Negeb

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

NEGEB , originally meaning ‘the dry land,’ is in most passages in the OT the name of a definite geographical area (  Deuteronomy 1:7;   Deuteronomy 34:3 ,   Joshua 10:40;   Joshua 12:8 etc.); the word is, however, used also in the sense of ‘ South ’ (  Genesis 13:14 ). The Negeb was often the scene of Abraham’s wanderings (  Genesis 12:9;   Genesis 13:1;   Genesis 13:8;   Genesis 20:1 ); here Hagar was succoured by the angel (  Genesis 16:7;   Genesis 16:14 ); Isaac (  Genesis 24:62 ) and Jacob (  Genesis 37:1;   Genesis 46:5 ) both dwelt there; through this district passed the spies (  Numbers 13:17;   Numbers 13:22 ). In   Numbers 13:29 the Negeb is described as belonging to the Amalekites. Later the land was allotted to Simeon, and its cities are enumerated (  Joshua 19:1-9 ); later they reverted to Judah (  Joshua 15:21-32 ). David was stationed by Achish at Ziklag on the borders of the Negeb (  1 Samuel 27:6 ). At this time the Negeb is described as of several parts, the Negeb of Judah, of the Jerahmeelites, and of the Kenites (  1 Samuel 27:10 ); while in   1 Samuel 30:14 we read of the Negeb of the Cherethites and of Caleb. Jeremiah (  Jeremiah 13:19 ) prophesied trouble as coming on the cities of this region, but on the return from captivity they too were to participate in the blessings (  Jeremiah 32:44 ,   Jeremiah 33:13 ).

The district in question was an ill-defined tract of country lying S. of Hebron, and extending some 70 miles to the Tih or desert. It was bounded on the E. by the Dead Sea and the ‘Arâbâh , while W. it faded away into the Maritime Plain. It was a pastoral region, wedged between the cultivated lands on the N. and the wilderness, and formed a most efficient barrier to the land of Israel towards the South. Attacks of large armed forces could not come from this direction, but only by the ‘Arâbâh to the S.E. (  Genesis 14:1-24 ), viâ Gaza on S.W., or by the E. of the Jordan. The Israelites themselves were compelled to take the last route. The country consists of a series of mountainous ridges running in a general direction E. and W., with open wadys in which a certain amount of water collects even now; In ancient days dams were constructed in places to collect and store the rainfall, which to-day soon runs off. Though now little better than a wilderness, the numerous ruins of towns and broken terraces witness to days of large population and good cultivation; the OT, too, in the stories of Saul’s and David’s captures from the Amalekites (  1 Samuel 15:9;   1 Samuel 27:9 ), witnesses to a great wealth of cattle. In Byzantine times the land attained its highest prosperity. Under neglect it has become again little better than a desert: the Bedouin of these parts are known in Palestine for their skill in making rough cisterns on the hillsides to catch the surface water, and have in recent years been employed to construct many such in the ‘wilderness of Judæa.’ Beersheba and the district around have recently been greatly improved: a rough carriage road has been made from there to Gaza.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Much of southern Palestine between the Dead Sea and the Sinai desert was dry semi-barren country to which the Hebrews gave the name negeb (meaning ‘dry’). The region features prominently in the Old Testament story from the time of Abraham onwards ( Genesis 13:1;  Numbers 13:25-29;  1 Samuel 30:14). (For details see PALESTINE, sub-heading ‘Negeb’.)

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 14:7 Genesis 21:14 Numbers 14:44-45 Daniel 11:15 11:29NabateansPalestine

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

neg´eb ( הנּגב , ha - neghebh , "the negeb" or simply, נגב , neghebh , from a root meaning "to be dry," and therefore in the first instance implying the "dry" or "parched regions," hence, in the Septuagint it is usually translated ἔρημος , érēmos , "desert," also νάγεβ , nágeb ):

1. Meaning:

As the Negeb lay to the South of Judah, the word came to be used in the sense of "the South," and is so used in a few passages (e.g.  Genesis 13:14 ) and in such is translated λίψ , lı́ps (see Geography ). The English translation is unsuitable in several passages, and likely to lead to confusion. For example, in  Genesis 13:1 Abram is represented as going "into the South" when journeying northward from Egypt toward Bethel; in   Numbers 13:22 the spies coming from the "wilderness of Zin" toward Hebron are described as coming "by the South," although they were going north. The difficulty in these and many other passages is at once obviated if it is recognized that the Negeb was a geographical term for a definite geographical region, just as Shephelah, literally, "lowland," was the name of another district of Palestine. In the Revised Version (British and American) "Negeb" is given in margin, but it would make for clearness if it were restored to the text.

2. Description:

This "parched" land is generally considered as beginning South of ed Dāharı̄yeb - the probable site of Debir (which see) - and as stretching South in a series of rolling hills running in a general direction of East to West until the actual wilderness begins, a distance of perhaps 70 miles (see Natural Features ). To the East it is bounded by the Dead Sea and the southern Ghôr , and to the West there is no defined boundary before the Mediterranean. It is a land of sparse and scanty springs and small rainfall; in the character of its soil it is a transition from the fertility of Canaan to the wilderness of the desert; it is essentially a pastoral land, where grazing is plentiful in the early months and where camels and goats can sustain life, even through the long summer drought. Today, as through most periods of history, it is a land for the nomad rather than the settled inhabitant, although abundant ruins in many spots testify to better physical conditions at some periods (see I, 5, below). The direction of the valleys East or West, the general dryness, and the character of the inhabitants have always made it a more or less isolated region without thoroughfare. The great routes pass along the coast to the West or up the Arabah to the East. It formed an additional barrier to the wilderness beyond it; against all who would lead an army from the South, this southern frontier of Judah was always secure. Israel could not reach the promised land by this route, through the land of the Amalekites (  Numbers 13:29;  Numbers 14:43-45 ).

3. Old Testament References:

The Negeb was the scene of much of Abram's wanderings ( Genesis 12:9;  Genesis 13:1 ,  Genesis 13:3;  Genesis 20:1 ); it was in this district that Hagar met with the angel ( Genesis 16:7 ,  Genesis 16:14 ); Isaac ( Genesis 24:62 ) and Jacob ( Genesis 37:1;  Genesis 46:5 ) both dwelt there. Moses sent the spies through this district to the hill country ( Numbers 13:17 ,  Numbers 13:22 ); the Amalekites then dwelt there ( Numbers 13:29 ) and apparently, too, in some parts of it, the Avvim ( Joshua 13:3 ,  Joshua 13:4 ). The inheritance of the children of Simeon, as given in  Joshua 19:1-9 , was in the Negeb, but in  Joshua 15:21-32 these cities are credited to Judah (see Simeon ). Achish allotted to David, in response to his request, the city of Ziklag (q.v) in the Negeb ( 1 Samuel 27:5 f); the exploits of David were against various parts of this district described as the Negeb of Judah, the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites, and the Negeb of the Kenites, while in   1 Samuel 30:14 we have mention of the Negeb of the Cherethites and the Negeb of Caleb. To this we may add the Negeb of Arad (  Judges 1:16 ). It is impossible to define the districts of these various clans (see separate articles under these names). The, Negeb, together with the "hill-country" and the "Shephelah," was according to Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 17:26;  Jeremiah 32:44;  Jeremiah 33:13 ) to have renewed prosperity after the captivity of Judah was ended.

4. Later History:

When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem the Edomites sided with the Babylonians (compare  Lamentations 4:21 f;   Ezekiel 35:3-15;  Obadiah 1:10-16 ), and during the absence of the Jews they advanced north and occupied all the Negeb and Southern Judea as far as Hebron (see Judaea ). Here they annoyed the Jews in Maccabean times until Judas expelled them from Southern Judea (164 BC) and John Hyrcanus conquered their country and compelled them to become Jews (109 BC). It was to one of the cities here - M alatha - that Herod Agrippa withdrew himself (Josephus, Ant. , Xviii , vi, 2).

The palmy days of this district appear to have been during the Byzantine period: the existing ruins, so far as they can be dated at all, belong to this time. Beersheba was an important city with a bishop, and Elusa (mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century) was the seat of a bishop in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. After the rise of Mohammedanism the land appears to have lapsed into primitive conditions. Although lawlessness and want of any central control may account for much of the retrogression, yet it is probable that Professor Ellsworth Huntington (loc. cit.) is right in his contention that a change of climate has had much to do with the rise and fall of civilization and settled habitation in this district. The district has long been given over to the nomads, and it is only quite recently that the Turkish policy of planting an official with a small garrison at Beersheba and at ‛Aujeh has produced some slight change in the direction of a settled population and agricultural pursuits.

5. Its Ancient Prosperity:

It is clear that in at least two historic periods the Negeb enjoyed a very considerable prosperity. What it may have been in the days of the Patriarchs it is difficult to judge; all we read of them suggests a purely nomadic life similar to the Bedouin of today but with better pasturage. In the division of the land among the tribes mention is made of many cities - the Hebrew mentions 29 ( Joshua 15:21-32;  Joshua 19:1-9;  1 Chronicles 4:28-33 ) - and the wealth of cattle evidently was great (compare  1 Samuel 15:9;  1 Samuel 27:9;  1 Samuel 30:16;  2 Chronicles 14:14 f). The condition of things must have been far different from that of recent times.

The extensive ruins at Bı̄r es Seba‛ (Beersheba) Khalasa (Elusa), Ruheibeh (REHOBOTH, which see), ‛Aujeh and other cities, together with the signs of orchards, vineyards and gardens scattered widely around these and other sites, show how comparatively well populated this area was in Byzantine times in particular. Professor Huntington (loc. cit.) concludes from these ruins that the population of the large towns of the Negeb alone at this period must have amounted to between 45,000,50,000. The whole district does not support 1,000 souls today.

Literature.

Robinson, Br (1838); Wilton, The Negeb, or "South Country" of Scripture (1863); E.H. Palmer, The Desert of the Exodus , 2 (1871); Trumbull, Kadesh-Barnea (1884); G. A. Smith, Hghl , chapter 13 (1894); E. Huntington, Palestine and Its Transformation , chapter vi, etc.