“River” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(banked). In Hebrew sense, a large flowing stream, rivulet, ravine, valley, or wady. “River of Egypt” is the Nile (Gen. 15:18; Num. 34:5; Josh. 15:4,47; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 24:7). “The river” is the Euphrates (Gen. 31:21; Ex. 23:31).
“Vale, Valley” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
Five Hebrew words are rendered vale or valley in the Bible, only one of which seems to imply that broad sweep of land between mountains or hills generally understood by valley
The others imply (1) a narrow ravine, gorge, or glen (Deut. 34:3,6); (2) a wady, dry in summer but a torrent in rainy weather; (3) a plain (Josh. 11:8,17; 13:17; 2 Chron. 35:22; Zech. 12:11); (4) a stretch of sloping ground (Deut. 1:7; Josh. 10:40; 1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chron. 1:15; Jer. 33:13).
“Brook” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
Four Hebrew words are translated “brook.”
1. aphiq (Psa. 42:1), water held in by banks, translated also “channel.”
2. yeor (Isa. 19:6-8), a river, canal, fosse: applied to the Nile in Exodus 1:22, &c.
3. mikal (2 Sam. 17:20), a small brook.
4. nachal (Gen. 32:23), a mountain torrent often dry in summer, and thus often disappointing, as in Job 6:15. Such are numerous in Palestine. (This is the word in all the passages where “brook” occurs in the Old Testament except those above enumerated.) The same is called in the New Testament, χείμαρρος, “winter flowing” (John 18:1). Its Eastern name is wady.
Wady Zerka – The Jabbok
“River” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
The three principal rivers referred to in scripture are the Nile, the Jordan, and the Euphrates. The word employed for the Nile is yeor, “a fosse or channel”; for the Jordan and the Euphrates the word used is nahar, “a river” always supplied with water. The other streams in Palestine, though called “rivers,” as the Arnon, are torrents running in valleys; for the most part they have water only in the winter, and are then often impassable: these are described by the word nachal. For the symbolical river that Ezekiel saw issuing from the house this latter word is used (Ezekiel 47:5-12).
God will make His people drink of the river of His pleasures (Psa. 36:8); here the word is nachal. In Psalm 46:4 it is nahar. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.” It will never run dry.
Nile—Luxor
Ford of the Zarqa – Jordan River
Euphrates River – Hilla
“Vale, Valley” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
There are few places in Palestine which resemble the valleys of other countries. Two of the words translated “valley” are also translated “plain,” and signify broad plains between the hills. Two other words refer to the narrow dales or ravines through which the streams run in winter, but many of which are dry in summer, now called wadys.
The words are
1. biqah, “valley or plain,” which is the word used for the valleys or plains of Aven, Jericho, Lebanon, Megiddo, Mizpeh, and Ono.
2. erneq, “valley or plain,” more resembles an English “valley”: it is applied to Achor, Ajalon, Baca, Berachah, Beth-aram, “of decision” (Joel 3:14); Elah; of the giants (Josh. 15:8; Josh. 18:16); Gibeon, Hebron, Jehoshaphat, Jezreel, Keziz, “of the King,” or “the King’s Dale” (Gen. 14:17; 2 Sam. 18:18); Rephaim, Shaveh, Siddim, and Succoth.
3. gay, ge, ravine, narrow glen: applied to Charashim, Hamon-Gog, Hinnom, Son of Hinnom, Jiphthah-el, Zeboim, and Zephathah; and used symbolically for “Valley of the Mountains” (Zech. 14:5); “of the passengers” (Ezek. 39:11); “of salt” (2 Sam. 8:13; 2 Kings 14:7; 1 Chron. 18:12; 2 Chron. 25:11; Psa. 60 title); “of craftsmen” (Neh. 11:35); “of slaughter” (Jer. 7:32; Jer. 19:6); “of vision” (Isa. 22:1,5); “of the shadow of death” (Psa. 23:4).
4. nachal, gorge, wady, often translated “brook” and “river”: the valleys are Eshcol, Gerar, Shittim, Sorek, Zared.
5. shephelah, translated “vale” and “valley,” but not specified by any proper name. It refers to the lowlands that lie midway between the highlands and the low plains of Judah. See CANAAN.
6. φάραγξ. “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low” (Luke 3:5): a quotation from Isaiah 40:4, where the Hebrew word is gay.
Valley in Sinai
Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:
Meaning:
or (feminine) nachlah (Psalm 124:4) {nakh'-law}; or nachalah (Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28) {nakh-al-aw'}; from 5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine)
KJV Usage:
brook, flood, river, stream, valley