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 empties into the Mediterranean Sea ninety miles (145 kilometers) E of Port Said. (See EGYPT, TORRENT VALLEY OF.) At 1 Chronicles 13:5 certain translations read “river [shi·hhohrʹ] of Egypt” (NW, La, AS), and this reference also may be to Wadi el-ʽArish. However, another possibility is that both texts refer to a branch of the Nile.—See SHIHOR.

RIZIA

(Ri·ziʹa).

A warrior and family head in the tribe of Asher; son of Ulla.—1 Chron. 7:39, 40.

RIZPAH

(Rizʹpah) [glowing coal].

A concubine of King Saul; daughter of Aiah. (2 Sam. 3:7; 21:11) After Saul’s death, his son Ish-bosheth alienated General Abner by calling him to account for having relations with Rizpah, an act he construed as intimating seizure of the throne. As a consequence, Abner defected to David.—2 Sam. 3:7-21.

Rizpah had given birth to two sons by Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth. Long after Saul’s death, David took these two sons of Rizpah along with five other descendants of Saul and handed them over to the Gibeonites to slay, in order to remove bloodguilt from the land. The seven were exposed on a mountain, where Rizpah guarded their bodies from the birds and wild beasts “from the start of harvest until water poured down upon them from the heavens.” (2 Sam. 21:1-10) This indefinite period of time may have been five or six months, unless, as some suggest, there was an exceptional out-of-season downpour. Such a heavy rain before October would have been most unusual. (1 Sam. 12:17, 18; Prov. 26:1) David finally heard of the matter and relieved Rizpah of her vigil by having the bodies buried.—2 Sam. 21:11-14.

ROAD

See HIGHWAY, ROAD.

ROBE

See DRESS.

ROCK

The Hebrew word tsur means a rock or a large piece of rock. It is not always distinguished by translators from another Hebrew word, seʹlaʽ, which means a crag. Both terms are used literally and figuratively in the Scriptures. The two are found in parallel at 2 Samuel 22:2, 3 and Psalm 18:2: “Jehovah is my crag . . . My God is my rock.”

The Bible preserves the names of certain crags and rocks, for example, the crag of Etam, where Samson lived for a time (Judg. 15:8), and the tooth-like crags of Bozez and Seneh, where Jonathan and his armor-bearer attacked an outpost of the Philistines. (1 Sam. 14:4, 5) The Midianite prince Oreb was killed by Gideon’s men at a rock called Oreb, evidently so named because of this incident. (Judg. 7:25; Isa. 10:26) It was at Meribah, a crag in the vicinity of Kadesh (there was another Meribah near Rephidim in the mountainous region of Horeb [Ex. 17:7]), that Moses and Aaron were aggravated to the point of failing to sanctify Jehovah in bringing water out of the crag for the assembly.—Num. 20:11-13; Ps. 106:32, 33; see MASSAH; MERIBAH.

FIGURATIVE USE

In a figurative sense “rock” describes the qualities of Jehovah as the Father of Israel (Deut. 32:18), as a stronghold (2 Sam. 22:32, 33; Isa. 17:10), as the secure height and refuge of his people (Ps. 62:7; 94:22), and as their salvation. (Deut. 32:15; Ps. 95:1) Some have looked to false gods as their “rock.” (Deut. 32:37) There are other examples in which “rock” symbolizes in a general way a place of safety, protection, security and refuge. (Isa. 2:10, 19, 21) In Isaiah 8:14 Christ Jesus is alluded to as “a rock” over which “both the houses of Israel” stumbled.—Compare Matthew 21:42-44.

In Jesus’ illustration of the sower, the Greek adjective pe·troʹdes (related to the noun peʹtros) is used to describe the rocky places upon which some of the seed fell. (Matt. 13:3-5, 20) Peʹtros is used as a proper name, “Peter.” (John 1:42) On the meaning of this term An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine (1962), Volume IV, page 76, remarks: “Petros denotes a piece of a rock, a detached stone or boulder, in contrast to petra, a mass of rock.” Word Studies in the New Testament, by M. R. Vincent (1957), Volume I, page 91, says about peʹtros: “In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector . . . or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone.”

The Greek word tra·khysʹ means “rough.” (Luke 3:5) It refers to jagged, uneven reefy rocks at Acts 27:29.

Another Greek word, spi·lasʹ, has reference to a rock or reef that is hidden beneath the water and is used by Jude to illustrate certain men who had slipped into the Christian congregation with corrupt motives. As hidden rocks were a menace to ships, so these men constituted a real danger to others in the congregation. He says of such men: “These are the rocks hidden below water in your love feasts while they feast with you.”—Jude 12.

For a discussion of Matthew 16:18, see ROCK-MASS.

ROCK BADGER

This translates the Hebrew word sha·phanʹ, also rendered “hyrax” (JB) and “coney.” (AV) The rock badger somewhat resembles a large rabbit, but has short, rounded ears, short legs and is virtually tailless. Its feet are furnished with underpads that can be drawn up at the center to form vacuum cups, so enabling the animal to negotiate almost perpendicular surfaces. The rock badger dwells in rocky areas, where it finds holes and crevices to which it can quickly retire at the least sign of danger. Although very shy by nature, this creature can inflict savage bites with its incisors when cornered in a hole. In its diet the animal is a vegetarian.

Some have taken issue with its classification in Scripture as a creature that chews the cud but does not split the hoof. (Lev. 11:5; Deut. 14:7) However, zoologist Hubert Hendrichs, in observing rock badgers at the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens near Munich, Germany, noticed that these creatures made peculiar chewing and swallowing movements. He found that rock badgers actually do chew the cud from twenty-five to fifty minutes a day, usually during the night. The German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung of March 12, 1966, commented on the discovery: “Although this fact was previously unknown to accepted zoology, it is not new. In the eleventh chapter of Leviticus . . . you can find it.”

The claim has also been made that the hoofed toes of the rock badger are doubly cloven. However, it could hardly be said that the rock badger’s front feet, each having four toes terminating in hooflike endings, and the hind feet, each equipped with three toes and a corresponding number of miniature hoofs or nails, resemble the foot member of a ‘splitter of the hoof’ such as a cow.

The Scriptures speak of the instinctive wisdom of this little creature. Although not “mighty,” the rock badger makes up for its seeming defenselessness by dwelling in inaccessible rocky places.—Ps. 104:18; Prov. 30:26.

ROCK-MASS

This translates the Greek word peʹtra (feminine gender), which designates a mass of rock (Matt. 7:24, 25; 27:51, 60; Luke 6:48; 8:6, 13; Rev. 6:15, 16) and therefore differs from peʹtros (masculine gender and employed as a proper name, Peter), meaning a ‘separate stone’ or ‘boulder.’ This distinction makes it clear that, when saying to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock-mass I will build my congregation,” Jesus was not using synonymous terms. (Matt. 16:18) Even in the Aramaic (Syriac) version the distinction is apparent from a difference in the gender of the particle preceding the word kipha, used for both “Peter” and “rock.” The masculine verbal pronoun (hu) precedes “Peter,” but “rock” is preceded by the feminine demonstrative adjective (hade).