Jeshimon

Biblical Text

In 1 Samuel, Jeshimon appears as the name of the wilderness of southern Judah through which David moved while fleeing from Saul.

• 1 Samuel 23:19: The Ziphites go to Saul and report that David is hiding "in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon."
• 1 Samuel 23:24: David and his men are said to be "in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon."

Immediately afterward, Saul nearly overtakes David but turns back on hearing that the Philistines have invaded the land. For this reason the place was called Selahammahlekoth (1 Samuel 23:26–28).

In 1 Samuel 26:1 and 26:3, the hill of Hachilah is likewise described in the Hebrew text as lying "before Jeshimon." Korean translations sometimes render this as "the wilderness." In this episode David refrains from harming the sleeping Saul and takes only his spear and his cruse of water.

The same Hebrew word also appears in Numbers. The top of Pisgah, which Israel reached (Numbers 21:20), and the top of Peor, to which Balak king of Moab brought Balaam (Numbers 23:28), are both described as looking toward it. Korean Bibles generally render the word in these two verses as "the wilderness."

Word and Geography

The Hebrew yeshimon derives from a root meaning "to be desolate." It denotes a waterless wasteland or desert where human habitation is difficult. Translations therefore differ according to whether the word is taken as the name of a specific territory (a proper noun) or as the ordinary word for "wasteland" (a common noun).

Scholarly opinion is also divided on its location.

• Many identify the Jeshimon of 1 Samuel with the wasteland of the Judean wilderness that descends from the highlands of Ziph and Maon, southeast of Hebron, toward the Dead Sea.
• Some identify the Jeshimon of Numbers with the land northeast of the Dead Sea, visible from the Moabite plateau east of the Jordan.

Scholars differ on whether the two refer to the same region and on its precise extent. The location of the hill of Hachilah has likewise not been determined.

Significance in the Wider Bible

Yeshimon is also used as an ordinary noun. In such cases it appears in connection with accounts of God leading Israel in the wilderness.

• Deuteronomy 32:10: The word occurs in the passage that celebrates God finding Israel in the wilderness and keeping him: "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness."
• Psalm 78:40; 106:14: These passages recall how Israel rebelled against God and tempted Him "in the desert." These accounts are connected with the forty years in the wilderness.
• Isaiah 43:19–20: God promises to make "rivers in the desert." The wasteland thus becomes the setting for a new Exodus (Isaiah 43:16–21).

The name Jeshimon does not appear in the New Testament. However, the Judean wilderness where David hid was still called "the wilderness of Judaea" in New Testament times, and John the Baptist preached there (Matthew 3:1). Jesus' temptation in the wilderness is also traditionally understood to have taken place in this region, although the Gospels do not specify the location.

Interpretation and Issues

• Place name or ordinary word: Depending on the translation, the same verse may transliterate the term as "Jeshimon" or render it as "wilderness" or "desert." This choice also affects whether the Jeshimon of 1 Samuel and that of Numbers are read as the same place.
• Distinguishing homiletical application from the text: Sermons often interpret David's time in Jeshimon as a period of testing for a future king, or draw spiritual lessons from the word's meaning of "desolation." Such readings are interpretations for the sake of application. The text itself uses Jeshimon only as a geographical marker indicating where David hid.