A.V. where it should read 'the Arabah,' Joshua 18:18; but it occurs in many other passages where it is translated 'a plain' or 'the plain,' and is also translated 'desert,' 'wilderness,' etc. It refers to the plain situated between two series of hills that run from the slopes of Hermon in the north to the Gulf of Akaba in the far south. It is in this plain that the Jordan runs, and in which is the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, also called 'the Sea of the Plain.' About 7 miles south of the Dead Sea the plain is crossed by some hills: all north of this is now called el-Ghor, but the plain south of it retains the name of the Wady-el-Arabah. This latter part is about 100 miles in length, and the northern part about 150, so that for nearly 250 miles this wonderful plain or valley extends.

It might naturally be thought that the Jordan had at some time, after running into the Dead Sea, continued to run south until it poured itself into the Gulf of Akaba. But this is not probable, for the Dead Sea is nearly 1,300 feet below the sea, and the southern part is from end to end higher than the Ghor, The width of the Arabah is in some parts about 15 miles, but further south not more than 3 or 4. The southern end is also called the Wilderness of Zin, and it was in this part of the Arabah that a good deal of the wanderings of the people of Israel took place, before they turned to the east and left the plain on their left.

There can be no doubt that scripture uses the name 'Arabah' for the whole of the plain, both north and south. The northern part is referred to in Deut. 3:17; Deut. 4:49; Joshua 3:16; Joshua 12:3; Joshua 18:18: and the southern part in Deut. 1:1; Deut. 2:8. In other passages, especially in the prophetic books, the plain in general may be alluded to. It extends nearly due north and south, but bears toward the west before it reaches the Gulf.

“All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem shall be turned as the Arabah; and Jerusalem shall be lifted up, and shall dwell in her own place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner-gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses” (v. 10). We find here a fourth phenomenon concluding the series of wondrous events that will occur in the land of Israel.

Everyone knows that a deep, low plain through which the Jordan flows stretches from the sea of Gennesaret to the Dead Sea It is the most remarkable low-lying plain known in the whole world. The sea of Gennesaret, through which the Jordan flows first, lies 208 meters, and the Salt Sea (or Dead Sea) 394 meters below the level of the Mediterranean. In earlier days this valley was often called Araba, which means “Plain,” as witnessed in the following Scriptures: Deuteronomy 1:7; 3:17; 4:49; Joshua 3:16; 8:14; 11:2; 12:1, 3, 8; and many others besides. In our time the portion of this valley stretching from the Dead Sea to the easterly arm of the Red Sea (called Acaba) has retained the name Araba, but it has no link to the passage in Zechariah.

Geba was a city of Benjamin to the north of Jerusalem, about at the height of Jericho at the Jordan; Rimmon was a city of the tribe of Simeon, lying more southerly to the west of the Dead Sea. It seems therefore that the entire land between Geba and Rimmon will be changed and come to lie on the same elevation as the Araba, which is to say: the Jordan valley. The result of this extraordinary phenomenon will be that Jerusalem, which “shall dwell in her own place,” will be raised before the eyes of all in the midst of the land of Israel.

The word is arabah, Deut. 11:30, and is elsewhere translated 'plain, desert, wilderness.' It is the wide valley in which the Jordan runs.

A district far south of Judah, lying between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba, in which Kadesh was situated, and in which a great part of the wanderings of the Israelites occurred. Num. 13:21; Num. 20:1; Num. 27:14; Num. 33:36; Num. 34:3-4; Deut. 32:51; Joshua 15:1, 3. It must not be confounded with the Wilderness of Sin (which lies along the south-east coast of the Red Sea).

The way of Him "that rideth in the deserts," says the psalmist; and the number here accentuates this. It is not, however, the common word for the wilderness, but that which is the specific name for the deep groove from the lake of Galilee to the Red Sea, in which the Jordan runs down to the Salt Sea, and in which the Sea itself lies, — the Arabah: here in the plural, which may stand for the different parts of one depression, or for all that is similar to this. The word means a "parched, dry place." which in its specific application, Jordan, the river of death, and the salt sea, the lake of fire and brimstone, sufficiently characterize. Death is in itself the stamp of man's condition, his removal from the place which through sin he has forfeited, and thus, if there be no remedy, from the face of God. But it is when he is brought to the realization of this, into the dry, parched place, he finds One that moves there, sovereign over what may seem insurmountable difficulties. It is here the work of Christ manifests itself in all its glorious power; and it is suited therefore to a psalm which brings Israel into blessing under the new Head, Christ, that Jehovah should be revealed as "He who rideth in the Araboth," — who moves serenely in the plenitude of power among these places where human resources are dried up. Fitting too is it that just in this connection the reminder of death should be found accompanied by the assurance of His tenderness and resources for those who suffer from this:" a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation." And similar things are those that follow also: "He setteth the solitary in families," — removing the curse of barrenness and the sorrow of isolation. Again, "He bringeth out the prisoners," not into liberty merely, but "into prosperity": while "the rebellious" only, but they assuredly, "dwell in a dry land" still. Thus His character both in grace and in righteousness is declared.

A further indication that this is the location of the heave offering may be found in the direction of the stream which issues from the House (Ezek. 47:1-2, 8) . This goes out toward the east country, down. into the plain or Arabah (the name of the depression of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and southward to the Gulf of Akaba: see map), and into the sea, that is, the Dead Sea. In the location usually given to the Offering this stream, flowing east, would enter the River Jordan, not the Sea; but in the location here given the requirements are all met.

And now we are nearly back to the beginning of the journey, and the next step brings us face to face with the desert: "and it passed over to the side in front of the Arabah northward." A singular seventh point, as it must seem; and the desert itself is the eighth: "and it went down to the Arabah." But, looking back as we are doing here, why should not the contemplation of the desert be in rest, and the desert itself become a prophecy of new creation? God does not patch, and will not have the wilderness forever: must He not, then, have "all things new"?

The other name here, Beth-arabah, is undoubtedly "the house of the wilderness;" and passover and wilderness would in this connection remind us of that love and care which had delivered Israel from judgment in Egypt, and sheltered them on their journey to the land. For us the types speak easily and need no expounding. A salvation to the uttermost, or redemption and preservation through the Lamb of sacrifice, suit well the numerical place.

Beth-arabah, the "house of the wilderness," begins the list. It speaks plainly of a Father's sufficiency and care, which the wilderness is the very place to learn. Cut off from all natural resources, the heavenly bread, the water from the rock, the daily guidance, were a constant testimony of this to the people of old; and to educate them in it was a perfect argument for the path by which He led them. And these things are our types: the antitypes transcend them; only faith is needed to behold that which is spiritual; but the clear light of eternity will reveal it all.

(1) Israel are now, though still characteristically in the wilderness," at their journey's end. They have taken, to accomplish a few days' journey, the life of a generation. They have come a long distance, with toil and hardship, where faith in God would have easily and long since brought them. Still, over all this God triumphs, using it as a homily for them, and an encouragement to confidence. The forty years of trial are at length concluded, and their inheritance lies before them, the other side of the headlong river which alone intervenes. And now the lawgiver's voice, soon to be heard no more among them, as he and they alike well know, utters itself in a solemn last address, in which the fullness of his heart overflows to the people so long his care. Characteristic of the book are the opening sentences in which Moses' words are emphasized as the subject of it: not now any more Jehovah's words through him, not the law itself properly, but Moses' exposition and enforcement of it. And this is set in the frame-work of the circumstances which set it off and impress one with its significance. The names in the first verse cannot be those of stations on the way hither therefore from Sinai on, although two of them are identical with and two more resemble some of these; but they were not "beyond Jordan, in the Arabah," or in any relation to these such as could warrant the terms used. "Similarity of names," says Keil, "cannot prove any thing by itself, as the number of places of the same name, but in different localities, that we meet with in the Bible, is very considerable." Yet this similarity, where the name is often all we have about the place, may still be quite significant. Certainly the site of this memorable discourse is beyond Jordan and in the Arabah, the deep cleft in which both the river and the sea of salt are found. Suph is not necessarily the sea of Suph or weeds, the common title of the Red Sea; nor Laban Libnah. With Pam). and Hazeroth we are indeed familiar; but Hazeroth ("enclosures") is only the plural of Hazar, of which there are many; while Paran was the name of a wide district. However, we can say little to purpose about these names.