(1.) Heb. bik'ah, a "cleft" of the mountains (
Deut. 8:7; 11:11;
Ps. 104:8;
Isa. 41:18); also a low
plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of
Lebanon at the foot of
Hermon around the sources of the
Jordan (
Josh. 11:17; 12:7), and the
valley of
Megiddo (
2 Chr. 35:22).
(2.) 'Emek, "deep;" "a long, low plain" (
Job 39:10, 21;
Ps. 65:13;
Cant. 2:1), such as the plain of
Esdraelon; the "valley of giants" (
Josh. 15:8), usually translated "valley of Rephaim" (
2 Sam. 5:18); of
Elah (
1 Sam. 17:2), of
Berachah (
2 Chr. 20:26); the king's "dale" (
Gen. 14:17); of
Jehoshaphat (
Joel 3:2, 12), of
Achor (
Josh. 7:24;
Isa. 65:10),
Succoth (
Ps. 60:6),
Ajalon (
Josh. 10:12),
Jezreel (
Hos. 1:5).
(3.) Ge, "a bursting," a "flowing together," a narrow glen or ravine, such as the valley of the children of
Hinnom (
2 Kings 23:10); of
Eshcol (
Deut. 1:24); of
Sorek (
Judg. 16:4), etc.
The "valley of vision" (
Isa. 22:1) is usually regarded as denoting
Jerusalem, which "may be
so called," says Barnes (Com.
on Isa.), "either (1) because there were several valleys within the
city and adjacent to it, as the vale between
Mount Zion and
Moriah, the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount
Ophel, between these and Mount Bezetha, and the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of the
brook Kidron, etc., without the walls of the city; or (2) more probably it was called the valley in reference to its being compassed with hills rising to a considerable elevation above the city" (
Ps. 125:2; comp. also
Jer. 21:13, where Jerusalem is called a "valley").
(4.) Heb. nahal, a wady or water-course (
Gen. 26:19;
Cant. 6:11).