Places in the Bible · Region

Negeb

Negeb is a region mentioned in 43 verses. Its most likely location is Negeb.

panorama of hills in the Negeb
panorama of hills in the Negeb · Photo: ליאור גולגר (CC-BY-2.5), via Wikimedia Commons

Where is Negeb?

Approx. 31.2447, 34.8408 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

IdentificationTypeConfidence
NegebregionHigh

Negeb in the Bible dictionary

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.”

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Negeb

  • Genesis 12:9

    And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

  • Genesis 13:1

    And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

  • Genesis 13:3

    And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth–el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth–el and Hai;

  • Genesis 20:1

    And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

  • Genesis 24:62

    And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai–roi; for he dwelt in the south country.

  • Genesis 25:11

    And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai–roi.

  • Numbers 13:17

    And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

  • Numbers 13:22

    And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

  • Numbers 13:29

    The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

  • Numbers 21:1

    And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

All 43 references

Events at Negeb