TheBrook of Egypt (Hebrew:נַחַל מִצְרַיִם,romanized: naḥal mitzrayim,lit. 'wadi of Egypt'[1]) is awadi identified in theHebrew Bible as forming the southernmost border of theLand of Israel.[2] A number of scholars have identified it withWadi al-Arish,[3] an ephemeral river flowing into theMediterranean sea near the Egyptian city ofArish, while Israeli archaeologistNadav Na'aman believes that the landform referenced in the Bible is theBesor Stream, just to the south ofGaza.[4][5] Finally, another traditional Jewish interpretation is that the term refers to theNile – a view that appears in ancient translations of the Jewish Bible, as preserved in the Neophiti and Vatican manuscripts.
A related phrase isnahar mitzrayim ('river of Egypt'), used inGenesis15:18.
According toExodus13:18–20, the locality from which theIsraelites journeyed after departing Egypt wasSukkot. The nameSukkot means "palm huts" inHebrew and was translatedAl-Arish inArabic. It lies in the vicinity ofArish, the hometown of the Jewish commentatorSaadia Gaon who identifiedNaḥal Mizraim with theWadi al-Arish.Ishtori Haparchi, in his 14th-century workKaftor va-Ferach (Hebrew: כפתור ופרח), also identifies the Brook of Egypt as Wadi al-Arish.[6]
TheSeptuagint translatesNaḥal Mizraim inIsaiah27:12 asRhinocorura.
Although in later Hebrew the termnaḥal tended to be used for small rivers, inBiblical Hebrew, the word could be used for any wadi or river valley.[7]
According to Sara Japhet, "Nahal Mizraim" is Wadi al-Arish, which empties into theMediterranean Sea about 30 miles south ofRaphia, and "Shihor Mizraim" is the Nile.[8]
The Israeli archaeologist Nadav Na'aman has suggested in papers published in 1979[4] and 1995[5] that Wadi Gaza, orNahal Besor, is the Brook of Egypt. Certainly, it was controlled byEgypt in the LateBronze Age and inhabited byPhilistines into theIron Age.[9] In the 1995 paper Na'aman cites evidence that "the area of Nahal Besor experienced an unprecedented demographic boom in the seventh century, whereas the area near Wadi el-'Arish was sparsely inhabited at that time",[5] which he believes lends circumstantial support to his hypothesis.
One traditional Jewish understanding of the termNaḥal Mizraim is that it refers to theNile. This view appears in the Palestinian Targum of Numbers 34:5, where נחלה מצרים is translated נילוס דמצריי ("the Nile of the Egyptians") — as preserved in the Neophiti and Vatican manuscripts, as well as in Pseudo-Jonathan.[10] It also appears in medieval commentaries byRashi andDavid Kimhi on Joshua 13:3.[11] However, most historical commentators, such asAbraham Ibn Ezra,Bahya ben Asher,Samuel David Luzzatto,Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin,Moisè Tedeschi on Numbers 34:5, and the translators of theTargum Onkelos reject this interpretation, as do modern scholars.[12]
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