Cherith

views updated

CHERITH

CHERITH (Heb. כְּרִית; Kerith), brook in the vicinity of the *Jordan where *Elijah hid at the beginning of the drought that he had prophesied (i Kings 17:3, 5). He was fed there by ravens who brought him bread and meat morning and evening until the brook dried up. Various identifications have been suggested but none is convincing. The Irish novelist George Moore wrote a novel under the title The Brook Kerith (1916) dealing with the life of Jesus.

bibliography:

Press, Ereẓ, 3 (1952), 632f., s.v.Naḥal Kerit.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]