river of Arnon

AI summary: This entry focuses not simply on Arnon as a named river but on the river boundary as it functions in biblical geography. Such boundaries are often crucial in conquest and inheritance passages, and the Arnon is one of the clearest examples east of the Jordan. Its ravine forms a natural line that shaped political and territorial identity in the region. The cross references present the river of Arnon as an important boundary feature in the transjordan.¹

Swift, the southern boundary of the territory of Israel beyond Jordan, separating it from the land of Moab (Deut. 3:8, 16). This river (referred to twenty-four times in the Bible) rises in the mountains of Gilead, and after a circuitous course of about 80 miles through a deep ravine it falls into the Dead Sea nearly opposite Engedi. The stream is almost dry in summer. It is now called el-Mujeb. The territory of the Amorites extended from the Arnon to the Jabbok. ³