Shihor-Libnath

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Shihor-Libnath . One of the boundaries of Asher (  Joshua 19:26 ). It stands apparently for a river, most probably the Nahr ez-Zerka , the Crocodile River.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 19:26

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 19:26

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Shichor' Libnath', לַבְנָת שַׁיחוֹר , literally, Black Of Whiteness ; Sept. Ὁ Σειώρ [v.r. Ειών ] Καὶ Λιβανάθ ; Vulg. Sichor Et Labanath ) , a locality mentioned only in  Joshua 19:26 as one of the landmarks of the southern boundary of Asher in the vicinity of Carmel and Beth-dagon. By the ancient translators and commentators (as Peshito-Syriac, and Eusebius and Jerome in the Onomasticon) the names are taken as belonging to two distinct places. But modern commentators, beginning perhaps with Masius, have inferred from the fact that Shihor alone is a name of the Nile, that Shihor-libnath is likewise a river. Led by the meaning of Libnath as "white," they interpret the Shihor-libnath as the glass river, which they then naturally identify with the Belus (q.v.) of Pliny (H.N. 5, 19), the present Nahr Naman, which drains part of the plain of Akka, and enters the Mediterranean a short distance below that city. This theory, at once so ingenious and so consistent, is supported by the great names of Michaelis (Suppl. No. 2462) and Gesenius (Thesaur. p. 1393); but the territory of Asher certainly extended far south of the Naman. Reland's conjecture of the Crocodile River, probably the Nahr Zerka close to Kaisariyeh, is on the other hand, too far south, since Daor is not within the limits of Asher. The Shihor-libnath, if a stream at all, is more likely to have been the little stream (marked on Van de Velde's Map as Wady Milleh, but as Wady en- Nebra the specimen of the Ordnance Survey in the Pal. Explor. Quarterly for Jan. 1875) which enters the Mediterranean a little south of Athlit. The sand there is white and glistening, and this, combined with the turbid character of a mountain stream agrees well with the name.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shı̄´hôr - lib´nath ( שׁיחור לבנת , shı̄ḥōr libhnāth  ; Codex Vaticanus τῷ Σειὼν καὶ Λαβανάθ , tṓ Seiṓn kaı́ Labanáth  ; Codex Alexandrinus Σειώρ κτλ ., Seiṓr , etc.): A place named on the boundary of Asher (  Joshua 19:26 ). It seems to mark with Carmel the western limit, and may have been on the South of that mountain. Peshitta, Syriac, and Eusebius ( Onomasticon ) take this as two distinct names attaching to cities in this region. So far, however, no trace of either name has been found in the course of very careful exploration. More probably Shihor was the name of a river, "Libnath" distinguishing it from the Nile, which was called Shihor of Egypt. It may have been called Shihor because, like the Nile, it contained crocodiles. The boundary of Asher included Dor ( Ṭanṭūrah ), so the river may be sought South of that town. Crocodiles are said still to be found in the Kishon; but this river runs North of Carmel. The Crocodeilon of Ptolemy (V. xv. 5; xvi. 2) and Pliny (v. 19), which the latter makes the southern boundary of Phoenicia, may possibly be Nahr ez - Zerḳā , which enters the sea about 5 miles South of Ṭanṭūrah . Here also it is said the crocodile is sometimes seen. Perhaps therefore we may identify this stream with Shihor-libnath.