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
And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And he gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
But God led the people around, by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the sons of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the command of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink.
which Jehovah commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to offer their sacrifices to Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai.
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab,
And when we left our brothers the sons of Esau who lived in Seir, through the way of the Arabah from Elath, and from Ezion-geber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
And when we left our brothers the sons of Esau who lived in Seir, through the way of the Arabah from Elath, and from Ezion-geber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
He found him in a desert land, and in the deserted, howling wilderness. He led him about, He cared for him, He kept him as the pupil of His eye.
He found him in a desert land, and in the deserted, howling wilderness. He led him about, He cared for him, He kept him as the pupil of His eye.
And the sons of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad. And they went and lived among the people.
And David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul looked for him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
And the men of Ziph came up to Saul, to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the wilderness?
And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain, on the south of the desert.
And it happened when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.
Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz. And you shall find them at the end of the valley, 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 people of Jerusalem. Believe in Jehovah your God, and so you shall be established. Believe His prophets, and so you shall be blessed.
He takes away the heart of the chief of the people of the land, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
The voice of Jehovah shakes the wilderness; Jehovah shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
They drop on the pastures of the wilderness; and the little hills gird themselves with joy.
O God, when You marched before Your people, when You walked through the wilderness; Selah.
And they sinned still more against Him, by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.
He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
The burden against the desert of the sea: As tempests in the south pass, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
And, behold, here comes a chariot of a man, a pair of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And all the graven images of her gods He has smashed to the ground.
The burden against the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have gone up to the housetops?
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages where Kedar dwells. Let the dwellers of the rock sing, let them shout from the mountain tops.
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
For the land is full of adulterers. Yes, because of cursing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their power is not right.
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
O Jehovah, to You will I cry; for the fire has burned up the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Do not be afraid, beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness grow green; for the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness 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 remember all the way which Jehovah your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.