Reference: Wilderness
American
See DESERT.
Easton
(1.) Heb midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps 65:12; Isa 42:11; Jer 23:10; Joe 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba (Ge 21:14), on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red Sea (Ex 13:18); of Shur (Ex 15:22), a portion of the Sinaitic peninsula; of Sin (Ex 17:1), Sinai (Le 7:38), Moab (De 2:8), Judah (Jg 1:16), Ziph, Maon, En-gedi (1Sa 23:14,24; 24:1), Jeruel and Tekoa (2Ch 20:16,20), Kadesh (Ps 29:8).
The wilderness of the sea (Isa 21:1). Principal Douglas, referring to this expression, says: "A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon (see especially ver. Isa 21:9), perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been (comp. Eze 20:35). Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title in Isa 22:1. Jerusalem is the "valley of vision," rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea (comp. Isa 57:20)." A Short Analysis of the O.T.
(2.) Jeshimon, a desert waste (De 32:10; Ps 68:7).
(3.) 'Arabah, the name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. In De 1:1; 2:8, it is rendered "plain" (R.V., "Arabah").
(4.) Tziyyah, a "dry place" (Ps 78:17; 105:41).
(5.) Tohu, a "desolate" place, a place "waste" or "unoccupied" (De 32:10; Job 12:24; comp. Ge 1:2, "without form"). The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for forty years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled "the wilderness of the wanderings." This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south. Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the "wilderness of the wanderings" (et-Tih). The western portion of it is called the "wilderness of Shur" (Ex 15:22), and the eastern the "wilderness of Paran."
The "wilderness of Judea" (Mt 3:1) is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. It is the "Jeshimon" mentioned in 1Sa 23:19.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulders, and he sent her and the youth away. And she wandered on [aimlessly] and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba.
But God led the people around by way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites went up marshaled [in ranks] out of the land of Egypt.
Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went three days [thirty-three miles] in the wilderness and found no water.
Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went three days [thirty-three miles] in the wilderness and found no water.
All the congregation of the Israelites moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
Which the Lord ordered Moses on Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to offer their sacrifices to the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai.
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel [still] on the [east] side of the Jordan [River] in the wilderness, in the Arabah [the deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea], over near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
So we passed on from our brethren the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness), and from Elath and from Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
So we passed on from our brethren the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness), and from Elath and from Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
He found him in a desert land, in the howling void of the wilderness; He kept circling around him, He scanned him [penetratingly], He kept him as the pupil of His eye.
He found him in a desert land, in the howling void of the wilderness; He kept circling around him, He scanned him [penetratingly], He kept him as the pupil of His eye.
And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the Judahites from the City of Palms (Jericho) into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South (the Negeb) near Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.
David remained in the wilderness strongholds in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hands.
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood [at Horesh], on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, Behold, David is in the Wilderness of En-gedi.
Tomorrow go down to them. Behold, they will come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the ravine before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
And they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper.
He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the land and of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness tremble; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
The [luxuriant] pastures in the uncultivated country drip [with moisture], and the hills gird themselves with joy.
O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness -- "Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! -- "
Yet they still went on to sin against Him by provoking and rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness (in the land of drought).
He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river.
The mournful, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up) concerning the Desert of the Sea [which was Babylon after great dams were raised to control the waters of the Euphrates River which overflowed it like a sea -- "and would do so again]: As whirlwinds in the South (the Negeb) sweep through, so it [the judgment of God by hostile armies] comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
And see! Here comes a troop of men and chariots, horsemen in pairs! And he [the watchman] tells [what it foretells]: Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And all the graven images of her gods lie shattered on the ground [in my vision]!
The mournful, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up) concerning the Valley of Vision: What do you mean [I wonder] that you have all gone up to the housetops,
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of the rock [Sela or Petra] sing; let them shout from the tops of the mountains!
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
For the land is full of adulterers (forsakers of God, Israel's true Husband). Because of the curse [of God upon it] the land mourns, the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. They [both false prophets and people] rush into wickedness; and their course is evil, their might is not right.
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.
O Lord, to You will I cry, for the fire has devoured the pastures and folds of the plain and the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Be not afraid, you wild beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have sprung up and are green; the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their [full] strength.
In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea
Morish
This term and that of DESERT do not usually refer in scripture to such places as the vast sand-plains of Africa, though there are some such in Palestine, but the words mostly refer to non-arable plains where the vegetation but thinly covers the limestone with patches of verdure. In places where the ground is not worth cultivating it can be used for pasture. Some of such deserts are comparatively small, but others are extensive. The wilderness of JUDAH is a plain extending the whole length of the Dead Sea; but some of it can be used for pasture land. It may be said to include the wilderness of EN-GEDI, that of MAON, and probably that of ZIPH and of JERUEL.
The wilderness of BETH-AVEN and of GIBEON were in the allotment of Benjamin.
The wilderness of DAMASCUS was far north, and that of BEER-SHEBA far south; and that of SHUR, still farther south-west.
Those of KEDEMOTH, of EDOM, and of MOAB were east of the Dead Sea.
The rest were not in Palestine proper, but were the deserts through which the Israelites passed or were located in their wanderings: namely, ETHAM, KADESH, PARAN, SIN, SINAI, and ZIN. See WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES.
Typically the wilderness was outside Canaan, and stands in contrast to it. The wilderness was the place of testing to the Israelites, and it is the same to the Christian, to humble him, and to prove what is in his heart. De 8:2. He has to learn what he is in himself, and the God of all grace he has to do with. There is need of constant dependence or there is failure, while the experience is gained of knowing One who never fails to succour. Canaan is figuratively a heavenly position and conflict, corresponding with the need of the armour of Eph 6:11, to stand against the wiles of the devil. For this one needs to realise what it is to be dead and risen with Christ. It is association in spirit with Christ in heaven.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And you shall [earnestly] remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to prove you, to know what was in your [mind and] heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.