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Easton's Bible Dictionary
the country between the two rivers (Hebrew Aram-naharaim;
i.e., "Syria of the two rivers"), The name given by the Greeks and Romans to the
region between the Euphrates and the Tigris ( Genesis 24:10 ; Deuteronomy 23:4
; Judges 3:8 , 3:10 ). In the Old Testament it is mentioned also under the name
"Padan-aram;" i.e., the plain of Aram, or Syria ( Genesis 25:20 ). The northern
portion of this fertile plateau was the original home of the ancestors of the
Hebrews ( Genesis 11 ; Acts 7:2 ). From this region Isaac obtained his wife Rebecca
( Genesis 24:10 , 24:15 ), and here also Jacob sojourned ( Genesis 28:2 - 7 )
and obtained his wives, and here most of his sons were born ( Genesis 35:26 ;
46:15 ). The petty, independent tribes of this region, each under its own prince,
were warlike, and used chariots in battle. They maintained their independence
till after the time of David, when they fell under the dominion of Assyria, and
were absorbed into the empire ( 2 Kings 19:13 ).
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
between two rivers
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(between the rivers), The entire country between the
two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. This is a tract nearly 700 miles long
and from 20 to 250 miles broad, extending in a southeasterly direction from Telek
to Kurnah . The Arabian geographers term it "the Island," a name which is almost
literally correct, since a few miles only intervene between the source of the
Tigris and the Euphrates at Telek . But the region which bears the name of Mesopotamia,
par excellence, both in Scripture and in the classical writers, is the northwestern
portion of this tract, or the country between the great bend of the Euphrates,
latitude 35 degrees to 37 degrees 30, and the upper Tigris.
We first hear of Mesopotamia in Scripture as the country where Nahor and his family
settled after quitting Ur of the Chaldees. ( Genesis 24:10 ) Here lived Bethuel
and Laban; and hither Abraham sent his servants to fetch Isaac a wife. Ibid. ver.
38. Hither too, a century later, came Jacob on the same errand; and hence he returned
with his two wives after an absence of twenty-one years. After this we have no
mention of Mesopotamia till the close of the wanderings in the wilderness. ( Deuteronomy
23:4 ) About half a century later we find, for the first and last time, Mesopotamia
the seat of a powerful monarchy. ( Judges 3:1 ) ... Finally, the children of Ammon,
having provoked a war with David, "sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them
chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of
Zobah." ( 1 Chronicles 19:6 )
According to the Assyrian inscriptions Mesopotamia was inhabited in the early
times of the empire, B.C. 1200-1100, by a vast number of petty tribes, each under
its own prince, and all quite independent of one another. The Assyrian monarchs
contended with these chiefs at great advantage, and by the time of Jehu, B.C.
880, had fully established their dominion over them. On the destruction of the
Assyrian empire, Mesopotamia seems to have been divided between the Medes and
the Babylonians. The conquests of Cyrus brought it wholly under the Persian yoke;
and thus it continued to the time of Alexander. Since 1516 it has formed a part
of the Turkish empire. It is full of ruins and mounds of ancient cities, some
of which are now throwing much light on the Scripture.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
mes-o-ta'-mi-a.
See SYRIA.
Tags:
aram-naharaim, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, country between two rivers, define, euphrates, jacob found wives, mesopotamia, padan-aram, plain of aram, rebecca found, tigris
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