Desert

Not a stretch of sand, an utterly barren waste, but a wild, uninhabited region. The words rendered in the Authorized Version by "desert," when used in the historical books denote definite localities.

1. ARABAH. This word means that very depressed and enclosed region--the deepest and the hottest chasm in the world--the sunken valley north and south of the Dead Sea, but more particularly the former. [ARABAH] Arabah in the sense of the Jordan valley is translated by the word "desert" only in (Ezekiel 47:8)
2. MIDBAR. This word, which our translators have most frequently rendered by "desert," is accurately "the pasture ground." It is most frequently used for those tracts of waste land which lie beyond the cultivated ground in the immediate neighborhood of the towns and villages of Palestine, and which are a very familiar feature to the traveller in that country. (Exodus 3:1; 6:3; 19:2)
3. CHARBAH appears to have the force of dryness, and thence of desolation. It is rendered "desert" in Psal 102:6; Isai 48:21; Ezek 13:4 The term commonly employed for it in the Authorized Version is "waste places" or "desolation."
4. JESHIMON, with the definite article, apparently denotes the waste tracts on both sides of the Dead Sea. In all these cases it is treated as a proper name in the Authorized Version. Without the article it occurs in a few passages of poetry in the following of which it is rendered; "desert:" (Psalms 78:40; 106:14; Isaiah 43:19,20)

Desert

The Scriptures, by "desert," generally mean an uncultivated place, a wilderness, or grazing tract. Some deserts were entirely fry and barren; others were beautiful, and had good pastures. David speaks of the beauty of the desert, Psalm 65:12,13. Scripture names several deserts in the Holy Land. Other deserts particularly mentioned, are "that great and terrible wilderness" in Arabia Petraea, south of Canaan, Numbers 21:20; also the region between Canaan and the Euphrates, Exodus 23:31 De 11:24. The pastures of this wilderness are clothed in winter and spring with rich and tender herbage; but the heat of summer soon burns this up, and the Arabs are driven to seek pasturage elsewhere.

(1.) Hebrews midbar, "pasture-ground;" an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The "backside of the desert" (Exodus 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered "wildernes," and is used of the country lying between Egypt and Palestine (Genesis 21:14, 21; Exodus 4:27; 19:2; Joshua 1:4), the wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the whole of their journey to the Promised Land.

The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings 9:18).

The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father's flocks (1 Samuel 17:28; 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a settled people (Isaiah 35:1; 50:2; Jeremiah 4:11). Such, also, is the meaning of the word "wilderness" in Matthew 3:3; 15:33; Luke 15:4.

(2.) The translation of the Hebrew Aribah', "an arid tract" (Isaiah 35:1, 6; 40:3; 41:19; 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the Elanitic gulf. While midbar denotes properly a pastoral region, arabah denotes a wilderness. It is also translated "plains;" as "the plains of Jericho" (Joshua 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5), "the plains of Moab" (Numbers 22:1; Deuteronomy 34:1, 8), "the plains of the wilderness" (2 Samuel 17:16).

(3.) In the Revised Version of Numbers 21:20 the Hebrew word jeshimon is properly rendered "desert," meaning the waste tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also rendered "desert" in Psalm 78:40; 106:14; Isaiah 43:19, 20. It denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the peninsula of Arabia (Numbers 21:20; 23:28), the most terrible of all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called "the desert" in Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24. (see JESHIMON.)

(4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Psalm 9:6), desolate (Leviticus 26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word horbah'. It is rendered "desert" only in Psalm 102:6, Isaiah 48:21, and Ezek. 13:4, where it means the wilderness of Sinai.

(5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they had forsaken God (Isaiah 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge of God are called a "wilderness" (32:15, midbar). It is a symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isaiah 27:10, midbar_; 33:9, _arabah).

1. (n.) That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.

2. (n.) A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation.

3. (n.) A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place.

4. (a.) of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island.

5. (v. t.) To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country.

6. (v. t.) To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors.

7. (v. i.) To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond.

DESERT

dez'-ert midhbar, chorbah, yeshimon, `arabhah, tsiyah, tohu; eremos, eremia: Midhbar, the commonest word for "desert," more often rendered "wilderness," is perhaps from the root dabhar, in the sense of "to drive," i.e. a place for driving or pasturing flocks. Yeshimon is from yasham, "to be empty", chorbah (compare Arabic kharib, "to lie waste"; khirbah, "a ruin"; kharab, "devastation"), from charabh "to be dry"; compare also `arabh, "to be dry," and `arabhah, "a desert" or "the Arabah" (see CHAMPAIGN). For 'erets tsiyah (Psalm 63:1 Isaiah 41:18), "a dry land," compare tsiyim, "wild beasts of the desert" (Isaiah 13:21, etc.). Tohu, variously rendered "without form" (Genesis 1:2 the King James Version), "empty space," the King James Version "empty place" (Job 26:7), "waste," the King James Version "nothing" (Job 6:18), "confusion," the Revised Version, margin, "wasteness" (Isaiah 24:10 the English Revised Version), may be compared with Arabic tah, "to go astray" at-Tih, "the desert of the wandering." In the New Testament we find eremos and eremia: "The child (John). was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel" (Luke 1:80); "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert" (John 6:31 the King James Version).

The desert as known to the Israelites was not a waste of sand, as those are apt to imagine who have in mind the pictures of the Sahara. Great expanses of sand, it is true, are found in Arabia, but the nearest one, an-Nufud, was several days' journey distant from the farthest southeast reached by the Israelites in their wanderings. Most of the desert of Sinai and of Palestine is land that needs only water to make it fruitful. East of the Jordan, the line between "the desert" and "the sown" lies about along the line of the Chijaz railway. To the West there is barely enough water to support the crops of wheat; to the East there is too little. Near the line of demarcation, the yield of wheat depends strictly upon the rainfall. A few inches more or less of rain in the year determines whether the grain can reach maturity or not. The latent fertility of the desert lands is demonstrated by the season of scant rains, when they become carpeted with herbage and flowers. It is marvelous, too, how the camels, sheep and goats, even in the dry season, will find something to crop where the traveler sees nothing but absolute barrenness. The long wandering of the Israelites in "the desert" was made possible by the existence of food for their flocks and herds. Compare Psalm 65:11, 12: "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; And thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the Wilderness. And the hills are girded with joy"; and also Joel 2:22: "The pastures of the wilderness do spring."

"The desert" or "the wilderness" (ha-midhbar) usually signifies the desert of the wandering, or the northern part of the Sinaitic Peninsula. Compare Exodus 3:1 King James Version: "MOSES. led theflock (of Jethro) to the backside of the desert"; Exodus 5:3 King James Version: "Let us go. three days' journey into the desert"; Exodus 19:2 King James Version: "They. were come to the desert of Sinai"; Exodus 23:31 King James Version: "I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river" (Euphrates). Other uncultivated or pasture regions are known as Wilderness of Beersheba (Genesis 21:14), West of Judah (Judges 1:16), West of En-gedi (1 Samuel 24:1), West of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:24), West of Maon (1 Samuel 23:24), West of Damascus; compare Arabic Badiyet-ush-Sham (1 Kings 19:15), etc. Midhbar yam, "the wilderness of the sea" (Isaiah 21:1), may perhaps be that part of Arabia bordering upon the Persian Gulf.

Aside from the towns and fields, practically all the land was midhbar or "desert," for this term included mountain, plain and valley. The terms, "desert of En-gedi," "desert of Maon," etc., do not indicate circumscribed areas, but are applied in a general way to the lands about these places. To obtain water, the shepherds with their flocks traverse long distances to the wells, springs or streams, usually arranging to reach the water about the middle of the day and rest about it for an hour or so, taking shelter from the sun in the shadows of the rocks, perhaps under some overhanging ledge.

Alfred Ely Day

1459. egkataleipo -- to leave behind, ie (in a good sense) let ...
... 1458, 1459. egkataleipo. 1460 . to leave behind, ie (in a good sense)
let remain over or (in a bad sense) desert. Part of Speech ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1459.htm - 8k

2048. eremos -- solitary, desolate
... desolate. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: eremos Phonetic Spelling:
(er'-ay-mos) Short Definition: deserted, desolate, a desert Definition: as an adj ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2048.htm - 8k

2047. eremia -- a solitude, a wilderness
... a solitude, a wilderness. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: eremia
Phonetic Spelling: (er-ay-mee'-ah) Short Definition: a desert place Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2047.htm - 6k

447. aniemi -- to send up, produce, send back
... 447 (from 303 , "up" and 2447 , "send") -- properly, so as to loosen; ("sink");
fail to uphold; to desert (abandon), especially what has already been trusted ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/447.htm - 7k

3346. metatithemi -- to transfer, change
... change. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: metatithemi Phonetic Spelling:
(met-at-ith'-ay-mee) Short Definition: I transfer, desert, change Definition: (a) ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3346.htm - 6k

620. apoleipo -- to leave, leave behind
... leave behind. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: apoleipo Phonetic Spelling:
(ap-ol-ipe'-o) Short Definition: I leave, leave behind, desert, am reserved ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/620.htm - 6k

504. anudros -- waterless
... Transliteration: anudros Phonetic Spelling: (an'-oo-dros) Short Definition: without
water, dry Definition: without water, dry; subst: dry places, desert. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/504.htm - 6k

2641. kataleipo -- to leave, leave behind
... Verb Transliteration: kataleipo Phonetic Spelling: (kat-al-i'-po) Short Definition:
I leave behind, abandon Definition: I leave behind, desert, abandon, forsake ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2641.htm - 7k

3131. manna -- manna
... Phonetic Spelling: (man'-nah) Short Definition: manna Definition: (Hebrew), manna,
the supernatural food eaten by the Israelites in the desert: of spiritual ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3131.htm - 7k

3845. parabaino -- to go by the side of, to go past
... Speech: Verb Transliteration: parabaino Phonetic Spelling: (par-ab-ah'-ee-no) Short
Definition: I transgress Definition: I transgress, violate, depart, desert. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3845.htm - 7k

6160. arabah -- a steppe or desert plain, also a desert valley ...
... 6159, 6160. arabah. 6161 . a steppe or desert plain, also a desert valley
running S. from the Sea of Galilee. Transliteration: arabah ...
/hebrew/6160.htm - 6k

6728. tsiyyi -- wild beast of the desert, that dwell in inhabiting ...
... tsiyyi. 6729 . wild beast of the desert, that dwell in inhabiting the wilderness.
Transliteration: tsiyyi Phonetic Spelling: (tsee-ee') Short Definition: desert ...
/hebrew/6728.htm - 6k

6947. Qadesh Barnea -- a place in the desert
... Qadesh Barnea. 6948 . a place in the desert. Transliteration: Qadesh Barnea Phonetic
Spelling: (kaw-dashe' bar-nay'-ah) Short Definition: Kadesh-barnea. ...
/hebrew/6947.htm - 6k

6716b. tsi -- (a wild animal) perhaps desert dweller
... 6716a, 6716b. tsi. 6717 . (a wild animal) perhaps desert dweller.
Transliteration: tsi Short Definition: creatures. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/6716b.htm - 5k

1142. Bene Yaaqan -- "sons of Jaakan," a place in the desert
... Bene Yaaqan. 1143 . "sons of Jaakan," a place in the desert. Transliteration:
Bene Yaaqan Phonetic Spelling: (ben-ay' yah-ak-awn') Short Definition: Bene-jaakan ...
/hebrew/1142.htm - 6k

1850. Dophqah -- a place in the desert
... 1849, 1850. Dophqah. 1851 . a place in the desert. Transliteration: Dophqah
Phonetic Spelling: (dof-kaw') Short Definition: Dophkah. ...
/hebrew/1850.htm - 6k

6758. Tsalmonah -- a place in the desert
... 6757, 6758. Tsalmonah. 6759 . a place in the desert. Transliteration: Tsalmonah
Phonetic Spelling: (tsal-mo-naw') Short Definition: Zalmonah. Word Origin fem ...
/hebrew/6758.htm - 6k

883. Beer Lachay Roi -- "well of the living One that sees me," a ...
Beer Lachay Roi. 882, 883. Beer Lachay Roi. 884 . "well of the living One that
sees me," a place in the desert. Transliteration: Beer Lachay Roi Phonetic ...
/hebrew/883.htm - 6k

7428. Rimmon Parets -- "pomegranate of the breach," a place in the ...
... "pomegranate of the breach," a place in the desert. Transliteration: Rimmon Parets
Phonetic Spelling: (rim-mone' peh'-rets) Short Definition: Rimmon-perez. ...
/hebrew/7428.htm - 6k

2832. Chashmonah -- a place in the S. desert
... Chashmonah. 2833 . a place in the S. desert. Transliteration: Chashmonah Phonetic
Spelling: (khash-mo-naw') Short Definition: Hashmonah. Word Origin fem. ...
/hebrew/2832.htm - 6k

Rivers in the Desert
... Rivers in the Desert. TP Revelation 22.I. Glorious River of God's pleasures,. ...
Lo! the desert is God's garden,. And the wastes are Paradise. ...
/.../bevan/hymns of ter steegen suso and others/rivers in the desert.htm

A Meeting in the Desert
... A MEETING IN THE DESERT. 'And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying,
Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/a meeting in the desert.htm

A Death in the Desert
... THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY A DEATH IN THE DESERT. 'So Moses the servant of
the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/a death in the desert.htm

The Heath in the Desert and the Tree by the River
... THE HEATH IN THE DESERT AND THE TREE BY THE RIVER. ... In the one, the hot desert stretches
on all sides. The fierce 'sunbeams like swords' slay every green thing. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/the heath in the desert.htm

In the Desert
... CHAPTER XIX IN THE DESERT. ... They were in the hideous heart of the desert to
whom death was monotony, resisting foreign life, an insult. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xix in the desert.htm

Moses in the Desert.
... ORIGINAL HYMNS HYMN XLVIII. Moses in the Desert. 8.8.8.8 James Montgomery.
Moses in the Desert. Go where a foot hath never trod,. ...
/.../montgomery/sacred poems and hymns/hymn xlviii moses in the.htm

Jesus in the Desert.
... THE NEW TESTAMENT. CHAPTER VII. JESUS IN THE DESERT. The people were looking
for the promised Messiah, and would have welcomed John ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter vii jesus in the.htm

Of the Advantages of the Desert.
... The Conferences of John Cassian. Chapter V. Of the advantages of the desert.
So long then as owing to the fewness of those who were ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter v of the advantages.htm

God Sent Me to the Desert Wild,
... ASPIRATIONS God sent me to the desert wild,. 8,8,8,8,8,8 tr., John Brownlie. I.
God sent me to the desert wild,. Where all is parched with endless drought,. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/brownlie/hymns from the east/god sent me to the.htm

"Not Far from the Desert, and Close to the Nile...
... Chapter X. "Not far from the desert, and close to the Nile? "Not far from the
desert, and close to the Nile, there are numerous monasteries. ...
/.../severus/life and writings of sulpitius severus /chapter x not far from.htm

Desert (322 Occurrences)
... The "backside of the desert" (Exodus 3:1) is the west of the desert, the
region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. ...
/d/desert.htm - 46k

Jeshimon (6 Occurrences)
... je-she'-mon, jesh'-i-mon (ha-yeshimon, "the desert," and in the Revised Version
(British and American) so translated but in the King James Version, Numbers 21 ...
/j/jeshimon.htm - 11k

Shur (6 Occurrences)
... An enclosure; a wall, a part, probably, of the Arabian desert, on the north-eastern
border of Egypt, giving its name to a wilderness extending from Egypt ...
/s/shur.htm - 11k

Sinai (38 Occurrences)
... From Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-13) the Israelites journeyed forward through the Wady
Solaf and Wady esh-Sheikh into the plain of er-Rahah, "the desert of Sinai ...
/s/sinai.htm - 31k

Hachilah (3 Occurrences)
... It is stated (1 Samuel 23:19) to be "on the South of the desert" (or Jeshimon),
and (1 Samuel 26:1) to be "before (on the front (ie edge) of) the desert." It ...
/h/hachilah.htm - 9k

Meribah (11 Occurrences)
... Quarrel or strife. (1.) One of the names given by Moses to the fountain in the desert
of Sin, near Rephidim ... It is near the beginning of the desert wanderings. ...
/m/meribah.htm - 14k

Ostrich (9 Occurrences)
... of Jeremiah and Isaiah place it; so the translations are now correctly rendered
"ostrich." These birds came into the Bible because of their desert life, the ...
/o/ostrich.htm - 18k

Wilderness (304 Occurrences)
... (1.) Hebrews midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a ... 57:20)." A Short Analysis
of the OT. (2.) Jeshimon, a desert waste (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 68:7). ...
/w/wilderness.htm - 43k

Gaza (22 Occurrences)
... Philip is here told to take the road from Jerusalem to Gaza (about 6 miles
south-west of Jerusalem), "which is desert", ie, the "desert road," probably by ...
/g/gaza.htm - 19k

Leviticus (1 Occurrence)
... not occur in Leviticus, and these are nearly all animals and birds which are not
found in Egypt or the Holy Land, but which are numerous in the Arabian desert. ...
/l/leviticus.htm - 42k

Is there any special meaning/symbolism to owls in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is the significance of Kadesh Barnea in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Why, when, and for how long was the apostle Paul in Arabia? | GotQuestions.org

Desert: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus