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 came up out of Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and Lot with him, towards the South.
So then Abram said unto Lot Pray let not cause of strife arise betwixt me and thee, or betwixt my herdmen and thy herdmen; for brethren, are we.
And, Yahweh, said unto Abram after that Lot had separated himself from him, Lift up, I pray thee thine eyes and look, from the place where thou art, - northward and southward and eastward and westward;
And the messenger of Yahweh b found her by the fountain of water in the desert, - by the fountain in the way to Shur.
On this account, is the well called, the well of the life of vision, lo! it is between Kadesh and Bered.
And Abraham brake up from thence, towards the land of the South, and fixed his dwelling between Kadesh and Shur, so he sojourned in Gerar.
Now, Isaac, had come in at the entrance, of Beer-lahai-roi, - for, he, was dwelling in the land of the South:
So Jacob dwelt in the land of the sojournings of his father, - in the land of Canaan.
So Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba, - and the sons of Israel brought Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh had sent to bring him;
So Moses sent them, to spy out the land of Canaan, - and said unto them - Go up, here in the South, Yea ye shall go up the mountain;
Yea they went up in the South and entered as far as Hebron, and there, were Ahiman Sheshai and Talmai descendants of the Anak. Now, Hebron, was built seven years, before Zoan of Egypt.
Anak, saw we there. Amalek, dwelleth in the land of the South; And, the Hittite, and the Jebusite and the Amorite, dwell in the mountain And the Canaanite, dwelleth by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.
Turn ye and set yourselves forward, and enter into the hill country of the Amorites, and into all the places near, in the plain, in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south, and in the coast of the sea, - the land of Canaan and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
and the South, - and the circuit of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zoar.
So Joshua smote all the land - the hill country, and the south, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings, he left not a survivor, - but, every breathing thing, devoted he to destruction, as Yahweh, God of Israel, had commanded.
in the hill country and in the lowland, and in the waste plain, and in the slopes, and in the desert, and in the south, - the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: -
And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the sons of Judah, towards the boundary of Edom in the south, were, - Kabzeel and Eder, and Jagur, and Kinah and Dimonah, and Adadah, - read more. and Kedesh and Hazor, and Ithnan, Ziph and Talem, and Bealoth, and Hazor-hadattah and Kerioth-hezron, the same, is Hazor; Amam and Shema, and Moladah, and Hazar-gaddah and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet. and Hazarshual and Beer-sheba, with the hamlets thereof, Baalah and Iyyim, and Ezem, and Eltolad and Chesil, and Hormah, and Ziklag and Madmannah, and Sansannah, and Lebaoth and Shilhim, and En-rimmon, - all the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages.
And the second lot came out, for Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon, by their families, - and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah. And they had for their inheritance, - Beer-sheba or Sheba, and Moladah, read more. and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Ezem, and Eltolad and Bethul, and Hormah, and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah, and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen, - thirteen cities, with their villages: Ain, Rimmon, and Ether and Ashan, - four cities, with their villages, and all the villages that were round about these cities, as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the South. This, is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, by their families: Out of the portion of the sons of Judah, is the inheritance of the sons of Simeon, - for it came to pass that what was allotted to the sons of Judah, was too much for them, therefore did the sons of Simeon receive an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and the oxen and the lambs, also the fatlings, and all that was good, and would not devote them to destruction, - but, all the cattle that was contemptible and diseased, that, devoted they to destruction.
So Achish gave him, on that day, Ziklag, - wherefore Ziklag hath pertained unto the kings of Judah, unto this day.
Now, when David would smite a land, he used to save alive neither man nor woman, - but took sheep and oxen, and asses and camels, and apparel, and returned, and came in unto Achish. Then said Achish, Whither have ye made a raid, to-day? And David said - Against the South of Judah, or against the South of the Jerahmeelites, or as far as the South of the Kenites.
As for us, we invaded the South of the Cherithites, and against that which pertaineth unto Judah, and against the South of Caleb, - and, Ziklag, burned we with fire.
The cities of the South, are shut And there is none to open, - Judah hath been carried away captive, She hath altogether been carried away captive in full number.
Fields - for silver, shall men buy, And write in scrolls And seal them, And take in attestation, witnesses, In the land of Benjamin, and In the places round about Jerusalem, and In the cities of Judah, and In the cities of the hill country, and In the cities of the lowland and In the cities of the South, - For I will cause them of their captivity to return Declareth Yahweh.