Hebrew word · H6774

צִמָּאוֹן

vetzima'on

parched

"Thirsty ground, parched land," a noun built from ṣāmāʾ, "to be thirsty." Rare: also Isa 35:7 ("the thirsty ground shall become springs of water") and Ps 107:33.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

thirsty ground

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

From the study of Deuteronomy 8:15

Range of meaning

"Thirsty ground, parched land," a noun built from ṣāmāʾ, "to be thirsty." Rare: also Isa 35:7 ("the thirsty ground shall become springs of water") and Ps 107:33.

Against the English

KJV "drought" suggests a dry season (a weather event). The Hebrew describes a kind of terrain that is always dry. WEB/ESV/NASB "thirsty ground" is closest. BSB "a thirsty and waterless land" is good.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 35:7 reverses the same word: thirsty ground becomes pools and springs, a picture of God's renewal. The Vulgate here reads dipsas, a Latin and Greek name for a snake whose bite was thought to cause raging thirst. Jerome apparently read the word as a fourth creature in the list.

Similar words

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 8:15 וְצִמָּא֖וֹן and thirsty ground

    He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.

    Here: From the word for "thirst": "thirstland," ground that is itself thirsty. It is the last and worst danger in the list, because thirst kills more surely than snakes.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 107:33 לְצִמָּאֽוֹן׃ into thirsty ground

    He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground,

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 35:7 וְצִמָּא֖וֹן and thirsty ground

    The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.

    Here: Land that is literally "thirsty." The word comes from the verb "to thirst," so the ground is pictured like a person or animal dying for a drink. Deut 8:15 uses the same word for the wilderness of Israel's wanderings.

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