Cherith, Kerith, or sometimes Chorath, is the name of a wadi, or intermittent seasonal stream mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The prophetElijah hid himself on the banks of the Cherith and was fed by ravens during the early part of the three years' drought which he announced to King Ahab.
Etymology and toponymy
Cherith is a common English spelling of the Hebrew name כְּרִית "Kərīṯ", that comes from the Hebrew root כרת meaning to cut off or cut down. The name also signifies to engrave or carve, a cutting, separation, gorge, torrent-bed, or winter-stream. Chorath is the name used in the 3rd-century BCE Greek translation of the Torah or Pentateuch, known as the Septuagint. Cherith is referred to as a nahal in Hebrew, a seasonal stream often described in a MENA context as a wadi, from the Arabic term وادي.
It is usually identified with Wadi al-Yabis, a stream in western Jordan, which flows into the Jordan River at a spot opposite of Beit She'an and slightly south of it. Travellers have described it as one of the wildest ravines of the Fertile Crescent, and peculiarly fitted to afford a secure asylum to the persecuted. During the summer, the stream is very dry. Olive trees grow on its banks, and it is home to an array of wildlife including gazelle, hyrax, and egret. According to the 1994 Peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, Israel can maintain its use of the Jordan River waters between the Yarmouk and Wadi al-Yabis.
Alternatively, the stream Cherith has been identified by some with Wadi Kelt at St. George's Monastery. If 1 Kings 17:3 is to be translated "Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan", this identification would be in contradiction to the Bible, since Wadi Qelt is west of it. The King James version states Elijah should "turn eastward" ; therefore the brook could be anywhere east of Samaria, on either side of the River Jordan. Some translations allow such an interpretation, by stating that Cherith is merely "near the Yarden".
commented in 1321 that the stream extended into Phasaelis, which was named after Prince Phasael, the brother of King Herod. This identification would again contradict the more common translation of 1 Kings 17:3, since Phasaelis has been identified at a spot west, not east of the Jordan.
