Negev

נגב


Genesis 12:9; 13:1; 20:1; 24:62; Exodus 27:9; Joshua 11:2; Isaiah 21:1, and innumerable other references to the Negev desert, which occupies most of southern Yisra-El.

The word comes from the root Nagav (נגב) = "dry"; like all the directional words, it was a descriptive term (unlike our north, south, east and west) based on local geography. Thus North was Tsaphon (צפון) = "hidden", presumably because this was the one quarter of the heavens in which the sun is never seen. East is Kedem (קדם) = "to precede", because this is where the sun rises; latterly the word Mizrach (מזרח) has replaced it, and for the same reason: Mi Zerach (מי זרח) literally means "from where the sun rises" - and yes, it is the same Zerach as the name of Parets' brother. West is Yam (ים) = "the sea", because the Mediterranean lies on the west of Kena'an (Canaan); latterly the word Ma'arav has replaced it, from Mey Erev (מי ערב) = "from the evening", in other words, where the sun goes down. The southern regions of Kena'an being dry desert, they were called Negev, which today has become a place-name rather than a description, though in the Tanach Negev came to mean south in any sense: thus, for example, in Joshua 11:2, Negev Kinarot (נגב כנרות) means "to the south of the sea of Galilee".

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