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(also Vale), a hollow sweep of ground between two more or less parallel ridges of high land. Vale is the poetical or provincial form. It is in the nature of the case that the center of a valley should usually be occupied by the stream which forms the drain of the high land on either side, and from this it commonly receives its name. Valley is distinguished from other terms more or less closely related on the one hand, from “glen,” “ravine,” “gorge,” or “dell,” which all express a depression at once more abrupt and smaller than a valley; on the other hand, from “plain,” which, though it may be used of a wide valley, is not ordinarily or necessarily so. It is to be regretted that with this quasi-precision of meaning the term should not have been employed with more restriction in the A.V. SEE TOPOGRAPHICAL TERMS.
The structure of the greater part of the Holy Land does .not lend itself to the formation of valleys in our sense of the word. The abrupt transitions of its crowded rocky hills preclude the existence of any extended sweep of valley; and where one such does occur, as at Hebron or on the south-east of Gerizim, the irregular and unsymmetrical positions of the enclosing hills rob it of the character of a valley. The nearest approach is found in; the space between the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, which contains the town of Nablûs, the ancient Shechem. This, however, by a singular chance, is not mentioned in the Bible. Another is the “valley of Jezreel,” the undulating hollow which intervenes between (Gilboa Jebel Fukua); and the so-called Little Hermon (Jebel Duhv). SEE PALESTINE. Valley is employed in the A.V. to render the following Heb. and Gr. words. SEE DALE; SEE PLAIN.
1. Bik'ah ( áַּ÷ַòָä , from áָּ÷ִò , to cleave; Sept. ðåäßïí ) appears to mean rather a plain than a valley, wider than the latter, though so far resembling it as to be-enclosed by mountains, like the wide district between Lebanon and Anti-lebanon, which is still called the Beka'a. It denotes a wide alluvial bottom, and its levelness is plainly referred to in Isa_40:4. It is usually rendered “valley” (Deu_8:7; Deu_11:1; Deu_34:3; Jos_11:8; Jos_11:17; Jos_12:7; 2Ch_35:22; Psa_104:8; Isa_41:18; Isa_63:14; Eze_37:1-2.; Zec_12:11); elsewhere “plain” (Gen_11:2; Neh_6:2; Isa_40:4; Eze_3:22-23; Eze_8:4; Amo_1:5). This Heb. term is applied to the following places:
(1.) The Valley of Shinar ( áַּ÷ְòִú ùַׁðְòָø ), the rich plain of Babylonia (Gen_11:2). SEE SHINAR.
(2.) The Valley of Jericho ( áַּ÷ְּòִú éְøֵçåֹ , the lower end of the Ghor, or plain, through which the Jordan flows unto the Dead Sea (Deu_34:3). SEE JERICHO.
(3.) The Valley of Lebanon ( áַּ÷ְòִú äִìְּáָðåֹï ), the plain of Coele-Syria between the Lebanon and Anti-lebanon ranges (Jos_11:17). SEE LEBANON,
(4.) The Valley of Miegiddo. ( áַּ÷ְòִú îְâַãּåֹ ), a part of the plain of Esdraelon, through which the Kishan flowed (2Ch_35:22; Zec_12:11). SEE MEGIDDO.
(5.) The Valley of Mizpeh ( áַּ÷ְòִú îַöְôֶּä ), the plain t the Hauran or of- Gilead, east of the Jordan (Jos_11:4). SEE MIZPEH.
(6.) The Valley of Sharon ( áַּ÷ְòִú äִùָּׁøåֹï ), the level tract about Joppa, Lod, and Ramleh (Neh_6:2). SEE SHARON.
(7.) The Valley of Aven ( áַּ÷ְòִú àָåֶï ), the plain of Damascene Syria (Amo_1:5), thought by some to be the same as No; 3. SEE AVSE.
2. Enmek ( òֵîֶ÷ from òָîִ÷ , to be deep; Sept. usually öÜñáãî or êïéëÜò , occasionally áὐëώí , ðåäßïí or Å᾿ìÝê , Á᾿ìÝê A.V. invariably [except Gen_14:17; 1Sa_18:18] “valley”) designates a long broad sweep between parallel ranges of hills of less extent than the preceding term, but greater than' the following ones, and answering quite closely, to the Western idea in general of a valley in its proper sense, having the idea of lowness and breadth rather than precipitateness or confinement. It is specifically applied to the following localities, which we enumerate in alphabetical order:
(1.) The Valley of Achor ( òֵîֶ÷ òָëåֹø ), a valley near the N.W. end of the Dead Sea (Jos_7:24; Jos_7:26; Jos_15:7; Isa_65:10; Hos_2:15). SEE ACHOR.
(2.) The Valley of Ajalon ( òֵîֶ÷ àִéָּìåֹï ), a valley in the tribe of Dan (Jos_10:12). SEE AJALON.
(3.) The Valley of Hebron ( òֵîֶ÷ çֵáְøåֹå ), the valley in which Hebron lies (Gen_38:4). SEE HEBRON.
(4.) The Valley of Jehoshaphat ( òֵîֶ÷ éְäåֹùְׁôְè ), the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives (Joe_3:2; Joe_3:12); in the same connection called figuratively the valley of the decision ( òֵîֶ÷ äֶçָøåּåֹ ). SEE JEHOSHAPHAT.
(5.) The Valley of Jezleel ( òֵîֶ÷ éַæְøְòֵàì ), the eastern extension of the plain of Esdraelon (Jos_17:16; Jdg_6:33; Hos_1:5) SEE JEZREEL.
(6.) The Valley of Keziz ( òֵîֶ÷ ÷ְöַéåֹ ) a valley in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_18:21). SEE KEZIZ.
Besides the above, the term is sometimes used as an appellative for certain well known localities, e.g. the valley of the weeping (Psa_74:6; A.V. “valley of Baka” [q.v.]), the valley of blessing (2Ch_20:26; A.:V. “valley of Berachah” [q.v.), the valley of the back (1Sa_17:2; 1Sa_17:19; 1Sa_21:9; A.V. “valley of Elah” [q.v.]), the valley of -giants (Jos_15:8; Jos_18:16; “valley of Rephaim” [q.v.], 2Sa_5:18; 2Sa_5:22; 2Sa_23:13; 1Ch_11:15; 1Ch_14:9; Isa_17:5), the valley of Shaveh [q.v.]; (Gen_14:17), or of the king (“dale,” ibid.; 2Sa_18:18), the valley of the slime-pits (Genesis 64:3, 8, 10; A.V. “of Siddim” [q.v.]), the alley of booths (Psa_60:6; Psa_108:7; A.V. “of Succoth” [q.v.]), etc.
3. Gay ( âִּéְà or âִּé ) or Gey ( âֵּéà or âֵּéà ; plur. âֵàָéּåֹú and âְּéָàåֹú , from âָéָà ; to flow; Sept. usually öÜñáãî ), a deep narrow ravine with a (winter or perennial) stream in the bottom either between hills (like the Ge-Hinnom at Jerusalem) or through an open plain (as along the Mediterranean or in Moab). In the A.V. it is invariably rendered “valley” (in the Sept. occasionally êïéëÜò , íÜðç , áὐëώí ,-and even ãῆ ). It is applied distinctively to the following localities. See also Ai; Beth-peor, etc.
(1.) The Valley of Hinnom ( âַּé äַðֹּí , Jos_15:8; Jos_18:16; Neh_11:30), or of the Son of Hinnom ( äַðֹּ áֵּïàּ , Jos_15:8; Jos_18:16; 2Ki_23:10; 2Ch_28:3; 2Ch_33:6; Jer_7:31-32; Jer_19:2; Jer_19:6; Jer_32:35), the ravine on the south-western side of Jerusalem, whence the term Gehenna (q.v.).
(2.) The Valley of Jiphthah-el ( âֵּé éַôְúִּçàּàֵì ), a ravine on the boundary between Zebulin and Asher (Jos_19:14; Jos_19:27). SEE JIPHTHAH-EL.
(3.) The Valley of Zephathah ( âֵּéà öְôָúָä ), a ravine in the tribe of Simeon (2Ch_14:10). SEE ZEPHAITHAH.
(4.) The Valley of Gedor ( âּéà âְּãåֹø ), another ravine in Simeon (1Ch_4:39).
(5.) The Valley of Hammon-gog (
âֵּéà äֲîåֹï âּåֹâ
, Eze_39:11; Eze_39:15), or of the Passengers (
âֵּé äָòֹáְøַí
, Eze_39:11), a ravine on the east of the Sea of Galilee. SEE HAMON-GOG.
(6.) The Valley of the Craftsmen (
âַּé äִçֲøָùַׁéí
, Neh_11:35; or
âֵּéà çֲøָùֵׁéí
1Ch_4:14, a ravine in the tribe of Judah. SEE CHARASHIM.(7.) The Valley of the Mountains ( âֵּéààּäָøִé , Zec_14:5, or
âֵּéàּäָøַéí , ibid.), a ravine near Jerusalem (q.v.).
(8.) The Valley of Salt ( âֵּéà îֶìִç ), a ravine on the S.W. shore of the Dead Sea (2Sa_8:13; 2Ki_24:7; 1Ch_18:12; 2Ch_35:11; Psalm Ix, title). SEE SALT.
(9) The Valley of the Hyenas ( âּé äöּáֹòַéí ), a ravine in the tribe of Benjamin (1Sa_13:18). SEE ZEBOIM. Other ravines; such as the valley of vision (Isa_22:1; Isa_22:5) of slaughter (Jer_7:32; Jer_19:6), are fanciful names, and still more tropical, the valley of the shadow of death (Psa_23:4).
4. Náchal ( ðִçִì , from. ðָçִì to receive, or perhaps to flow; Sept. öÜñáãî or ÷åéìÜῤῥïõò ; A. V. often “brook,” “river,” “stream”) is the word which exactly answers to the Arabic wady. It expresses, as no single English word an, the bed of a stream (often wide and shelving and like a “valley” in character, which in the rainy season may be nearly filled by a foaming torrent, though for the greater part of the year dry), and the stream itself which after the subsidence of the rains has shrunk to insignificant dimensions. Many of the wadies of Syria owing to the demolition of the wood which formerly shaded the country and prevented too rapid evaporation after rain, are now entirely and constantly dry. SEE RIVER. As Palestine is now emphatically a land of wadies, so this Heb. term is of very frequent occurrence in the Bible; Stanley (Palest. append.) enumerates fifteen of these water-courses or torrent-beds: those of Gerar, of Eshcol, of Zered, of Arnon, of Jabbok, of Kanah, of Kisfhon, of Besor, of Sorek, of Kidron, of Gaash, of Cherith, of Gad (2Sa_24:5), of Sthittim, and of Egypt (Num_34:5; Jos_15:4; Jos_15:47; 1Ki_8:65 2Ki_24:7; 2Ch_7:8; Isa_27:12), this last could not be distinguished by a mere English reader from the “river of Egypt,” namely, the Nile, although in the original an entirely different word is used. This name nachal is also applied to the course of the Gihon (2Ch_33:14), and such wadies are often mentioned in the book of Job and elsewhere as characteristic of Arabia; Canaan itself is said to be a land of them (Deu_8:7). SEE BROOK.
5. Hash-Shephelah ( äִùְּׁôֵìָä ; Sept. ôὸ ðåäßïí , ἡ ðåäéíή ) is the only case in which the employment of the term ‘valley” is really unfortunate. The district to which alone this distinctive Heb. name is applied in the Bible has no resemblance whatever to a valley, but is a broad swelling tract of many hundred miles in area, which sweeps gently down from the mountains of ‘Judah. towards the Mediterranean.. It is rendered “the vale” in Deu_1:7; Jos_10:40; 1Ki_10:27; 2Ch_1:15; Jer_33:13; and “the valley” or “valleys” in Jos_9:1; Jos_11:2; Jos_11:16; Jos_12:8; Jos_15:33; Jdg_1:9; Jer_32:44. SEE SHEPHELAH.
6. In the New Test. there is little notice taken of the external features of Cauaanr. In Luk_6:17 we read of our Lord standing in “the plain,” ôüðïò ðåäéíüò (but this should rather be “a level place”‘); and in Luk_3:5 we meet with “valley,” öÜñáãî , for âֵּéà , gey, in Isa_40:4.