Place · Water · River
Euphrates
Also known as River
Named in 32 verses across 12 books, first in Genesis 2:14.
In these stories
In the Bible
All 32 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
Genesis
- Genesis 2:14
The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Genesis 31:21
So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
- Genesis 36:37
When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.
Exodus
- Exodus 23:31
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
Deuteronomy
- Deuteronomy 1:7
Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.
- Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
Joshua
- Joshua 1:4
Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and west as far as the Great Sea.
2 Samuel
- 2 Samuel 8:3
David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.
- 2 Samuel 10:16
Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
1 Kings
- 1 Kings 4:21
And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
- 1 Kings 4:24
For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates —over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.
- 1 Kings 14:15
For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
2 Kings
- 2 Kings 23:29
At the end of Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
- 2 Kings 24:7
Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
1 Chronicles
- 1 Chronicles 1:48
When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.
- 1 Chronicles 5:9
They also settled in the east as far as the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead.
- 1 Chronicles 18:3
As far as Hamath, David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, who had marched out to establish his dominion along the Euphrates River.
- 1 Chronicles 19:16
When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
2 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles 9:26
He reigned over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
- 2 Chronicles 35:20
After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.
Isaiah
- Isaiah 27:12
In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
Jeremiah
- Jeremiah 13:4
“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”
- Jeremiah 13:5
So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.
- Jeremiah 13:6
Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”
- Jeremiah 13:7
So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.
- Jeremiah 46:2
concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
- Jeremiah 46:6
“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
- Jeremiah 46:10
For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
- Jeremiah 51:63
When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.
Revelation
- Revelation 9:14
saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
- Revelation 16:12
And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Hebrew, Perath; Assyrian, Purat; Persian cuneiform, Ufratush, whence Greek Euphrates, meaning “sweet water.” The Assyrian name means “the stream,” or “the great stream.” It is generally called in the Bible simply “the river” (Ex. 23:31), or “the great river” (Deut. 1:7).
The Euphrates is first mentioned in Gen. 2:14 as one of the rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the covenant which God entered into with Abraham (15:18), when he promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates (comp. Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4), a covenant promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David (2 Sam. 8:2-14; 1 Chr. 18:3; 1 Kings 4:24). It was then the boundary of the kingdom to the north-east. In the ancient history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded in which mention is made of the “great river.” Just as the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates represented the Assyrian power (Isa. 8:7; Jer. 2:18).
It is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia. From its source in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, into which it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles. It has two sources, (1) the Frat or Kara-su (i.e., “the black river”), which rises 25 miles north-east of Erzeroum; and (2) the Muradchai (i.e., “the river of desire”), which rises near Ararat, on the northern slope of Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden, 400 miles from the source of the former, and 270 from that of the latter, they meet and form the majestic stream, which is at length joined by the Tigris at Koornah, after which it is called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a deep and broad stream for above 140 miles to the sea. It is estimated that the alluvium brought down by these rivers encroaches on the sea at the rate of about one mile in thirty years.