Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

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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