Rehoboth (Bible)

For other uses, see Rehoboth (disambiguation).

Rehoboth (Hebrew: רְחוֹבוֹת, Reḥovot; lit. broad places) is the name of three biblical places:

• Rehoboth (well). According to Easton's Bible Dictionary (1893-97), "(a) well in Gerar dug by Isaac (Genesis 26:22), supposed to be in Wady er-Ruheibeh, about 20 miles south of Beersheba." Isaac gave it the name Rehoboth, which means "The Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the Land". Isaac's servants had dug two wells and the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled because of these two wells with Isaac's herdsmen. So when they dug the third well and there were no quarrels Isaac named it Rehoboth saying "Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

• Rehoboth by the river, an ancient city from which came the Edomite king Saul (Genesis 36:37; 1 Chronicles 1:48). Since "the River" in the Bible generally is used to mean the Euphrates, scholars have suggested either of two sites near the junction of the Khabur River and the Euphrates. However, this would be a place far outside the Edomite territory. The river mentioned could be a river in the land of Edom, such as Wadi Zered (today known as Wadi al-Hasa). Rehoboth could possibly be identical with a site southeast of the Dead Sea.

• Rehoboth-Ir was a biblical town named in Genesis 10:11 as among those founded by Nimrod. Its exact geographic location is unknown. Rehoboth-Ir may possibly have been in the vicinity of the town of Nineveh. However, its name is identical to the Hebrew phrase "rehovot ir", meaning "streets of the town" or "public square of the town", which may refer to Nineveh itself, rather than the name of a distinct town.

See also

• Nimrud#Archaeology
• Rehoboth (disambiguation)
• Rehovot—modern Israel city close to Tel Aviv, named after Gen. 26:22
• Rehovot-in-the-Negev, Nabatean and Byzantine town in Wadi er-Ruheibeh area (see above for Isaac's well), Negev desert