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Ferry-Boat

Concise Bible Dictionary:

This was most probably a raft constructed for the occasion (2 Sam. 19:18¹⁸And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan; (2 Samuel 19:18)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

2 Samuel 19:18¹⁸And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan; (2 Samuel 19:18). There went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household.

This is the only passage where a ferry-boat is named, and some critics think that a mere crossing of a ford is meant. The Hebrews could not have been ignorant of the use of boats, since they were employed by the Egyptians, as is evident from the monuments. The king’s servants may have used rafts, or fiat-bottomed boats, for conveying his household over the river. See, further, the note on Isaiah 18:2²That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! (Isaiah 18:2) (#496).

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