Greek word · G2047

ἐρημία

erēmia

desert

An uninhabited, deserted or lonely place, empty country away from settlements. It is related to erēmos, 'deserted, desolate'.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 07, 2026

What it means

ἐρημία, -ας, ἡ

(ἔρημος), [in LXX: Isaiah 60:20, Ezekiel 35:4 (חָרַב, חׇרְבָּה), Ezekiel 35:9 (שְׁמָמָה), Wisdom of Solomon 17:17, Sirach 47:17, Baruch 4:33, 4Ma.18:8 * ;]

a solitude, wilderness: Matthew 15:33, Mark 8:4, 2 Corinthians 11:26, Hebrews 11:38.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: An uninhabited, deserted or lonely place, empty country away from settlements. It is related to erēmos, 'deserted, desolate'.
Against the English: KJV/WEB/ESV/NASB 'wilderness' is fine. BSB/NIV 'the country' captures the city-versus-countryside contrast but loses the emptiness and isolation. 'Desert' (some versions) may make readers picture sand dunes.
Used elsewhere in the period: Matthew 15:33 / Mark 8:4 (where can bread be found 'in a deserted place'); Hebrews 11:38 (the faithful 'wandering in deserts and mountains'). In common Greek it is any land without people.

Range of meaning: Solitude, an uninhabited or abandoned region, wilderness. The related adjective ἔρημος ("deserted, desolate") is the usual word for "wilderness" in the Gospels. Ἐρημία stresses the absence of people.
Against the English: "Deserts" (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) makes modern readers picture sand seas. The word means land without settlements: the rocky, broken Judean wilderness, steppe and badlands, where people went to hide.
How it drifted: "Desert" in older English meant "a deserted place". Modern English uses it almost only for an arid, sandy landscape.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the NT it appears in Matt 15:33 and Mark 8:4 (the disciples ask where bread can be found "in a deserted place") and 2 Cor 11:26. The Maccabean refugees went "down into the wilderness" to hide (1 Macc 2:29) and fled to the mountains (1 Macc 2:28).

Range of meaning: A lonely, uninhabited or uncultivated place, or solitude. It is close to erēmos ("desert, wilderness"), the usual Greek Old Testament word for Israel's wilderness. It describes a place with no people or settlement, not a particular kind of landscape.
Against the English: BSB "desolate place", WEB "deserted place", KJV/YLT "wilderness". Modern readers may picture a sandy desert, or (with "wilderness") forest and untouched nature. The point is that nobody lives there, so there is no village and no food for sale.
How it drifted: English "desert" now usually means an arid, sandy region. "Wilderness" has come to suggest scenery or nature reserves. In older English "desert" meant simply a "deserted" place, which is closer to the Greek.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Koine Greek it is used for isolated places (e.g. 2 Cor 11:26 "dangers in the wilderness"; Heb 11:38). Mark's parallel uses it too (Mark 8:4 ep' erēmias). Josephus uses related words for the empty land of the Exodus wandering.

Matthew · 1

Matthew 15:33 ἐρημίᾳ a secluded place

The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

Here: Land with no people, no village and no market. It does not have to mean sand dunes. The word also calls to mind Israel's wilderness years, when God fed the people with manna.

Mark · 1

Mark 8:4 ἐρημίας; this desolate place?

His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”

2 Corinthians · 1

2 Corinthians 11:26 ἐρημίᾳ, [the] wilderness,

In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,

Here: Not necessarily sandy desert. It means any unpopulated stretch: mountain passes and empty roads between towns, where no one would help and bandits, cold and hunger were real.

Hebrews · 1

Hebrews 11:38 ἐρημίαις deserts

The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

Here: This means places with no people in them: rocky wilderness and steppe, the opposite of a town. It does not have to mean sand dunes. The plural suggests one lonely place after another.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.