Reference: Negeb,
Hastings
NEGEB, originally meaning 'the dry land,' is in most passages in the OT the name of a definite geographical area (De 1:7; 34:3; Jos 10:40; 12:8 etc.); the word is, however, used also in the sense of 'South' (Ge 13:14). The Negeb was often the scene of Abraham's wanderings (Ge 12:9; 13:1,8; 20:1); here Hagar was succoured by the angel (Ge 16:7,14); Isaac (Ge 24:62) and Jacob (Ge 37:1; 46:5) both dwelt there; through this district passed the spies (Nu 13:17,22). In Nu 13:29 the Negeb is described as belonging to the Amalekites. Later the land was allotted to Simeon, and its cities are enumerated (Jos 19:1-9); later they reverted to Judah (Jos 15:21-32). David was stationed by Achish at Ziklag on the borders of the Negeb (1Sa 27:6). At this time the Negeb is described as of several parts, the Negeb of Judah, of the Jerahmeelites, and of the Kenites (1Sa 27:10); while in 1Sa 30:14 we read of the Negeb of the Cherethites and of Caleb. Jeremiah (Jer 13:19) prophesied trouble as coming on the cities of this region, but on the return from captivity they too were to participate in the blessings (Jer 32:44; 33:13).
The district in question was an ill-defined tract of country lying S. of Hebron, and extending some 70 miles to the Tih or desert. It was bounded on the E. by the Dead Sea and the 'Ar
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].
So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur.
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me]; it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.
Now Isaac had returned from going to the well Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me], for he [now] dwelt in the South country (the Negeb).
So Jacob dwelt in the land in which his father had been a stranger and sojourner, in the land of Canaan.
So Jacob arose and set out from Beersheba, and Israel's sons conveyed their father, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country,
And then went up into the South (the Negeb) and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai [probably three tribes of] the sons of Anak were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River].
Turn and take up your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South (the Negeb), and on the coast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
And the South (the Negeb) and the plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palm Trees, as far as Zoar.
So Joshua smote all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded.
In the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb -- "the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites:
The cities of the tribe of Judah in the extreme south toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, read more. Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (Hazor), Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. All the cities were twenty-nine [later thirty-six] with their villages.
The second lot fell to Simeon, to the tribe of the Simeonites according to their families; and their inheritance lay within that of the people of Judah. And they had for their inheritance: Beersheba or Sheba, Moladah, read more. Hazarshual, Balah, Ezem, Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; [making] thirteen cities and their villages; Ain [with] Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; [making] four cities and their villages; And all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, or Ramah of the Negeb. This was the possession of the Simeonites according to their families. Out of the part assigned to the Judahites was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon, for the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them. Therefore the tribe of Simeon had its inheritance in the midst of Judah's inheritance.
Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but all that was undesirable or worthless they destroyed utterly.
Then Achish gave David the town of Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and the apparel, and returned to Achish. Achish would ask, Against whom have you made a raid today? And David would reply, Against the South (Negeb) of Judah, or of the Jerahmeelites, or of the Kenites.
We had made a raid on the South (Negeb) of the Cherethites and upon that which belongs to Judah and upon the South (Negeb) of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.
The cities of the South (the Negeb) have been shut up, and there is no one to open them; all Judah has been carried away captive, it has been wholly taken captive and into exile.
Men shall buy fields for money and shall sign deeds, seal them, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South (the Negeb), for I will cause them to be released from their exile, says the Lord.