and you must not tear your garments, that you may not die.” (Lev. 10:6) On other occasions, however, the lesser priests of the Aaronic line were permitted to display such evidence of grief in the case of the death of near relatives, but the high priest was not permitted to let his hair go ungroomed or tear his garments.—Lev. 21:1-4, 10, 11.

Many other instances of such expression of grief are found: that of Job, who ripped his sleeveless coat apart when advised of the death of his children (Job 1:20); his three pretended friends who put on a demonstration of grief when they first saw him in his diseased state by weeping and ripping their garments and throwing dust into the air (Job 2:12); Joshua, after the defeat at Ai (Josh. 7:6); the young man announcing King Saul’s death (2 Sam. 1:2); David, when given the false notice of the murder by Absalom of all his other sons (2 Sam. 13:30, 31); and King Hezekiah and his servants, who ripped apart their garments upon hearing the words spoken by Assyrian Rabshakeh against Jehovah and Jerusalem. (Isa. 37:1; 36:22) Queen Athaliah, seeing her usurpation of the throne coming to an end, also “ripped her garments apart and began crying: ‘Conspiracy! Conspiracy!’”—2 Ki. 11:14.

In the twilight of the history of the kingdom of Judah, the insensibility of the hardened hearts of King Jehoiakim and his princes is noted in the fact that when Jeremiah’s prophecy had been read to them warning of Jehovah’s judgments they felt no dread and did not “rip their garments apart.”—Jer. 36:24.

However, showing that such outward demonstration might be hypocritical or at least insincere and that it had no value unless the person’s grief was genuine, Jehovah spoke to the people of Judah through the prophet Joel and called on them to “rip apart your hearts, and not your garments; and come back to Jehovah your God.”—Joel 2:13.

Later, High Priest Caiaphas affected great indignation and outrage by ripping his garments over Jesus’ admission that he was the Son of God. (Matt. 26:65) By contrast, Paul and Barnabas, as Christian followers of Jesus, showed sincere dismay and anguish by ripping their outer garments apart when seeing that the people of Lystra were about to worship them as gods.—Acts 14:8-18.

The Law required a leper to wear a torn garment (Lev. 13:45), perhaps due to the Hebrew association of leprosy with death, reflected in such accounts as Miriam’s being referred to as “like someone dead” after being struck with the dreaded disease. (Num. 12:12) So the leprous one was obligated to wear distinguishing garb, in effect mourning for himself as among the ‘living dead.’

SYMBOLIC USE

Clothing was also torn on occasion for symbolical reasons, as when Samuel illustrated Jehovah’s rejection of Saul’s house by reference to the sleeveless coat that Saul had ripped from him. (1 Sam. 15:26-28) Similarly Ahijah the prophet ripped the garment he was wearing into twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to take ten of them, thereby representing the division of Solomon’s kingdom.—1 Ki. 11:29-39.

RISSAH

(Risʹsah) [possibly, dewdrop, rain or ruin].

An Israelite wilderness campsite mentioned between Libnah and Kehelathah. (Num. 33:21, 22) Rissah’s location is not certain, though some have connected it with Kuntilet el-Jerafi, some fifteen miles (24 kilometers) N-NW of the N end of the Gulf of Aqabah.

RITHMAH

(Rithʹmah) [broom plant].

One of Israel’s encampments in the wilderness. (Num. 33:18, 19) Its site is now unknown.

RIVER

Among the main rivers mentioned in the Bible are the Hiddekel (Tigris), Euphrates, Jordan, Abanah and Pharpar. (Gen. 2:14; 2 Ki. 5:10, 12) The Nile, though not designated by that name, is referred to as y^eʼohrʹ (sometimes y^eʼorʹ), which is understood to mean a stream or canal (Isa. 33:21) or a water-filled shaft or gallery. (Job 28:10) The context makes it apparent when the terms y^eʼohrʹ or y^eʼorʹ designate the Nile; therefore, the name Nile appears in Bible translations.—Gen. 41:17, 18.

The Euphrates is often simply called “the River.” (Josh. 24:2, 3; Ezra 8:36; Isa. 7:20; 27:12; Mic. 7:12) Being the longest and most important river of SW Asia, the Euphrates was the “great river” (Gen. 15:18) to the Hebrews. Therefore, its being referred to as “the River” resulted in no ambiguity. King David, with the help of Jehovah, was able to extend the boundaries of the Promised Land as far as the Euphrates. (1 Chron. 18:3-8) Concerning his son Solomon, it was stated: “He will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.” (Ps. 72:8) In Zechariah’s prophecy these words are repeated and point forward to the earth-wide rulership of the Messiah.—Zech. 9:9, 10; compare Daniel 2:44; Matthew 21:4, 5.

The first river mentioned in the Bible is the one that apparently had its source in Eden and watered the garden that Jehovah provided as a home for Adam and Eve. This river broke up into four headwaters, which, in turn, resulted in rivers, the Pishon, the Gihon, the Hiddekel and the Euphrates. The regions (Havilah, Cush and Assyria) referred to in connection with these four rivers existed in the post-Flood period. (Gen. 2:10-14) So it appears that the writer of the account, Moses, used terms familiar in his day to indicate the location of Eden’s garden. For this reason it cannot be established with certainty whether what is said about the courses of the Pishon, Gihon and Hiddekel applies to the post-Flood period or to the pre-Flood period. If the description relates to the time before the Flood, the Flood itself may well have contributed to changing the courses of these rivers. If to the post-Flood period, other natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, may since have altered their courses, hindering the identification of some.

The “river of Egypt” (Gen. 15:18) may be the same as the “torrent valley of Egypt.”—Num. 34:5; see SHIHOR.

FIGURATIVE USE

Rivers served as a barrier to the progress of enemy forces and played a vital role in the defense of certain cities, such as Babylon. Jerusalem, however, had no river as a natural means of defense. Nevertheless. Jehovah God was as the source of a mighty river of protection to that city. Enemies that might come against Jerusalem like a hostile galley fleet would experience disaster.—Isa. 33:21, 22; see GALLEY.

Water is necessary for life, and Jehovah is referred to as the Source of living water. (Jer. 2:13) But apostate Israelites turned their attention to Egypt and to Assyria. That is why Jehovah, through his prophet Jeremiah, said: “What concern should you have for the way of Egypt in order to drink the waters of Shihor? And what concern should you have for the way of Assyria in order to drink the waters of the River? . . . Know, then, and see that your leaving Jehovah your God is something bad and bitter.” (Jer. 2:18, 19) Evidently the waters from human sources that are looked to as being vital to one’s existence are also referred to at Revelation 8:10 and 16:4.

The disastrous flooding of a river is used to represent the invasion of enemy forces.—Isa. 8:7.

Regarding the “river of water of life” (Rev. 22:1), see LIFE (River of Water of Life).

RIVER OF EGYPT

Jehovah promised that Abraham’s seed would be given the land “from the river of Egypt” to the Euphrates River. (Gen. 15:18) Commentators generally understand “the river of Egypt” to refer to the “torrent valley of Egypt” now identified with Wadi el-ʽArish of the Sinai Peninsula, which