Negev

Biblical References

The Negev appears in many passages of the Old Testament. Because the New Korean Revised Version usually renders it as "the south" (nambang), Korean readers tend to know the word as a direction rather than as a place name.

• The patriarchal narratives: After entering Canaan, Abraham journeyed, "going on still toward the south" (Genesis 12:9), and on his return from Egypt he went up "into the south" (Genesis 13:1). Genesis 20:1 also records that he journeyed toward the south country and sojourned in Gerar. Isaac likewise dwelt in the south country (Genesis 24:62).
• The wilderness period and the conquest: The spies sent by Moses went up by the south and came to Hebron (Numbers 13:17–22). At that time the Amalekites are said to have dwelt in the land of the south (Numbers 13:29). Joshua 15 lists the southernmost cities of the tribe of Judah separately from its other towns.
• Caleb's daughter: After receiving "a south land," Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, asked her father for springs of water as well (Joshua 15:19; Judges 1:15). The scene shows that water was scarce in the Negev.
• The time of David: While staying at Ziklag, David told Achish that he had raided "against the south of Judah" (1 Samuel 27:10). In his absence the Amalekites invaded the south and Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:1, 14).
• Psalms and the Prophets: Psalm 126:4 prays, "Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south." Jeremiah and Obadiah also mention the cities of the south and their inhabitants (Jeremiah 33:13; Obadiah 1:19–20).

Background

The Hebrew word negev is generally explained as related to the idea of "dry land." Because the region lay in the south of the land of Israel, the word also came to denote the direction "south." The biblical Negev is a semi-arid region centered on the area around Beersheba and Arad. With little rainfall, it was better suited to herding than to farming, and during the rainy season water flows briefly through its dry valleys. Kadesh Barnea lies on its southern fringe. The "Negev Desert" of modern Israel covers a much larger area, encompassing the entire south of the country, and some scholars point out that it cannot simply be equated with the biblical Negev. Descriptions of the region's precise boundaries vary among scholars.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Negev was the land where the patriarchs pitched their tents and wandered, and it was a frontier where Israel met neighboring peoples. In Psalm 126 the image of dry valleys suddenly filling with water serves as a metaphor for the restoration of those returning from captivity. The New Testament does not mention the Negev by name. Some interpreters, however, connect the prophetic promises of water flowing in the wilderness and the desert (such as Isaiah 43:16–21) with the new creation in Christ. This connection is a matter of interpretation rather than something the text states directly.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Differences in translation: Translations differ on whether to render negev as a direction ("the south") or as a place name; some transliterate it as a proper noun. The difference arises because the same word is used in both senses depending on context.
• Connection with modern Israel: Some interpreters, particularly those in the dispensationalist tradition, read the development of the Negev in modern Israel as the fulfillment of prophecies that the desert will blossom (such as Isaiah 35:1). Other interpreters hold that these prophecies refer primarily to the return from the Babylonian exile and to the restoration of the messianic age, and they are cautious about linking them directly to present-day development.

In the Korean Church

The New Korean Revised Version's phrase rendered "as the streams in the south" (Psalm 126:4), together with the following verse, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" (Psalm 126:5), is frequently quoted in sermons on the themes of restoration and fruitfulness.