Bible Dictionary
Cherith
Cherith was a ravine or seasonal stream where Elijah hid during the drought announced to Ahab. There he was sustained by God until the brook dried up.
Definition
Cherith was a gorge, torrent-bed, or winter stream where Elijah hid during the early part of the drought. It was a ravine suitable for refuge and is associated with the brook from which the place takes its name.
Biblical Usage
God directed Elijah to hide at Cherith after he announced the drought to Ahab. Elijah remained there until the brook dried up.
Historical Background
The location has been disputed. It has been identified with Wady el-Kelt west of Jericho, with the Jermuk, and with other ravines east or west of Jordan. The expression “before Jordan” can describe a stream opening toward that river.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A cutting; separation; a gorge, a torrent-bed or winter-stream, a “brook,” in whose banks the prophet Elijah hid himself during the early part of the three years’ drought (1 Kings 17:3, 5). It has by some been identified as the Wady el-Kelt behind Jericho, which is formed by the junction of many streams flowing from the mountains west of Jericho. It is dry in summer. Travellers have described it as one of the wildest ravines of this wild region, and peculiarly fitted to afford a secure asylum to the persecuted. But if the prophet’s interview with Ahab was in Samaria, and he thence journeyed toward the east, it is probable that he crossed Jordan and found refuge in some of the ravines of Gilead. The “brook” is said to have been “before Jordan,” which probably means that it opened toward that river, into which it flowed. This description would apply to the east as well as to the west of Jordan. Thus Elijah’s hiding-place may have been the Jermuk, in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh.