Dict: smith - ARA

smith:

ARA - A>@ - (lion), one of the sons of Jether, the head of a family of Asherites. ( kjv@1Chronicles:7:88)

ARAB - A>@ - (ambush) a city of Judah in the mountainous district, probably in the neighborhood of Hebron; mentioned only in kjv@Joshua:15:62)

ARABAH - A>@ - (burnt up). Although this word appears in the Authorized Version in its original shape only in kjv@Joshua:18:18) yet in the Hebrew text it is of frequent occurrence. It indicates more particularly the deep-sunken valley or trench which forms the most striking among the many striking natural features of Palestine, and which extends with great uniformity of formation from the slopes of Hermon to the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akabah) of the Red Sea; the most remarkable depression known to exist on the surface of the globe. Through the northern portion of this extraordinary fissure the Jordan rushes through the lakes of Huleh and Gennesaret down its tortuous course to the deep chasm of the Dead Sea. This portion, about 150 miles in length, is known amongst the Arabs by the name of el
- Ghor . The southern boundary of the (Ghor is the wall of cliffs which crosses the valley about 10 miles south of the Dead Sea. From their summits, southward to the Gulf of Akabah, the valley changes its name, or, it would be more accurate to say, retains old name of Wady el
- Arabah .

ARABIA - A>@ - (desert, barren), a country known in the Old Testament under two designations:
The East Country , kjv@Genesis:25:6) or perhaps the East, ( kjv@Genesis:10:30; kjv@Numbers:23:7; kjv@Isaiah:2:6) and Land of the Sons of the East , kjv@Genesis:29:1) Gentile name, Sons of the East , kjv@Judges:6:3 kjv@Judges:7:12; kjv@Kings:4:30; kjv@Job:1:3; kjv@Isaiah:11:14; kjv@Jeremiah:49:28; kjv@Ezekiel:25:4) From these passages it appears that Land of the East and Sons of the East indicate, primarily, the country east of Palestine, and the tribes descended from Ishmael and from Keturah; and that this original signification may have become gradually extended to Arabia and its inhabitants generally, though without any strict limitation. ’Arab and ’Arab , whence Arabia. ( kjv@2Chronicles:9:14; kjv@Isaiah:21:13; kjv@Jeremiah:26:24; kjv@Ezekiel:27:21) (Arabia is a triangular peninsula, included between the Mediterranean and Red seas, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Its extreme length, north and south, is about 1300 miles, and its greatest breadth 1500 miles.
- Encyc. Brit.) Divisions .
Arabia may be divided into Arabia Proper , containing the whole peninsula as far as the limits of the northern deserts; Northern Arabia (Arabia Deserta), constituting the great desert of Arabia; and Western Arabia , the desert of Petra and the peninsula of Sinai, or the country that has been called Arabia Petraea , I. Arabia Proper , or the Arabian penninsula consists of high tableland, declining towards the north. Most of it is well peopled, watered by wells and streams, and enjoys periodical rains. The moist fertile tracts are those on the southwest and south. II. Northern Arabia , or the Arabian Desert, is a high, undulating, parched plain, of which the Euphrates forms the natural boundary from the Persian Gulf to the frontier of Syria, whence it is bounded by the latter country and the desert of Petra on the northwest and west, the peninsula of Arabia forming its southern limit. It has few oases, the water of the wells is generally either brackish or unpotable and it is visited by the sand-wind called Samoom . The inhabitants principally descended from Ishmael and from Keturah, have always led a wandering and pastoral life. They conducted a considerable trade of merchandise of Arabia and India from the shore of the Persian Gulf. kjv@Ezekiel:27:20-24) III. Western Arabia includes the peninsula of Sinai SINAI, OR SINAI and the desert of Petra; corresponding generally with the limits of Arabia Petraea. The latter name is probably derived from that of its chief city, not from its stony character. It was mostly peopled by descendants of Esau, and was generally known as the land of Edom or Idumea EDOM, IDUMAEA OR IDUMEA, as well as by its older appellation, the desert of Seir or Mount Seir. SEIR Inhabitants .
(Arabia, which once ruled from India to the Atlantic, now has eight or nine millions of inhabitants, about one-fifth of whom are Bedouin or wandering tribes, and the other four-fifths settled Arabs.
Encyc. Brit.) The descendants of JOKTAN occupied the principal portions of the south and southwest of the peninsula, with colonies in the interior. The principal Joktanite kingdom, and the chief state of ancient Arabia, was that of the Yemen. The ISHMAELITES appear to have entered the peninsula from the northwest. That they have spread over the whole of it (with the exception of one or two districts on the south coast), and that the modern nation is predominantly Ishmaelite, is asserted by the Arabs. Of the descendants of KETURAH the Arabs say little. They appear to have settled chiefly north of the peninsula in Desert Arabia, from Palestine to the Persian Gulf. In northern and western Arabia are other peoples, which, from their geographical position and mode of life are sometimes classed with the Arabs, of these are AMALEK, the descendants of ESAU, etc. (Productions
The productions are varied. The most noted animal is the horse. Camels, sheep, cattle, asses, mules and cats are common. Agricultural products are coffee, wheat, barley, millet, beans, pulse, dates and the common garden plants. In pasture lands Arabia is peculiarly fortunate. In mineral products it is singularly poor, lead being most abundant.
Encyc. Brit.) Religion .
The most ancient idolatry of the Arabs we must conclude to have been fetishism. Magianism, an importation from Chaldaea and Persia, must be reckoned among the religions of the pagan Arabs; but it never had very numerous followers. Christianity was introduced into southern Arabia toward the close of the second century, and about a century later it had made great progress. It flourished chiefly in the Yemen, where many churches were built. Judaism was propagated in Arabia, principally by Karaites, at the captivity. They are now nominally Mohammedans. Language .
Arabic the language of Arabia, is the most developed and the richest of Shemitic languages, and the only one of which we have an extensive literature; it is, therefore, of great importance to the study of Hebrew. Government .
Arabia is now under the government of the Ottoman empire.

ARABIANS - A>@ - the nomadic tribes inhabiting the country to the east and south of Palestine, who in the early times of Hebrew history were known as Ishmaelites and descendants of Keturah.

ARAD - A>@ - (a wild ass), a Benjamite, son of Beriah, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath. ( kjv@1Chronicles:8:15) (B.C. 536.)

ARAD - A>@ - a royal city of the Canaanites, named with Hormah and Libnah. kjv@Joshua:12:14) The wilderness of Judah was to the south of Arad." kjv@Judges:1:16) It may be identified with a hill, Tel ’Arad , an hour and a half northeast by east from Milh (Moladah), and eight hours from Hebron.

ARAH - A>@ - (wayfaring). An Asherite, of the sons of Ulla. ( kjv@1Chronicles:7:39) The sons of Arah returned with Zerubbabel in number 775 according to kjv@Ezra:2:5) but 652 according to kjv@Nehemiah:7:10) (B.C. 536.) One of his descendants, Shechaniah, was the father-in-law of Tobiah the Ammonite. kjv@Nehemiah:6:18)

ARAM - A>@ - (high). The name by which the Hebrews designated, generally, the country lying to the northeast of Palestine; the great mass of that high tableland which, rising with sudden abruptness from the Jordan and the very margin of the Lake of Gennesaret, stretched at an elevation of no less than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, to the banks of the Euphrates itself. Throughout the Authorized Version the word is, with only a very few exceptions, rendered, as in the Vulgate and LXX., SYRIA. Its earliest occurrence in the book of Genesis is in the form of Aram-naharaim , i.e. the "highland of or between the two rivers." kjv@Genesis:24:10) Authorized Version "Mesopotamia." In the later history we meet with a number of small nations or kingdoms forming parts of the general land of Aram; but as Damascus increased in importance it gradually absorbed the smaller powers, (Kings:20:1) and the name of Aram was at last applied to it alone. kjv@Isaiah:7:8) also 1Kin 11:24-25; 15:18 etc. Another Aram is named in kjv@Genesis:22:21) as a son of Kemuel and descendant of Nahor. An Asherite, one of the sons of Shamer. ( kjv@1Chronicles:7:34) Son of Esrom or Hezron, and the Greek form of the Hebrew RAM. kjv@Matthew:1:3-4; kjv@Luke:3:33)

ARAMNAHATAIM - A>@ - (highlands of two rivers). kjv@Psalms:60:1), title. ARAM

ARAMZOBAH - A>@ - Psal 60:1, title. ARAM, 1

ARAMITESS - A>@ - a female inhabitant of Aram. ( kjv@1Chronicles:7:14)

ARAN - A>@ - (wild goat), a Horite, son of Dishan and brother of Uz. kjv@Genesis:36:28; 1Chr 1:42

ARAUNAH - A>@ - (ark), a Jebusite who sold his threshing floor on Mount Moriah to David as a site for an altar to Jehovah, together with his oxen. (2 Samuel 24:18-24; kjv@1Chronicles:21:25)