Bible Dictionary
Chebar
Chebar was a river or large canal in the land of the Chaldeans, beside which Ezekiel received his first recorded vision. Jewish exiles lived along its banks during the Babylonian captivity.
Definition
Chebar was a river or great canal in the land of the Chaldeans. Jewish exiles lived along its banks, and Ezekiel received his first recorded vision there.
Biblical Usage
Ezekiel’s visions and prophetic experiences are associated with the Chebar. The river is also connected with the location of Jewish captives during the Babylonian exile.
Historical Background
The Chebar has been identified variously with the Habor or Chaboras, though the supplied material notes that the names are distinct and that the biblical location favors a great Babylonian canal. It may have been the royal canal east of Nippur or another major canal in southern Mesopotamia.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Length, a river in the “land of the Chaldeans” (Ezek. 1:3), on the banks of which were located some of the Jews of the Captivity (Ezek. 1:1; 3:15, 23; 10:15, 20, 22). It has been supposed to be identical with the river Habor, the Chaboras, or modern Khabour, which falls into the Euphrates at Circesium. To the banks of this river some of the Israelites were removed by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:6). An opinion that has much to support it is that the “Chebar” was the royal canal of Nebuchadnezzar, the Nahr Malcha, the greatest in Mesopotamia, which connected the Tigris with the Euphrates, in the excavation of which the Jewish captives were probably employed.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(length), a river in the “land of the Chaldeans.” (Ezekiel 1:3; 3:15,23) etc. It is commonly regarded as identical with the Habor, (2 Kings 17:6) and perhaps the Royal Canal of Nebuchadnezzar,—the greatest of all the cuttings in Mesopotamia.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ke'-bar (kebhar, "joining" (Young), "length" (Strong); Chobar): The river by the side of which his first vision was vouchsafed to Ezekiel (Ez 1:1). It is described as in "the land of the Chaldeans," and is not, therefore, to be sought in northern Mesopotamia. This rules out the Habor, the modern Chabour, with which it is often identified. The two names are radically distinct: chabhor could not be derived from kebhar. One of the great Babylonian canals is doubtless intended. Hilprecht found mention made of (naru) kabaru, one of these canals large enough to be navigable, to the East of Nippur, "in the land of the Chaldeans." This "great canal" he identifies with the rood. shaTT en-Nil, in which probably we should recognize the ancient Chebar.</p><p>W. Ewing</p>