Ask the Rabbi: Why is it Called the Dead Sea?

Mar 10, 2019

וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי הַמַּיִם הָאֵלֶּה יוֹצְאִים אֶל־הַגְּלִילָה הַקַּדְמוֹנָה וְיָרְדוּ עַל־הָעֲרָבָה וּבָאוּ הַיָּמָּה אֶל־הַיָּמָּה הַמּוּצָאִים ונרפאו [וְנִרְפּוּ] הַמָּיִם׃

“This water,” he told me, “runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah; and when it comes into the sea, into the sea of foul waters, the water will become wholesome.

Ezekiel 47:8

וְעַל־הַנַּחַל יַעֲלֶה עַל־שְׂפָתוֹ מִזֶּה וּמִזֶּה כָּל־עֵץ־מַאֲכָל לֹא־יִבּוֹל עָלֵהוּ וְלֹא־יִתֹּם פִּרְיוֹ לָחֳדָשָׁיו יְבַכֵּר כִּי מֵימָיו מִן־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הֵמָּה יוֹצְאִים והיו [וְהָיָה] פִרְיוֹ לְמַאֲכָל וְעָלֵהוּ לִתְרוּפָה׃

All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the Temple. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

Ezekiel 47:12

Why is it called the “Dead Sea” in English? In Hebrew, it’s not called the “Dead Sea,” it’s called the “Salt Sea” because of the extreme salinity of the water which makes life there unsustainable. However, the Bible says that this was not always the case – and Ezekiel says that in the future, there will again be life in the area. In the land of Israel, this prophecy is already coming to fruition, with fish found living in Dead Sea sink holes!

 

Watch the rest of Rabbi Tuly’s answer below:

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