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
Now, the earth, had become waste and wild, and darkness, was on the face of the roaring deep, - but, the Spirit of God, was brooding on the face of the waters,
So Abraham rose up early in the morning - and took bread and a skin of water and gave unto hagar, - putting them on her shoulder and the child, and sent her forth, - so she went her way and wandered, in the desert of Beer-sheba.
So God took the people round the desert-way of the Red Sea, - and the sons of Israel went up armed, out of the land of Egypt.
And Moses caused Israel to break up from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur, - and journeyed three days in the desert and found no water;
And Moses caused Israel to break up from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur, - and journeyed three days in the desert and found no water;
And all the assembly of the sons of Israel set forward out of the desert of Sin, by their removings, at the bidding of Yahweh, - and encamped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, - in the day when he commanded the sons of Israel to bring near their oblations unto Yahweh in the desert of Sinai.
These, are the words, which Moses spake unto all Israel, over the Jordan, - in the wilderness in the waste plain over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban and Hazeroth and Di-zahab:
So we passed on, a way from our brethren the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir, from the way of the waste plain, from Elath, and from Ezion-geber, - and we turned and passed on by way of the desert of Moab.
So we passed on, a way from our brethren the sons of Esau who dwell in Seir, from the way of the waste plain, from Elath, and from Ezion-geber, - and we turned and passed on by way of the desert of Moab.
He met him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness, - He encompassed him watched over him, Shielded him as the pupil of his own eye.
He met him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness, - He encompassed him watched over him, Shielded him as the pupil of his own eye.
Now, the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, had come up from the city of palm-trees, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, - so they went and dwelt with the people.
Then David abode in the wilderness, in the fortresses, and he abode in the hill country, in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him continually, but God delivered him not into his hand.
Then came up the Ziphites unto Saul in Gibeah, saying, - Is not David hiding himself with us, in the strongholds in the thicket, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the right of Jeshimon?
So they arose and departed to Ziph, before Saul, - but, David and his men, were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah, to the right of Jeshimon.
And it came to pass, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying: Lo! David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.
To-morrow, go ye down against them, for lo! there they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, - and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine, facing the wilderness of Jeruel.
So they rose early in the morning, and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa, - and, as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Trust ye in Yahweh your God, and ye shall be trusted, Trust ye in his prophets, and ye shall prosper.
Who taketh away the sense of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and hath caused them to wander in a pathless waste:
The voice of Yahweh, bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness; Yahweh bringeth birth-pains upon the wilderness of Kadesh!
Fruitful are the pastures of the wilderness, And, with exultation, the hills do gird themselves.
O God! When thou camest forth before thy people, When thou didst stride through the wilderness, Selah.
But again, once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought:
He opened the rock, and there gushed forth waters, They flowed along, through parched places, as a river;
The oracle on the desert of the sea: As storm-winds in the South which with a rush from the desert, do come from a terrible land,
When lo! here was a train of men coming. With horsemen in double rank, - And one began and said, Fallen! fallen! is Babylon, And all the images of her gods, are smashed to the ground!
The oracle on the valley of vision, - What aileth thee, then, That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?
Let the wilderness shout, and the cities thereof, The villages wherein dwelleth Kedar, - Let the inhabitants of the crag, raise shouts of triumph, From the top of the mountains, let them cry aloud:
But, the lawless, are like the sea when tossed, - For, rest, it cannot! But its waters toss out mire and dirt.
For with adulterers, is the land filled, Yea because of cursing, cloth the land mourn, Dried up are the oases of the desert, - And, their oppression hath become wicked, And, their might is not right.
And I will bring you into the desert of the peoples, - and will contend with you there, I face to face.
Unto thee, O Yahweh, will I cry, - for, a fire, hath consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and, a flame, hath set ablaze all the trees of the field.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, for sprouted have the pastures of the wilderness, - for, the tree, hath borne its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine, have yielded their wealth.
Now, in those days, came John the Immerser, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judaea;
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
So then, thou shalt remember all the way in which Yahweh thy God caused thee to journey these forty years in the desert, - that he might humble time to put thee to the proof to know what was in thy heart, - whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not.
Put on the complete armour of God, with a view to your having power to stand against the strategies of the adversary;