CHEBAR
(Cheʹbar) [perhaps, powerful, mighty].
A “river” in the “land of the Chaldeans” near which Jews of the community of Tel-abib were exiled. (Ezek. 1:1-3) In 613 B.C.E. it was the site of the prophet Ezekiel’s first recorded vision, the stunning effects of which lasted seven days, and of his commissioning as “a watchman . . . to the house of Israel.” (Ezek. 1:1–3:21) Similar visions on later occasions reminded the prophet of his experience at Chebar.—Ezek. 10:15, 20, 22; 43:3.
Some commentators have advanced the view that the Chebar may have been the modern Khabur, which enters the Euphrates about 290 miles (466.6 kilometers) N of Babylon. However, it should be noted that the exiles taken by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces were removed to “Babylon” (2 Ki. 24:16; 2 Chron. 36:20) and the river Chebar is spoken of as being “in the land of the Chaldeans” (Ezek. 1:3), terms which designate lower or southern Mesopotamia, not an area as far N as the modern Khabur River.
Most scholars agree that when speaking of the “river Chebar” Ezekiel used the Hebrew term na·harʹ (usually rendered “river”) apparently in its widest sense to include the numerous Babylonian canals that once intersected the fertile area between the lower courses of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. This usage would be consistent with the corresponding Babylonian word that also describes either a river or a canal. Engineers are believed to have devised Babylon’s impressive irrigational canal system early in Mesopotamian history to control the otherwise destructive Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which started rising during the rainy season each year, not only causing destructive floods, but depositing layers of soil-ruining salt over agricultural areas. Many of these canals were also broad enough for large sailing vessels, serving thereby to enhance Babylon’s already renowned commercial and economic position.—See CANALS.
Which canal of the vast network that laced Mesopotamia is the Biblical river Chebar cannot be determined with certainty. Some hold that since the Hebrew Kevarʹ (Chebar) may be derived from a word meaning ‘to be great or mighty,’ this would fit Babylonia’s Nahr Malcha or “Royal River,” an ancient, broad, deep canal connecting the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Although apparently first dug in the days of Hammurabi, it was reopened by Nebuchadnezzar and is said to have been large enough to afford passage to merchant ships. The Nahr Malcha was rated one of the chief canals of Babylonia, running from a point N of Babylon on the Euphrates to Opis near Seleucia at the Tigris.
Most modern Biblical geographers, however, prefer some connection of the “river Chebar” with the Shatt en-Nil, which has been identified with the naru Kabari (or “Grand Canal”) mentioned in cuneiform contract tablets found at the city of Nippur, about fifty-three miles (85.3 kilometers) SE of Babylon. The Shatt en-Nil branches off the Euphrates above Babylon and runs in a SE direction, passing near Nippur, to rejoin the Euphrates S of Ur, about 150 miles (241.4 kilometers) below Babylon. Considered the canal par excellence of ancient Babylonia proper, it is said to have been fifteen to twenty feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters) deep in places, a sufficient depth to make it navigable by certain vessels. There are indications that Jews may have lived in this area about the time of the exile. Cuneiform tablets, believed to be from the archives of a Babylonian brokerage firm of the fifth century B.C.E. and containing many Jewish names among their list of clientele, have been found at Nippur along with the tablets that mention the naru Kabari.
The identification of the Chebar with the Shatt en-Nil is, of course, not positive. Shiftings and floodings of the Euphrates River are known to have greatly altered the topography of the country over the centuries. Skilled archaeologists admit uncertainty as to where the ancient canals lay, and they acknowledge that ruins of canals found may date back only to the Arab rule of the Middle Ages. This makes any definite locating of the ancient “river Chebar” an impossibility at this time.