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chan´el (×פיק, 'aÌ„phı̄kÌ£ (root ×פק, 'aÌ„phakÌ£, “to hold or contain,†“to be strongâ€; compare Arabic 'afakÌ£ “to overcome†and 'aÌ„fikÌ£, “preëminentâ€); שבּלת, shibboÌ„leth (ש×בל, shaÌ„bhal, “to go,†“to go up or grow,†“to flowâ€; compare Arabic 'asbal, “to flow,†“to rain,†“to put forth earsâ€; sabalat, “an ear of grainâ€; sabı̄l, “a road,†“a public fountainâ€)): In ; ; we have 'aÌ„phı̄kÌ£ in the sense of “strong†(but compare , the Revised Version (British and American) “tubes†(of brass)). Elsewhere it is translated “river,†“brook,†“stream,†“channel†or “watercourse.†ShibboÌ„leth (in the dialect of Ephraim sÌ£ibboÌ„leth ()) means “an ear of grain†(; ; ) or “a flood of water†(, ; ). In (compare ) we have:
“Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare,
By the rebuke of Yahweh,
At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.â€
This is reminiscent of “fountains of the deep†(; ; ). It is a question how far we should attribute to these ancient writers a share in modern notions of oceanography, but the idea seems to be that of a withdrawal of the water of the ocean, and the laying bare of submarine declivities and channels such as we know to exist as the result of erosion during a previous period of elevation, when the given portion of ocean floor was dry land.
The fact that many streams of Palestine flow only during the rainy season seems to be referred to in ; and perhaps also in . See BROOK; RIVER.