עֲרָבָה

From the study of Isaiah 40:3

Range of meaning

Dry steppe or desert plain. As a proper name it is the Arabah, the arid rift valley running from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Against the English

"Desert" is accurate. "Plain" can sound fertile, which this land is not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Often paired with midbar as a poetic synonym (Isa 35:1, 6; 41:19; 51:3; Jer 2:6).

From the study of Isaiah 35:6

Range of meaning

Dry steppe or desert plain. As a name, the Arabah is the great rift valley running down through the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Against the English

"Desert" (all major versions) is fair. It hides that Hebrew ears may also have heard a real place name: the Arabah, the deep, scorching valley next to the Dead Sea.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 35:1: "the Arabah will rejoice and blossom like the crocus." Isa 40:3: "make straight in the Arabah a highway for our God." Isa 41:19: God plants trees "in the Arabah." Deut 1:1, 2:8: the Arabah on Israel's route.

From the study of Joshua 3:16

Range of meaning

Dry steppe or desert plain. As a proper name, the Arabah is the great rift valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea, extending south to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Against the English

KJV 'the sea of the plain' suggests flat, green farmland. NIV and NLT replace the name with 'Dead Sea', which is clear but anachronistic: that name is post-biblical.

How it drifted

The English 'plain' brings in a temperate landscape. The Arabah is among the hottest and driest places in the region, lying far below sea level.

Used elsewhere in the period

'Sea of the Arabah' appears in Deut 3:17, 4:49, Josh 12:3 and 2 Kgs 14:25. 'Salt Sea' appears in Gen 14:3 and Num 34:3. The name 'Dead Sea' is attested only from Greek and Latin writers of the Roman period onward.