DESERT. This word is employed in the A. V. of the Bible to represent no less than four distinct Hebrew words ; and even in the rendering of these it is not employed uniformly. The same Hebrew term is sometimes translated wilderness,' some times ' desert,' and once ' south.' In one place we find a Hebrew term treated as a proper name, and in another translated as an appellative. This gives rise to considerable indefiniteness in many passages of Scripture, and creates confusion in attempts at Interpretation. But besides all this, the ordinary meaning attached to the English word desert,' is not that which can be legitimately attached to any of the Hebrew words it is employed to represent. We usually apply it to a sterile sandy plain, with out inhabitants, without water, and without vege tation'—such for example as the desert of Sahara. No such region was known to the sacred writers ; no such region is once referred to in Scripture. It will consequently be necessary to explain in this article the several words which our translators have rendered desert.
(Sept. gpmuos, and etruSposyij), Midbar.
This word is of very frequent occurrence, and is usually rendered wilderness' (Gen. xiv. 6; etc.), though in some places desert' (Exod. iii. r ; v. t ; etc.), and in Ps. lxxv. 6, south.' It is derived from the root to lead to pasture ;' and it means a wide open tract used as a pasture land : thus, in Joel ii. 22, The pastures of the desert do flourish.' It is the name most commonly applied to the country lying between Palestine and Egypt, including the peninsula of Sinai, through which the Israelites wandered (Gen. xxi. 14, 21; Exod. iv. 27 ; xix. 2 ; Josh. i. 6 ; etc.) Now, the peninsula of Sinai is a mountainous region ; in early spring its scanty soil produces grass and green herbs, and with the exception of one little plain on the north side of the great mountain chain, there is no sand whatever. This plain is distinguished by the name, Debbet er-Ramleh, ' plain of sand' (Robinson, B. A'.
i. 77 ; Stanley, S. and P. 9 ; Porter, Handbook for S. and P., 2, sq.) On the other hand, in this whole region streams of water are not found except in winter, and after heavy rain ; fountains are very rare ; and there are no settled inhabitants. Mid bar is also used to denote the wilderness of Arabia; but generally with the article 'the desert' (i Kings ix. IS). The wilderness of Arabia is not sandy ; it is a vast undulating plain, parched and barren during summer and autumn, but in winter and early spring yielding good pasture to the flocks of the Bedawin that roam over it. The Alidhar of Yildak is the bleak mountainous region lying along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father's flocks, and hid from Saul (I Sam. xvii. 28 ; xxvi. 2, sq.) The mearnng of Midbar is thus a district without settled inhabitants, without streams of water, but adapted for pasturage. It is the country of nomads, as distinguished from that of the agricultural and settled people (Is. xxxv. t ; 1. 2 ; Jer. iv. 1i). The Greek equivalents in the N. T. are tpw.tos and enuta. John preached in the wilderness,' and our Lord fed the multitudes in the wilderness' (Matt. iii. 3 ; xv. 33 ; Luke xv. 4, etc. ; Stanley, S. and P. 481).
2. ririn (Sept. gion.cos, etc.), Chorbah. This word is translated desert' in Ps. cii. 6. Its real meaning is a desolation,' or ` desolate place,' and also a dry or parched place.' From the same root comes the name of the mountain Horeb. Chorbah is generally applied to what has been rendered desolate by war or neglect : thus in Is. lxi. 4, They shall build the old wastes' (Lev. xxvi. 33 ; etc.) The word is employed in Job. iii. 14 to denote buildings which speedily fall to ruin. The only passage in which it is made to express a natural waste,' or wilderness,' is Is. xlviii. 21, where it means the wilderness of Sinai.
3. eilmapos, and Oni.cos), wdste ness,' from to be laid waste.' In the A. V.