Cherith: A cutting; separation; a gorge, a torrent-bed or winter-stream, a
"brook," in whose banks the prophet Elijah hid himself during the
early part of the three years' drought
(1 Kings 17:3,5) It has by some
been identified as the Wady el-Kelt behind Jericho, which is formed
by the junction of many streams flowing from the mountains west of
Jericho. It is dry in summer. Travellers have described it as one of
the wildest ravines of this wild region, and peculiarly fitted to
afford a secure asylum to the persecuted. But if the prophet's
interview with Ahab was in Samaria, and he thence journeyed toward
the east, it is probable that he crossed Jordan and found refuge in
some of the ravines of Gilead. The "brook" is said to have been
"before Jordan," which probably means that it opened toward that
river, into which it flowed. This description would apply to the east
as well as to the west of Jordan. Thus Elijah's hiding-place may have
been the Jermuk, in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh.
