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
And Abram journeyed, going on and pulled up stakes toward the south.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, (and Lot was with him) into the south.
And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are men, brothers.
And after Lot was separated from him, Jehovah said to Abram, Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are northward and southward, and eastward and westward.
And the Angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Therefore the well was called The Well of the Living One Seeing Me. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
And Abraham moved from there toward the south country, and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
And Isaac came from the way of the well, The Well of the Living One, my Beholder. For he lived in the south country.
And Jacob lived in the land of the travels of his father, in the land of Canaan.
And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba. And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way, southward, and go up into the mountain.
And they went up by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan.
Turn and pull up stakes, and enter the hill-country of the Amorites, and to all its neighboring places, in the Arabah in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites and of Lebanon, to the great river, the river Euphrates.
and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to Zoar.
And Joshua struck all the land, the hills, and the south, and the valley, and the springs, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but destroyed all that breathed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel commanded.
in the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
And the furthest cities of the tribe of the sons of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, read more. and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, and Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth-Hezron, which is Hazor, Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet, and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah, Baalah, and Iim, and Azem, and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon. All the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages.
And the second lot came forth to Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families. And their inheritance was inside the inheritance of the sons of Judah. And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, or Sheba, and Moladah, read more. and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem, and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah, and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah, and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages; Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages, and all the villages that were around these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramah of the south. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families. The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was out of the portion of the sons of Judah. For the part of the sons of Judah was too much for them; therefore the sons of Simeon had their inheritance within their inheritance.
But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed.
And Achish gave him Ziklag that day. And Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
And David struck the land, and did not keep alive man nor woman, and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing, and returned and came to Achish. And Achish said, Where have you made a raid today? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
We raided the south of the Cherethites, and on that belonging to Judah, and on the south of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.
The cities of the south have been shut up, and none are opening; Judah has been exiled, all of it has been peacefully exiled.
Men shall buy fields for silver, and write it in a book, and seal it, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south. For I will cause their captivity to return, says Jehovah.
In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who tallies, says Jehovah.