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wildernessmore about wilderness

wilderness

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Wilderness  \Wil"der*ness\,  n.  [OE.  wildernesse, 
  wilderne,probably  from  AS  wildor  a  wild  beast;  cf  D. 
  wildernis  wilderness.  See  {Wilder},  v.  t.] 
  1.  A  tract  of  land,  or  a  region,  uncultivated  and  uninhabited 
  by  human  beings,  whether  a  forest  or  a  wide,  barren  plain; 
  a  wild;  a  waste;  a  desert;  a  pathless  waste  of  any  kind 
 
  The  wat'ry  wilderness  yields  no  supply.  --Waller. 
 
  2.  A  disorderly  or  neglected  place  --Cowper. 
 
  3.  Quality  or  state  of  being  wild;  wildness.  [Obs.] 
 
  These  paths  and  bowers  doubt  not  but  our  joint 
  hands.  Will  keep  from  wilderness  with  ease. 
  --Milton. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  wilderness 
  n  :  a  wild  and  uninhabited  area  [syn:  {wild}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Wilderness 
  (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;  Joel  1:19;  2:22);  an  uncultivated  place 
  This  word  is  used  of  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba  (Gen.  21:14), 
  on  the  southern  border  of  Palestine;  the  wilderness  of  the  Red 
  Sea  (Ex.  13:18);  of  Shur  (15:22),  a  portion  of  the  Sinaitic 
  peninsula;  of  Sin  (17:1),  Sinai  (Lev.  7:38),  Moab  (Deut.  2:8), 
  Judah  (Judg.  1:16),  Ziph,  Maon,  En-gedi  (1  Sam.  23:14,  24; 
  24:1),  Jeruel  and  Tekoa  (2  Chr.  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.  9), 
  perhaps  because  it  became  the  place  of  discipline  to  God's 
  people,  as  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea  had  been  (comp.  Ezek. 
  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.  57:20)."  A  Short  Analysis  of  the  O.T. 
 
  (2.)  Jeshimon,  a  desert  waste  (Deut.  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  Deut.  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" 
  (Deut.  32:10;  Job  12:24;  comp.  Gen.  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"  (Matt.  3:1)  is  a  wild,  barren 
  region,  lying  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Hebron  Mountains.  It 
  is  the  Jeshimon"  mentioned  in  1  Sam.  23:19.




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