The Euphrates
Scripture first
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The draws the land's border at the great river, the river Euphrates.
The Euphrates is Scripture's eastern horizon: the edge of Eden, the far border of the promise, the river of Babylon, and in Revelation the boundary beyond which judgment waits. When Babylon fell, it was the Euphrates, diverted, that let Cyrus's army in.
The great river of Mesopotamia: Eden's boundary marker, the promised land's far border, Babylon's water, and a boundary of Revelation.
- the Euphrates, the great river, Perath
- The Euphrates · Turkey, Syria, Iraq
The Euphrates made the Fertile Crescent's northern arc passable; armies and exiles all moved along it. Judah's exiles settled on its canals, which is why Psalm 137 speaks of rivers, plural.
- Genesis 15:18 The covenant draws the land's border at the great river, the river Euphrates.
- Genesis 2:14 One of the four rivers of Eden
- Jeremiah 46:2 Pharaoh Neco defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates
- Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, the canals of the Euphrates
- Revelation 9:14 The angels bound at the great river Euphrates
- Revelation 16:12 The Euphrates dried up to prepare the way of the kings from the east
What we know
Certain
- The river's identity and course are unquestioned, and its role as the boundary of empires is documented history.