South
South
the country or quarter of the heavens which the Shemite, standing with his face to the east, supposes to be on his right hand. It is denoted by seven Hebrew words, nearly all of which refer to some characteristic of the region to which they are respectively applied.
1. , negeb (root in Syr. and Chald. to be dry), probably derived its name from the hot drying winds which annually blow into Syria, over Africa and Arabia. In March, says Volney, appear in Syria the pernicious southerly winds with the same circumstances as in Egypt; that is to say, their heat, which is carried to a degree so excessive that it is difficult to form an idea of it without having felt it; but one can compare it to that of a great oven when the bread is drawn out (Voyage en Syrie et. Aegypte, 1 297; comp. Luk 12:55. When ye see the south wind blow, ye say there will be heat and see Kitto, Physical Hist. of Palestine, month of March, p. 221, 222). The word is occasionally applied to a parched or dry tract of land. Caleb’s daughter says to her father, Thou hast given me a south, or rather dry land; (Vulg. terram arentem); give me also springs of water (Jdg 1:15; comp. Jdg 1:9). At other times the word refers to those arid regions, notwithstanding their occasional fertility, over which the south wind blows into Syria. So the Sept. and Vulg. understood the whirlwinds from the south (Isa 21:1 , turbines ab Africo). The burden of the beasts in the south is rendered (Isa 30:6). At other times the word is rendered by and , which latter is the Hellenized form of Libs, ventus ex Libya,; the southwest wind, and, by metonymy, the quarter whence it blows. In several instances the Hebrew word is simply put into Greek letters, thus, (Jos 10:40); ;. Alex. , al. (11:16); v.r. (Oba 1:19-20); and once, probably by a corruption, it is (1Sa 20:41), v.r. , , . The Vulg. renders the word by meridies, australis plaga, terra meridiana, auster ab Aphrico, terra australis.
More than once the Sept. differs widely from the present Hebrew text; thus in Eze 21:4 [9] it renders by ; Vulg. ab austro usque ad aquilonem; so also in Exo 26:18 is rendered ; Vulg. ad austrum. It is also used in the geographical sense in Num 34:3; Jos 15:2; 1Ch 9:24; 2Ch 4:4; Eze 40:2; Eze 46:9, etc. But a further and important use of the word is as the name or designation of the desert regions lying at the south of Judsea, consisting of the deserts of Shur, Zin, and Paran, the mountainous country of Edom or Idumrea, and part of Arabia Petrsea. (comp. Mal 1:3; Shaw, Travels, p. 438). Thus Abraham, at his first entrance into Canaan, is said to have gone on towards the south (Gen 12:9), Sept. , Aquila , Symmachus , and upon his return from Egypt into Canaan he is said to have gone into the south (Gen 13:1); Sept. ; Vulg. ad australem plagam, though he was in fact then travelling northward. Comp. Gen 12:3, He went from the south to Bethel; Sept. ; Vulg. a meridie in Bethel. In this region the Amalekites are said to have dwelt, in the land of the south, when Moses sent the spies to view the land of Canaan (Num 13:29), viz. the locality between Idumaea and Egypt, and to the east of the Dead Sea and Mount Seir. SEE AMALEKITE.
The inhabitants of this region were included in the conquests of Joshua (Jos 10:40). Whenever the Sept. gives the Hebrew word in the Greek letters, , it always relates to this particular district. To the same region belongs the passage Turn our captivity as the streams in the south (Psa 126:4); Sept. , as winter torrents in the south (Vulg. sicut torrens in Austro), which suddenly fill the wadys or valleys during the season of rain (comp. Eze 6:3; Eze 34:13; Eze 35:8; Eze 36:4; Eze 36:6). These are dry in summer (Job 6:15-18). The Jews had, by their captivity, left their country empty and desolate, but by their return would flow again into it. Through part of this sterile region the Israelites must repass in their vain application to Egypt (Isa 30:6; comp. Deu 8:15). It is called the Wilderness of Judaea (Mat 3:1; Jos 15:61; comp. Psa 85:6, Heb. or margin; see also Jer 17:26; Jer 32:44; Jer 33:14; Ezra 20:46, 47; 21:4; comp. Oba 1:19-20; Zec 9:7).
Through part of this region lay the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert (Act 8:26). Thus as Drusius observes, the word often means not the whole southern hemisphere of the earth, but a desert tract of land to the south of Judaea. Sometimes it is used in a relative sense; thus the cities of Judah are called the cities of the south (Jer 13:19), relatively to Chaldaea, expressed by the north (Jer 1:14; comp. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1). Jerusalem itself is called the forest of the south field or country, like the Latin ager (Eze 20:46; comp. Gen 14:7). SEE FOREST. Egypt is also called the south thus, the king of the south (Dan 11:5) is Ptolemy Soter and his successors; comp. Dan 11:6; Dan 11:9; Dan 11:11; Dan 11:15; Dan 11:25; Dan 11:29; Dan 11:40; but in the last-named verse Mede understands the Saracens from Arabia Felix (Works, p. 674, 816). SEE SOUTH COUNTRY.
2. , darom, which, according to Gesenius, is a word of uncertain derivation. It is in the Sept. rendered by , Deu 33:23; by , Ecc 1:6; Ecc 11:3; Eze 40:24; Eze 40:27-28; Eze 40:44-45; Eze 41:11; and by , Eze 43:18; Vulg. meridies, auster, australis, ventus australis. This word as a proper name is usually understood to be applied to the southernmost part of Judaea in Job 37:17; Ecc 1:6; Eze 21:2; Eze 40:24. Hence the name of Daroma is given by Eusebius and Jerome to the region which they describe as extending about twenty miles from Elettheropolis on the way towards Arabia Petraea, and from east to west as far as from the Dead Sea to Gerara and Beersheba. A little to the south of Gaza there is now a spot called Bab ed-Daron, a name probably derived from the fortress Daron, celebrated in the time of the Crusades. That fortress was built on the ruins of a Greek convent of the same name which, being traced so far back, may well be identified with Darom as the ancient name of this territory. In Deu 33:23 the Hebrew word is applied to the sunny southern slope of Naphtali towards the Lake Huleh. SEE DAROM.
3. , Teyman, and its adverb , strictly what lies to the right; Sept. , ; and sometimes the word is simply put into Greek letters; thus, (Hab 3:3). Indeed, all the three preceding words are so rendered (Eze 20:46 [Eze 21:2]), , , , , where perhaps the vocabulary of the translator did not afford him sufficient variety. The Vulg. here gives viam austri, ad aphricum, ad saltum agri meridiani, and elsewhere renders the Hebrew word by meridiana plaga, ad meridiem. It occurs in Exo 26:35; Num 2:10; Num 3:29; Num 10:6; Job 9:9; Job 39:26; Psa 78:26; Son 4:16; Isa 43:6; Hab 3:3; Zec 9:14; Zec 14:4. In Zec 6:6 it denotes Egypt. It is poetically used for the south wind, like Shakspeare’s sweet south; Psalm 77:26, , africum, and Son 4:16, ; for the explanation of the latter SEE NORTH. Observe that and are interchanged in Exo 26:18; Exo 36:23; Eze 47:1. SEE TEMAN.
4. , yamin, also meaning the right side and south. Thus, Psa 89:12, Thou hast made the north and the south; Sept. ; Vulg. mare. The word is evidently here used in its widest sense, comprehending not only all the countries lying south, but also the Indian Ocean, etc., the whole hemisphere. Aquila has ; Theodotion, . In some passages where our translation renders the word right, the meaning would have been clearer had it rendered it south (1Sa 23:19; 1Sa 23:24; 2Sa 24:5; Job 23:9).
5. , cheder, Out of the south cometh the whirlwind (Job 37:9), literally chamber or storehouse, , ab interioribus. The full phrase occurs in Job 9:9, ] , , interiora austri, the remotest south; perhaps in both these passages the word means the chambers or storehouses of the south wind.
6. , midbar, Promotion cometh not from the south (Psa 75:6), literally wilderness, , desertis montibus. SEE DESERT.
7. , mayim, water, And gathered them out of the sands, and from the south (Psa 107:3), , mare; where Gesenius contends that it ought to be translated west, though it stands opposed to , as it is indeed so translated under exactly the same circumstances in Isa 49:12. He refers to Deu 33:23, and Amo 8:12. It is also thus rendered in our version of the first of these references, and on the latter we can only refer to archbishop Newcome’s Version of the Minor Prophets (Pontefract, 1809), p. 51, 52.
In the New Test. we have in the geographical sense, , regina:austri, Mat 12:42, SEE SHEBA and Luk 13:29; Rev 21:13. The word is also translated south in Act 8:26, , contra meridianum. It is used in the same sense by Josephus (Ant. 4, 5, 2). In Symmachus (1Sa 20:41) for . Hesychius defines . The southwest occurs in Paul’s dangerous voyage (Act 27:12), a haven of Crete, , respicienten ad africum, by metonymy the wind for the quarter whence it blows. The south wind is mentioned Act 27:13, , auster, and 28:13. SEE WIND.
Egypt and Arabia lay south in respect of Canaan, and were therefore frequently mentioned by that designation. But from the Egyptians they may have learned the existence of nations living still farther to the southward, for representations of victories over the negroes, and of negro captives, are not uncommon on the tombs in the valley of the Nile. One which is here copied represents the triumph of one of the Pharaohs over a negro chief, probably designed to be the type of his nation. It is evident that the figure exhibits the usual characteristics of the negro features as strongly as they are found at the present day. SEE ETHIOPIA.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
South
Heb. Negeb, that arid district to the south of Palestine through which lay the caravan route from Central Palestine to Egypt (Gen. 12:9; 13:1, 3; 46:1-6). “The Negeb comprised a considerable but irregularly-shaped tract of country, its main portion stretching from the mountains and lowlands of Judah in the north to the mountains of Azazemeh in the south, and from the Dead Sea and southern Ghoron the east to the Mediterranean on the west.” In Ezek. 20:46 (21:1 in Heb.) three different Hebrew words are all rendered “south.” (1) “Set thy face toward the south” (Teman, the region on the right, 1 Sam. 33:24); (2) “Drop thy word toward the south” (Negeb, the region of dryness, Josh. 15:4); (3) “Prophesy against the forest of the south field” (Darom, the region of brightness, Deut. 33:23). In Job 37:9 the word “south” is literally “chamber,” used here in the sense of treasury (comp. 38:22; Ps. 135:7). This verse is rendered in the Revised Version “out of the chamber of the south.”
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
South
The designation of a large district of Judah; the Negeb. (See JUDAH; PALESTINE.) Palmer (Desert of Exodus) notices how accurately Jer 13:19 has been fulfilled, “the cities of the South shall be shut up, and none shall open them.” Walls of solid masonry remain; fields and gardens surrounded with goodly walls, every sign of human industry, remains of wells, aqueducts, reservoirs; mountain forts to resist forays of the sons of the desert; desolated gardens, terraced hill sides, and wadies dammed to resist the torrent; ancient towns still called by their names, but no living being, except the lizard and screech owl, amidst the crumbling walls. In Jdg 1:16 it is called “the wilderness of Judah South of Arad”; a strip of hilly country, running from the Dead Sea westward across Palestine, obliquely to the S.W. This tract is separated from the hills of Judaea or the mountains of Hebron by the broad plain of Beersheba (wady el Malih, “the valley of Salt”) extending from the Dead Sea westward or S.W. to the land of Gerar.
The cities were 29 (Jos 15:21-32); some of the names are not of distinct cities, but compound names. The land is now at rest, enjoying its Sabbath, because it did not rest in the Jews’ Sabbaths (Lev 26:34-35; Lev 26:43). Besides the application of “the Negeb” to the whole district there are ethnological and geographical subdivisions; the Negeb of the Cherethites, the Negeb of the Kenites, the Negeb of Judah the Negeb of Arad, the Negeb of Jerahmeel. The Negeb of Caleb was a subdivision of, or identical with, the Negeb of Judah, as appears from 1Sa 30:14; 1Sa 30:16; 1Sa 25:2-3; compare with Jos 21:11-12).
The low country N. and W. of Beersheba was the Negeb of the Cherethites. The Negeb of Judah was South of Hebron in the outposts of Judah’s hills; Tel Zif, Main, and Kurmul (Carmel), ruined cities, mark the Negeb of Caleb. Tel Arad marks the Negeb of the Kenites reaching to the S.W. of the Dead Sea. The Negeb of Jerahmeel lay between wady Rukhmeh (corruption of Jerahmeel) in the N., and wadies el Abaydh, Marreh, and Madarah, in the South. The Amalekites (in Num 14:25) dwelt in the valley and yet “in the hill,” for their land was a plateau, the sense of sadeh “country” in Gen 14:7; compare 1Sa 27:8. Some lived in the hills, others in the fertile lower level to which the wadies debouch; so now the Azazimeh.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
South
SOUTH ().
1. The locality indicated.The southern direction was called by the Hebrews Tman (Jer 49:20), that is, the country on the right side to one facing eastwards in Palestine. In the same way their kinsmen and successors, the Moslem Arabs, called the southern part of their empire Yemen, the right hand country, and designated Syria and Palestine to the North as al-Shm, the left region. The queen of Sheba was referred to as the queen of the South (Mat 12:42). In a more limited and special sense the Hebrews gave the name South Country to the wilderness of Judaea and the region lying beyond it (Jos 12:8, Act 8:26).
2. Character of south wind.Passing over an area with little or no vegetation, it was both hot (Luk 12:55) and lacking in vitalizing power. The rarefaction produced by the suns rays on the bare desert gave rise to whirlwinds, which gathered up the dust in tall swaying columns that moved like evil genii over the land until they suddenly broke and dispersed (Job 37:9, Zec 9:14). It was essentially a transition current, being the dry east wind shifting round towards the humid west. It thus partook of the nature of both, and resembled the close steamy air of a palm-house. The allusion in Job 37:17 is either to the lethargy induced by its enervating influence, or to the cool refreshment of the showers that usually follow it.
G. M. Mackie.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
South
SOUTH.See Negeb.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
South
south: (1) , neghebh, according BDB from root , naghabh, meaning to be dry, the word most often used, in the Revised Version (British and American) capitalized (South) in those places where it seems to denote a particular region, i.e. to the South of Judah. (2) , yamn, right hand, right. The derived meaning, south, seems to imply an eastern posture in prayer in which the right hand is toward the South; compare Arabic yamn, right, and yemen, Yemen, a region in Southwestern Arabia. (3) , teman, from the same root as (2) is often used for the south; also for the south wind (Psa 78:26; Son 4:16). (4) , yam, literally, sea (Psa 107:3). (5) , darom, etymology doubtful (Deu 33:23; Eze 40:24). (6) , midhbar, literally, desert (Psa 75:6, reading doubtful).
(7) , lps, south west wind (Act 27:12). (8) , mesembra, literally, mid-day; south (Act 8:26); noon (Act 22:6). (9) , notos, south wind (Luk 12:55; Act 27:13; Act 28:13); south (1 Macc 3:57; Mat 12:42; Luk 11:31; Luk 13:29; Rev 21:13).
The south wind is often referred to: see Son 4:16; Job 37:9 (compare Job 9:9); Zec 9:14 (of Isa 21:1); Luk 12:55.
Of the passages where South (neghebh) clearly refers to a particular region between Palestine and Sinai see: And Abraham journeyed, going on still toward the South (neghbah) (Gen 12:9; Gen 13:1; Deu 1:7). We read of the South of the Jerahmeelites, the South of the Kenites (1Sa 27:10); the South of the Cherethites, the South of Caleb (1Sa 30:14); the South of Judah (2Ch 28:18); Ramoth of the South (1Sa 30:27).
In Psa 126:4, Turn again our captivity, O Yahweh, as the streams in the South, we have a figurative reference to the fact that, after a long period of drought, the dry watercourses are finally filled with rushing streams. The reference in Eze 20:46 f to the forest of the South is to a condition of things very different from that which exists today, though the region is not incapable of supporting trees if they are only planted and protected.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
South
The country, or quarter of the heavens, which the Shemite, standing with his face to the east, supposes to be on his right hand. An important use of the word is as the name or designation of the desert regions lying at the south of Judea, consisting of the deserts of Shur, Zin, and Paran, the mountainous country of Edom or Idumea, and part of Arabia Petraea (Gen 12:9; Gen 13:1). In this region the Amalekites are said to have dwelt, ‘in the land of the south,’ when Moses sent the spies to view the land of Canaan (Num 13:29), viz., the locality between Idumea and Egypt, and to the east of the Dead Sea and Mount Seir [AMALEKITES]. The inhabitants of this region were included in the conquests of Joshua (Jos 10:40). To the same region belongs the passage, ‘Turn our captivity as the streams in the south’ (Psa 126:4); which suddenly fill the wadys or valleys during the season of rain (comp. Eze 6:3; Eze 34:13; Eze 35:8; Eze 36:4; Eze 36:6). These are dry in summer (Job 6:15-18). Through part of this sterile region the Israelites must repass in their vain application to Egypt. It is called the Wilderness of Judea (Mat 3:1; Jos 15:61). Through part of this region lay the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, ‘which is desert’ (Act 8:26).
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
South
In the Bible, as we might expect, the points of the compass are spoken of as they refer to the land of Palestine. The south would therefore indicate the part of the land which contained Judah’s and Simeon’s portions, or to the district still further south, a country little known. Gen 12:9. It is called negeb in the Hebrew. Two other words are yamin and teman, signifying ‘the right hand,’ and are translated ‘south’ because the Israelites considered themselves as looking toward the East when speaking of the points of the compass. 1Sa 23:19; 1Sa 23:24; Psa 89:12; Jos 12:3; Jos 13:4; Psa 78:26; Isa 43:6. Another word is darom, ‘bright, sunny region,’ hence ‘the south.’ Deu 33:23; Job 37:17; Eze 40:24-45. In the N.T., except in Act 8:26 (where the word is , ‘mid-day,’ because the sun is then in the south: as the Latin meridies, ‘mid-day,’ also signifies ‘south’), the word is , ‘the south.’ Mat 12:42; etc.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
South
Psa 126:4 (c) We may take this as a type of the soft, warm and blessed influences of GOD which the heart constantly craves. (See also Son 4:16).