UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: desert, wilderness, lonely place

Semantic entry: 1.86

Semantic domains: Geographical Objects and Features

Subdomains: Areas Which Are Uninhabited or Only Sparsely Populated

Definition: a largely uninhabited region, normally with sparse vegetation (in contrast with πόλις[a] ‘a population center,’ 1.88: πόλις)

Notes: The phrase ἄνυδρος τόπος (RV MAT 12:43 · LV MAT 12:43 · Read together MAT 12:43, RV LUK 11:24 · LV LUK 11:24 · Read together LUK 11:24), literally ‘waterless place,’ is a set phrase equivalent to ἐρημία and may be translated as ‘wilderness’ or ‘uninhabited country.’|Throughout the NT ἐρημία and ἔρημος [source selector 000001][b] focus primarily upon the lack of population rather than upon sparse vegetation, though the two features are closely related ecologically in the Middle East.|In most languages the most satisfactory equivalent of ἐρημία and ἔρημος [source selector 000001][b] is a word or phrase suggesting a place where few if any people live. Such expressions are generally far better than a word meaning ‘a bare place’ or ‘a place of sand,’ since in some languages such expressions could mean only a clearing in the forest or a sandy beach along a river bank. In the case of translations being made for people living in jungle areas, it may, however, be necessary to describe in a footnote the nature of an ἐρημία in NT times.