Jeshimon

The Hebrew word that other translations render as the proper name Jeshimon is consistently translated "the desert" in UPDV. Two distinct wastelands carry the designation — one east of the Jordan, in the field of Moab, and one in the wilderness of Judah where David hid from Saul. Since UPDV reads the term as a common noun rather than a toponym, the entries below show how the same word marks both regions.

The Desert East of the Jordan

In Israel's approach to Moab, the wilderness east of the Jordan is named twice from elevated vantage points. From Pisgah it is described as the country into which the heights look down: "and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert" (Num 21:20). The same view recurs when Balak brings Balaam to Peor for the third oracle: "And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert" (Num 23:28). The two notices fix the wilderness as the lower country surveyed from the Moabite ridge.

The Desert in the Wilderness of Judah

A separate stretch of wilderness in Judah carries the same designation in the David narrative. While Saul hunts him, David is reported in the Arabah south of the desert: "And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert" (1Sa 23:24). The Ziphites then betray David's hiding-place to Saul in the same terms: "And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?" (1Sa 26:1). The location of the hill of Hachilah "before the desert" places this second wasteland in the Judahite back-country south and east of Ziph.