Cherith
   a cutting; separation; a gorge, a torrent-bed or winter-stream,
   a "brook," in whose banks the prophet Elijah hid himself during
   the early part of the three years' drought (1 Kings 17:3, 5). It
   has by some been identified as the Wady el-Kelt behind Jericho,
   which is formed by the junction of many streams flowing from the
   mountains west of Jericho. It is dry in summer. Travellers have
   described it as one of the wildest ravines of this wild region,
   and peculiarly fitted to afford a secure asylum to the
   persecuted. But if the prophet's interview with Ahab was in
   Samaria, and he thence journeyed toward the east, it is probable
   that he crossed Jordan and found refuge in some of the ravines
   of Gilead. The "brook" is said to have been "before Jordan,"
   which probably means that it opened toward that river, into
   which it flowed. This description would apply to the east as
   well as to the west of Jordan. Thus Elijah's hiding-place may
   have been the Jermuk, in the territory of the half-tribe of
   Manasseh.

	

	Cherith, cutting; piercing; slaying