[b-hebrew] Midbar III
JimStinehart at aol.com
JimStinehart at aol.com
Tue Feb 3 21:29:20 EST 2009
Desert [EBD] Easton’s Bible Dictionary
(1.) Heb. midbar, "pasture-ground;" an open tract for pasturage; a common
(_Joel 2:22_ (http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=joe&chapter=2&verse=22) ).
The "backside of the desert" (_Ex. 3:1_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=exo&chapter=3&verse=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 (_Gen. 21:14,
21_ (http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=gen%2021:14,21) ; _Ex. 4:27;
19:2_ (http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=exo%204:27;19:2) ; _Josh. 1:4_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=jos&chapter=1&verse=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_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=1ki&chapter=9&verse=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 Sam. 17:28; 26:2_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=1sa%2017:28;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 (_Isa. 35:1;
50:2_ (http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=isa%2035:1;50:2) ; _Jer. 4:11_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=jer&chapter=4&verse=11) ). Such, also, is
the meaning of the word "wilderness" in _Matt. 3:3; 15:33_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=mat%203:3;15:33) ; _Luke 15:4_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=luk&chapter=15&verse=4) .
(2.) The translation of the Hebrew Aribah', "an arid tract" (_Isa. 35:1, 6;
40:3; 41:19; 51:3_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=isa%2035:1,6;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" (_Josh. 5:10_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=jos&chapter=5&verse=10) ; _2 Kings 25:5_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=2ki&chapter=25&verse=5) ), "the plains of Moab" (_Num. 22:1_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=num&chapter=22&verse=1) ; _Deut. 34:1, 8_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=deu%2034:1,8) ), "the plains of the wilderness" (_2 Sam. 17:16_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=2sa&chapter=17&verse=16) ).
(3.) In the Revised Version of _Num. 21:20_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=num&chapter=21&verse=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 _Ps. 78:40; 106:14_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=psa%2078:40;106:14) ; _Isa. 43:19, 20_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=isa%2043:19,20) . 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 (_Num. 21:20; 23:28_
(http://net.bible.org/passage.php?passage=num%2021:20;23:28) ), the most terrible of all the
deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called "the desert" in
_Ex. 23:31_ (http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=exo&chapter=23&verse=31) ;
_Deut. 11:24_ (http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=deu&chapter=11&verse=24) .
(See _JESHIMON_ (http://net.bible.org/ebd.asp?id=2050) .)
(4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (_Ps. 9:6_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=psa&chapter=9&verse=6) ), desolate (_Lev. 26:34_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=lev&chapter=26&verse=34) ); the rendering of the Hebrew
word horbah'. It is rendered "desert" only in _Ps. 102:6_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=psa&chapter=102&verse=6) , _Isa. 48:21_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=isa&chapter=48&verse=21) , and _Ezek. 13:4_
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=eze&chapter=13&verse=4) , where it means the wilderness of
Sinai.
http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?dict=dictionaries&word=En-Gedi
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