Rehoboth’s Sister Cities!
REHOBOTH’S SISTER CITIES!
by
David Warick
Most people know a bit about how Rehoboth Beach came by its name and was originally associated with the religious revival camp meeting society for which the area became well known in the 1800’s. But not everyone knows about the other Rehoboth’s – some of which have an older history - out in the big wide world.
The first Rehoboth was actually pronounced, in Hebrew, something like RAY-CHO-VOT; and it was actually situated in three different places. One, mentioned in Genesis, was possibly a part of the town of Nineveh and may have been associated with the pagan king Nimrod. The second, also mentioned in Genesis, and was an area by a well in the Gerar (as in Lake Gerar!) area of the Holy Land, dug by the patriarch Isaac and currently located (it is thought) at Wady er-Ruheibeh, about 20 miles south of Beersheba. The third Biblical Rehoboth was associated with the Edomite king, Saul, as mentioned in Genesis and Chronicles, and was referred to as “Rehoboth by the river;” it may have been located southeast of the Dead Sea or it may have been closer to the Euphrates.
Chronologically, the next Rehoboth (albeit it is not called “Rehoboth Beach”) is in Massachusetts and was established in 1643, as a part of the Plymouth Colony. It is considered one of the state’s oldest and most historic towns and is located in Southeastern Massachusetts in Bristol County. It’s bordered by Seekonk to the west, Attleboro and Norton to the north, Taunton and Dighton to the east, and Swansea to the southeast and south. It is about nine miles from Taunton, 13 miles from Fall River, 10 miles from Providence, Rhode Island, 46 miles from Boston and 186 miles from New York City (according to the city’s official website). The entire area is interlaced with swamps, and there are extensive tidal marshes in Swansea and southern Rehoboth. It currently has a more than 10,000 residents and terms itself the birthplace of public education (a bittersweet irony, given our recent technology referendum results)!
Did you know that there is even a Rehoboth in Africa? In fact, Rehoboth is a town in central Namibia, located south of the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Originally, it was inhabited by the Nama or Khoikhoi tribe and was named for the vapor rising from the local hot springs. A German missionary re-named it Rehoboth in 1845, and the city was abandoned for a time until 1868, when it was resettled by a group of migrants from the Cape Colony. It’s currently a town of over 21,000 residents!
Our Rehoboth was settled in the mid-1600, but the town was originally a municipality called Henlopen City; it was only renamed “Rehoboth Beach,” in 1891! So we’re actually the most recent Rehoboth. However, we do have the all important “Beach” connected to our name. And, situated as we are in such an incredibly beautiful and prosperous area, we might just be giving new meaning to the phrase “saving the best for last!”
