Hebrew word · H6707
צְחִיחָה
tzechichah
parched
'A parched, scorched or bare land.' It comes from a root meaning 'to be glaring, dazzling, dry'. Related forms: tsachiach, 'bare rock' (Ezek 24:7–8; 26:4) or 'exposed places' (Neh 4:13), and tsachtsachot, 'scorched places' (Isa 58:11).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
scorched land, parched, scorched
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
'A parched, scorched or bare land.' It comes from a root meaning 'to be glaring, dazzling, dry'. Related forms: tsachiach, 'bare rock' (Ezek 24:7–8; 26:4) or 'exposed places' (Neh 4:13), and tsachtsachot, 'scorched places' (Isa 58:11).
- Against the English
KJV 'dry [land]'; BSB, WEB, NIV and NLT 'sun-scorched land'; ESV and NASB 'parched land'. All are accurate.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint renders the phrase en taphois ('in tombs') and the Vulgate in sepulcris. This may reflect a reading of 'bare, rocky places' as burial caves.
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 68:6 צְחִיחָֽה׃ a parched land
God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
Here: A bare, glaring, sun-baked place where nothing grows. It is the opposite of a home and of prosperity, and it points ahead to the wilderness march in v.7.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.