The Negev is triangular in shape. It stretches southward from the mountains and lowlands of Judah, where the rolling hills terminate abruptly along the desert. The Dead Sea is located to the east, the Mediterranean Sea is to the west. The Sinai is to the southwest, the resort town of Eilat is at its southern peak, and Beersheba as its northern base.

The origin of the word Negev is from the Hebrew root meaning "dry." In the Bible the word Negev is also used for the direction "south." Both names are quite appropriate because it is the southernmost area of Israel, and it is most definitely one of the most arid of biblical places.

To clarify further, the Negev has an arid and semi-arid climate, and can be oppressively hot. This parched land receives little rain due to its location to the east of the Sahara. Its extreme temperatures are due to its location being 31 degrees north. This flat sandy desert region narrows toward the south, where it becomes increasingly arid and breaks into sandstone hills. It is a mixture of dirt, rocks, and canyons, with brown dusty mountains interrupted by dry riverbeds that bloom briefly after rain. It is a pastoral land, where grazing is plentiful in the early months, and where camels and goats can sustain life. However, the general dryness has made it a more or less isolated region.

Five different ecological regions fall within the area of the Negev. The Northern Negev is called the "Mediterranean Zone", with fairly fertile soils and 12 inches of rain annually. Next, the Western Negev consists of light sandy soils, and sand dunes that can reach up to 90 feet. It gets 10 inches of rain each year. The Central Negev, which is home to the city of Beersheba, is characterized by impervious soil that allows little water penetration, but more soil erosion and water runoff. Its annual precipitation is only 8 inches. The high plateau area has poor quality and salty soils. It has extreme temperatures in summer and winter, with only 4 inches of rain per year. Lastly, the Arava Valley is very arid with barely 2 inches of rain annually. It has inferior soil which can grow little without irrigation and special soil additives.

The Negev is mentioned in the Bible from the time of Abraham to the time of Samuel, from 1812 B.C. to 1105 B.C. As Christians, it is important to know the stories in the Bible are factual, with real people and actual places. Abraham was the first of the Biblical giants who found their way in the bleakness of the Negev and Sinai to an increased understanding of God. The Deserts of the Sinai Peninsula and the Southern Negev is where the Israelites wandered for forty years, and where their nationhood was forged in isolation. It was first under Solomon's rule that the Negev took its proper place in the make-up of the rapidly growing state. David's victories had made this possible. It had become evident that the Kingdom of Israel could not long endure, let alone thrive, without the Negev. It was vital to its defense and indispensable to its economy.

The Bible makes considerable mention of Negev. An early caravan route from Israel to Egypt went through the Negev, and it was the scene of much of Abram's wanderings.
--In Genesis 12:9, Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
--Genesis 13:1 says, Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him.
--In Genesis 13:3, from the Negev he went from place to place until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier.
--Genesis 20:1 states, how Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kedesh and Shur. It was in this district that Hagar met with the angel (Genesis 16:7,14).
--In Genesis 24:62, Issac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.
--Numbers 13:21,22 says, that Moses sent the twelve spies to explore Canaan through this district to the hill country.
--Most notably, the Israelites wandered in the Negev during the Wilderness Journey after the Exodus (Numbers 14:44-45).
--At the time of the Exodus, the Amalekites roamed the southern part of the Negev, (Numbers 13:29), while the Canaanites of Arad held strongly to the north. Attempts by the Israelites to pass through the Negev on the direct direct route to Canaan ended in failure. The tribulations of the Hebrews in the desert were to continue for forty years. Henceforth, the desert would become their burial site, (Numbers 14:26-32).
--The inheritance of the children of Simeon, as given in Joshua 19:1-9, was in the Negev, but in Joshua 15:21-32 these cities are credited to Judah.
--The Exploits of David were against various parts of the Negev of Judah, the Negev of the Jerahmeelites, and the Negev of the Kenites (1 Samuel 27:10).
--When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, the Edomites sided with the Babylonians (Lamentations 4:21, Ezekiel 35:3-15, Obadiah 1:10-16) and during the absence of the Jews they advanced north and occupied all the Negev and Southern Judea as far as Hebron.

These are but a few of the references to the Negev, proving its Biblical significance. God walked abroad in it, and divine purpose was revealed there in a time long past.

Bibliography
* Evenari, Michael. The Negev: The Challenge of the Desert. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1982.
* Glueck, Nelson. Rivers of the Desert: A History of the Negev. Toronto: Ambassador Books, 1959.
* Hillel, Daniel. The Natural History of the Bible. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
* "Israel's Negev Desert." The Negev Foundation. 16 October 2007 .
* "Negeb." Bible History Online. 16 October 2007 .
* "Negev." Wikipedia. 16 October 2007 .
* "Negev in Bible Versions." Next Bible. 14 October 2007 .
* "Negev in the New International Version Bible." NIV. 14 October 2007 .
* "Negev or Negeb." Britannica Online. 14 October 2007 .

The Bible Sites in Israel series

Beersheba
Cana
Nazareth
Bethlehem
Hebron
Jericho
Masada
Carmel
Nain
Negev