NILE. — River of Egypt. It is mentioned in many passages of the Bible and is indeed often simply called “the river” par excellence (Gen. 41:1–3; Ex. 1:22; 2:3; 7:17–22; 8:5–13; 9:9; Ps. 77 [78]:44; Ier. 46:7–8; Is. 19:6–9; 18:2). Naturally, it is always present in the life of the country: Pharaoh dreams of it in Genesis (41:1–3), when he sees seven fat cows, followed by seven lean ones, coming up from the river as foretold; Pharaoh orders that all the newborn male Hebrews be thrown into the river (Ex. 1:22); and among the reeds on its bank Moses is placed, then found and saved by Pharaoh’s daughter, who had gone down to bathe in the waters (ibid. 2:3–6).
The N. is an instrument of Jahweh’s vengeance against Egypt when Moses is ordered to command Aaron to stretch out his hand over the river so that frogs may come forth from it (ibid. 8:5–13); and Moses himself declares that, together with Aaron, he is able to turn the water into blood, so that the fish will die and the waters become foul
(ibid. 7:17–22; cf. 4:9; Ps. 44). Elsewhere, reference is made to the possibility that the river might remain dry (Is. 19:6); indeed, among the grave threats resounding in the words of Ezekiel (29:1–16) is Jahweh’s threat to make Egypt arid, desolate, and uninhabitable because of Pharaoh’s pride, since he refuses to recognize God as the creator of the river and therefore of the country’s prosperity.
The Bible also contains an allusion to the flooding of the N. (Ier. 46:7–8), to the fact that Alexandria is entirely surrounded by the waters of the river as well as by the sea (Nah., III, 8), to the hippopotamus and crocodile of the N. (Iob. 40:10–28), and perhaps to the dragon (Ex. 32:2; Am. 9:4); likewise, to fishermen with net and hook (Is. 19:8) and to papyrus boats coming from Ethiopia toward the north (ibid. 18:2).