Desert

(1.) Heb. midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the desert” (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered “wildernes,” and is used of the country lying between Egypt and Palestine (Gen. 21:14, 21; Ex. 4:27; 19:2; Josh. 1:4), the wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the whole of their journey to the Promised Land. The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings 9:18). The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father’s flocks (1 Sam. 17:28; 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a settled people (Isa. 35:1; 50:2; Jer. 4:11). Such, also, is the meaning of the word “wilderness” in Matt. 3:3; 15:33; Luke 15:4. (2.) The translation of the Hebrew Aribah’, “an arid tract” (Isa. 35:1, 6; 40:3; 41:19; 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the Elanitic gulf. While midbar denotes properly a pastoral region, arabah denotes a wilderness. It is also translated “plains;” as “the plains of Jericho” (Josh. 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5), “the plains of Moab” (Num. 22:1; Deut. 34:1, 8), “the plains of the wilderness” (2 Sam. 17:16). (3.) In the Revised Version of Num. 21:20 the Hebrew word jeshimon is properly rendered “desert,” meaning the waste tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also rendered “desert” in Ps. 78:40; 106:14; Isa. 43:19, 20. It denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the peninsula of Arabia (Num. 21:20; 23:28), the most terrible of all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called “the desert” in Ex. 23:31; Deut. 11:24. (See JESHIMON.) (4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Ps. 9:6), desolate (Lev. 26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word horbah’. It is rendered “desert” only in Ps. 102:6, Isa. 48:21, and Ezek. 13:4, where it means the wilderness of Sinai. (5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they had forsaken God (Isa. 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge of God are called a “wilderness” (32:15, midbar). It is a symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isa. 27:10, midbar_; 33:9, _arabah).

Not a stretch of sand, an utterly barren waste, but a wild, uninhabited region. The words rendered in the Authorized Version by “desert,” when used in the historical books denote definite localities.

DES'ERT. The popular conception of the term must not be applied to all passages in the English Bible, in which the word is the translation of four Hebrew words denoting definite localities. It is applied to the Arabah, Eze 47:8, the name of the remarkable depression which runs through the land of Palestine; but this is a waste merely because of the depopulated and neglected state of the country. It is capable of cultivation. See Arabah. It is used to translate midhar, "pasture-ground," in Ex 3:1; Ex 5:3; Josh 19:2; Num 33:15-16. Horbah. Ps 102:6; Isa 48:21; Eze 13:4. But the term commonly employed is "waste places" or "desolation." Jeshimon. With the definite article, it is treated as a proper name. See Jeshimon. Without the article, it occurs in a few passages of poetry. In the following verses it is translated "desert:" Ps 78:40; Ps 106:14; Isa 43:19-20. The "desert," as an illimitable stretch of heavy sand, does not exist in Bible lands. The "desert of Sinai" is a wild and desolate region of country, but in many parts, especially from Elim (Wadi Ghurundel) to Mount Sinai, and the region toward the southern border of Palestine, are traces of previous fertility; and when the Israelites guided their flocks through it, they found pasture in many of the little valleys, and perhaps upon some of its plains. The different tracts mentioned under this name in the Bible, as Shur, Sin, Paran, etc., will be found particularly noticed in their proper places.

DES'ERT. The popular conception of the term must not be applied to all passages in the English Bible, in which the word is the translation of four Hebrew words denoting definite localities. It is applied to the Arabah, Eze 47:8, the name of the remarkable depression which runs through the land of Palestine; but this is a waste merely because of the depopulated and neglected state of the country. It is capable of cultivation. See Arabah. It is used to translate midhar, "pasture-ground," in Ex 3:1; Ex 5:3; Josh 19:2; Num 33:15-16. Horbah. Ps 102:6; Isa 48:21; Eze 13:4. But the term commonly employed is "waste places" or "desolation." Jeshimon. With the definite article, it is treated as a proper name. See Jeshimon. Without the article, it occurs in a few passages of poetry. In the following verses it is translated "desert:" Ps 78:40; Ps 106:14; Isa 43:19-20. The "desert," as an illimitable stretch of heavy sand, does not exist in Bible lands. The "desert of Sinai" is a wild and desolate region of country, but in many parts, especially from Elim (Wadi Ghurundel) to Mount Sinai, and the region toward the southern border of Palestine, are traces of previous fertility; and when the Israelites guided their flocks through it, they found pasture in many of the little valleys, and perhaps upon some of its plains. The different tracts mentioned under this name in the Bible, as Shur, Sin, Paran, etc., will be found particularly noticed in their proper places.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. According to their deserts will I judge them. Ezek. vii. 27. Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. Shak. His reputation falls far below his desert. A. Hamilton.

Synonyms: Merit; worth; excellence; due.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation. A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. Pope.

2. A tract, which may be capable of sustaining a population, but has been left unoccupied and uncultivated; a wilderness; a solitary place. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Is. li. 3.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To leave (especially something which one should stay by and support); to leave in the lurch; to abandon; to forsake; -- implying blame, except sometimes when used of localities; as, to desert a friend, a principle, a cause, one's country. "The deserted fortress." Prescott.

2. To abandon (the service) without leave; to forsake in violation of duty; to abscond from; as, to desert the army; to desert one's colors.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To abandon a service without leave; to quit military service without permission, before the expiration of one's term; to abscond. The soldiers . . . deserted in numbers. Bancroft.

Synonyms: abandon; forsake; leave; relinquish; renounce; quit; depart from; abdicate. See Abandon.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

Of or pertaining to a desert; forsaken; without life or cultivation; unproductive; waste; barren; wild; desolate; solitary; as, they landed on a desert island. He . . . went aside privately into a desert place. Luke ix. 10. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Gray. Desert flora (Bot.), the assemblage of plants growing naturally in a desert, or in a dry and apparently unproductive place. -- Desert hare (Zoöl.), a small hare (Lepus sylvaticus, var. Arizonæ) inhabiting the deserts of the Western United States. -- Desert mouse (Zoöl.), an American mouse (Hesperomys eremicus), living in the Western deserts.