Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Jeshimon
Subjects in this Topic:
jeÌ„Ì-shē´-mon, jesh´i-mon (היש×ימן, ha-yeshı̄moÌ„n, “the desert,†and in the Revised Version (British and American) so translated but in the King James Version, ; ; , ; , , “Jeshimon†as a place-name. In Numbers, the Septuagint reads ἡ ἐÌÏημος, heÌ„ eÌreÌ„mos, “the desertâ€; in 1 Samuel, the Septuagint reads ἸεσσαιμοÌν, IessaimoÌn): In these passages probably two districts are referred to: (1) The “desert†North of the Dead Sea, which was overlooked from Pisgah (; ). This is the bare and sterile land, saturated with salt, lying on each side of the Jordan North of the Dead Sea, where for miles practically no vegetable life can exist. (2) The sterile plateau West of the steep cliffs bordering the western shores of the Dead Sea. Here between the lower slopes of the Judean hills, where thousands of Bedouin live and herd their flocks, and the more fertile borders of the sea with their oases (‛Ain Feshkhah, ‛Ain Jidy, etc.), is a broad strip of utterly waterless land, the soft chalky hills of which are, for all but a few short weeks, destitute of practically any vegetation. The Hill of Hachilah was on the edge of this desert (; , ), and the Arabah was to its south (). It is possible that the references in Numbers may also apply to this region.
#The word “Jeshimon†(yeshı̄mōn) is often used as a common noun in referring to the desert of Sinai (; ; ; , etc.), and except in the first two of these references, when we have “wilderness,†it is always translated “desert.†Although used in 7 passages in poetical parallelism to midhbār, translated “wilderness,†it really means a much more hopeless place; in a midhbār animals can be pastured, but a yeshı̄mōn is a desolate waste.