BROOK OF THE ARABAH. RSV tr. of the Heb. נַ֥חַל הָעֲרָבָֽה, wadi of the Arabah (Amos 6:14). “Brook” is not a good tr. of נחל. Properly it is a torrent-wadi, a steep-sided stream bed that flows only in the rainy season. The wadi of the Arabah occurs only here. Its identification is not clear. Simons, GTT §266, states that “Brook of the Willows (נחל הערבים) must almost certainly be read,” drawing on Isaiah 15:7 which mentions this stream bed as on the border of Moab and Edom. However, this emendation has not been generally accepted. Most identify the Wadi of the Arabah with the Wadi Zered (q.v.), modern wadi el-ḥeṩâ, which flows into the Arabah from the E side just S of the Dead Sea.
