Greek word · G504

ἄνυδρος

anydros

waterless

Waterless, dry. Used of land (desert, wilderness), of springs that have run dry, and of clouds that bring no rain. In Palestine, 'waterless places' means the uninhabited wilderness: no settlements, no people, no life.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

ἄνυδρος, -ον

(ἀ- neg., ὕδωρ) [in LXX for צִיָּה, יְשִׁימוֹן (γῆ ἄ), etc. ;]

waterless: τόποι, Matthew 12:43, Luke 11:24; πηγαί, 2 Peter 2:17; νεφέλαι, Jude 1:12 (MM, VGT, see word).†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of Matthew 12:43

Range of meaning: Waterless, dry. Used of land (desert, wilderness), of springs that have run dry, and of clouds that bring no rain. In Palestine, 'waterless places' means the uninhabited wilderness: no settlements, no people, no life.
Against the English: 'Waterless places' (WEB, and ESV/NASB as best recalled) is literal. BSB/NIV 'arid places' and KJV 'dry places' are also accurate. NLT's 'the desert' gives the right picture. The risk is not in the translations but in readers taking 'dry' in the modern devotional sense of 'spiritually dry'.
How it drifted: In church language 'dry' has come to mean a dull or unspiritual condition ('a dry season', 'dry Christians'). That meaning gets read into KJV's 'dry places', though the Greek points to literal desert.
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX Psalm 62:2 (English 63:1): 'in a desert land, trackless and waterless'. In the Greek Old Testament, ruined cities left to the desert become places where 'demons' (daimonia) dance or meet (Isaiah 13:21; 34:14). In Tobit 8:3 the demon Asmodeus flees to 'the remotest parts of Egypt' and is bound there. In 1 Enoch 10:4–5 the rebel angel Azazel is bound in the desert. Baruch 4:35 and Revelation 18:2 picture ruined Babylon as a home for demons and 'every unclean spirit'. Compare 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 12 ('waterless springs/clouds').

From the study of Luke 11:24

Range of meaning: Waterless, dry, arid. Used of desert land, dry wells and clouds that give no rain.
Against the English: 'Dry places' (KJV, WEB) and 'arid places' (BSB) are accurate. 'Waterless' (YLT and others) stays closest to the Greek. The NLT's 'desert' turns it into a single place and loses the plural, roaming sense.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint: Psalm 62:2 (63:1 in English Bibles) 'in a desert land, trackless and waterless'. Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14 in the Septuagint put δαιμόνια (demons) among the ruins of the wilderness. Tobit 8:3 has the demon Asmodeus flee 'to the remotest parts of Egypt' and be bound there. 1 Enoch 10:4–5 binds Azazel in the desert. Leviticus 16 sends the scapegoat 'to Azazel' in the wilderness. In Luke 8:29 the demon drives the Gerasene man 'into the deserts'. Elsewhere in the NT see 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 12.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

Matthew 12:43 ἀνύδρων waterless

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

Here: Literally 'without water': desert and wilderness, where no one lives. Jewish tradition treated these places as the natural haunt of demons (Isaiah 13:21; 34:14 in the Greek Old Testament).

Luke · 1

Luke 11:24 ἀνύδρων waterless

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’

Here: Without water: desert and wilderness. In Jewish tradition this was where demons and desolate things lived.

2 Peter · 1

2 Peter 2:17 ἄνυδροι without water

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

Here: The one thing a spring exists to give is missing. The traveller who came to drink finds nothing.

Jude · 1

Jude 1:12 ἄνυδροι, without water,

These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

Here: They hold no water: the promise of rain is empty. It recalls Proverbs 25:14, the man who boasts of a gift he never gives.

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