chan'-el ('aphiq (root 'aphaq, "to hold or contain," "to be strong"; compare Arabic 'afaq "to overcome" and 'afiq, "preeminent"); shibboleth (shabhal, "to go," "to go up or grow," "to flow"; compare Arabic 'asbal, "to flow," "to rain," "to put forth ears"; sabalat, "an ear of grain"; sabil, "a road," "a public fountain")): In Job 12:21; Job 40:18; Job 41:15 we have 'aphiq in the sense of "strong" (but compare 40:18, the Revised Version (British and American) "tubes" (of brass)). Elsewhere it is translated "river," "brook," "stream," "channel" or "watercourse." Shibboleth (in the dialect of Ephraim cibboleth (Judges 12:6)) means "an ear of grain" (Genesis 41:5; Ruth 2:2 Isaiah 17:5) or "a flood of water" (Psalm 69:2, 15 Isaiah 27:12). In 2 Samuel 22:16 (compare Psalm 18:15) we have: "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of Yahweh, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils." This is reminiscent of "fountains of the deep" (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2 Proverbs 8:28). It is a question how far we should attribute to these ancient writers a share in modern notions of oceanography, but the idea seems to be that of a withdrawal of the water of the ocean, and the laying bare of submarine declivities and channels such as we know to exist as the result of erosion during a previous period of elevation, when the given portion of ocean floor was dry land.

The fact that many streams of Palestine flow only during the rainy season seems to be referred to in Job 6:15; and perhaps also in Psalm 126:4.

See BROOK; RIVER.

Alfred Ely Day

(1.) The bed of the sea or of a river (Psalm 18:15; Isaiah 8:7).

(2.) The "chanelbone" (Job 31:22 marg.), properly "tube" or "shaft," an old term for the collar-bone.

2. (n.) The deeper part of a river, harbor, strait, etc., where the main current flows, or which affords the best and safest passage for vessels.

3. (n.) A strait, or narrow sea, between two portions of lands; as, the British Channel.

4. (n.) That through which anything passes; means of passing, conveying, or transmitting; as, the news was conveyed to us by different channels.

5. (n.) A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.

6. (n.) Flat ledges of heavy plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel, to increase the spread of the shrouds and carry them clear of the bulwarks.

7. (v. t.) To form a channel in; to cut or wear a channel or channels in; to groove.

8. (v. t.) To course through or over, as in a channel.

6388. peleg -- a channel, canal
... << 6387, 6388. peleg. 6389 >>. a channel, canal. Transliteration: peleg Phonetic
Spelling: (peh'-leg) Short Definition: streams. Word ...
/hebrew/6388.htm - 6k

7641. shibbol -- ear (of grain)
... 10), ears of grain (3), grain (1). branch, channel, ear of corn, water,
flood, Shibboleth. Or (feminine) shibboleth {shib-bo'-leth ...
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4492. minharah -- perhaps a cave, stronghold
... den. From nahar; properly, a channel or fissure, ie (by implication) a cavern --
den. see HEBREW nahar. << 4491, 4492. minharah. 4493 >>. Strong's Numbers.
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8585a. tealah -- a watercourse
... Word Origin from alah Definition a watercourse NASB Word Usage channel (1), channels
(1), conduit (4), trench (3). << 8585, 8585a. tealah. 8585b >>. ...
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2975. yeor -- stream (of the Nile), stream, canal
... Of Egyptian origin; a channel, eg A fosse, canal, shaft; specifically the Nile,
as the one river of Egypt, including its collateral trenches; also the Tigris ...
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7298. rahat -- a trough
... From an unused root apparently meaning to hollow out; a channel or watering-box;
by resemblance a ringlet of hair (as forming parallel lines) -- gallery, gutter ...
/hebrew/7298.htm - 5k

8585. t'alah -- a watercourse
... From alah; a channel (into which water is raised for irrigation); also a bandage
or plaster (as placed upon a wound) -- conduit, cured, healing, little river ...
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