H6723 H6723
Dryness, drought: the parched quality of arid land; a dry wilderness region; a prolonged period of water scarcity.
The Hebrew noun tsiyyah evokes the scorching desolation of the desert, appearing sixteen times in prophetic poetry and wisdom literature where parched land serves as both literal geography and potent metaphor. Isaiah's servant grows up 'like a root out of dry ground' (Isa 53:2) — tsiyyah here painting the spiritual barrenness from which the Messiah unexpectedly emerges. The prophets pair tsiyyah relentlessly with midbar (wilderness), aravah (desert plain), and shemamah (desolation) to build cumulative images of judgment and exile: Babylon will become 'a dry land and a wilderness' (Jer 51:43). Yet the word also carries seeds of hope — God promises to 'turn the dry land into springs of water' (Isa 41:18; Ps 107:35). Spanish sequedad and French sécheresse capture the abstract dryness, while German Dürre leans toward the temporal drought sense, revealing how the three dimensions of this word — quality, place, and event — resist neat separation.
Senses
1. dryness, aridity — Dryness or aridity as an abstract quality — the parched, waterless condition of land, used adjectivally or as an abstract noun. Ten occurrences describe landscapes characterized by desiccation: 'a dry and weary land where there is no water' (Ps 63:1), God transforming desert into pools and 'dry land into springs' (Ps 107:35; Isa 41:18), and the servant of the LORD growing up 'like a root out of dry ground' (Isa 53:2). Spanish sequedad, French sécheresse, and German Dürre all render the abstract state. Jeremiah 2:6 pairs tsiyyah with 'land of deep darkness' in recalling Israel's wilderness wandering, making dryness a metaphor for spiritual desolation. 10×
AR["القَاحِلَةَ", "جَافَّةٍ", "قاحِلَةٍ", "قَاحِلَةٍ", "يابِسَةً", "يَابِسَةً", "يَابِسَةٍ"]·ben["খরার", "শুকনো", "শুকনোর", "শুষ্ক", "শুষ্কতার", "শুষ্কের"]·DE["Duerre", "[ציה]", "dryness", "parched"]·EN["drought", "dry", "dryness", "land", "of-drought", "parched"]·FR["aridité", "sécheresse"]·heb["ציה", "צייה"]·HI["सूखा", "सूखी", "सूखे-की"]·ID["kekeringan", "kering", "yang-kering"]·IT["[ציה]", "siccita", "siccita'"]·jav["garing", "gersang", "ingkang-garing", "nggaring"]·KO["건조한", "마른", "메마른", "황무지"]·PT["aridez", "seca", "secura", "sequidão", "árida"]·RU["засушливой", "засушливую", "сухая", "сухой", "сухую"]·ES["seca", "sequedad", "sequía"]·SW["kame", "kavu", "mkavu", "ukame"]·TR["kurak", "kuraklık"]·urd["خشک", "خشکی", "خُشک", "سوکھی"]
2. dry land, arid place — A dry land, arid place, or wilderness region — the concrete geographical referent where tsiyyah names an actual locale rather than a quality. Five occurrences point to specific barren territories: the wasteland where outcasts scrape a living (Job 30:3), the wilderness through which God brought water from rock (Ps 78:17; 105:41), the desert that 'shall be glad' at God's coming redemption (Isa 35:1), and Babylon's fate as 'a dry land' (Jer 50:12). Spanish lo árido and French dans la sécheresse shift toward spatial reference. The distinction from sense 1 is that here one could point to the tsiyyah on a map — it is a place, not merely a condition. 5×
AR["القَفرَ", "في-القِفار", "فِي-الْقَفْرِ", "قَاحِلَةٌ", "وَ-أَرْضٌ-قَاحِلَةٌ"]·ben["ও-শুষ্ক-জায়গা", "মরু-স্থানে", "মরুভূমিতে", "শুষ্ক-ভূমি", "শুষ্কতা"]·DE["Duerre", "[ציה]", "in-der-trocknen-Land", "in-der-trocknen-stellt", "und-Duerre"]·EN["a-dry-land", "dry-land", "in-the-dry-land", "in-the-dry-places", "wilderness"]·FR["aridité", "dans-sécheresse", "et-aridité", "sécheresse"]·heb["ב-ציה", "ב-ציות", "ו-צייה", "ציה", "צייה"]·HI["और-सूखी-भूमि", "सूखा", "सूखे-स्थान-को", "सूखे-स्थान-में", "सूखे-स्थानों-में"]·ID["dan-tanah-kering", "di-tempat-kering", "tanah kering", "tanah-kering"]·IT["dry-land", "e-siccita", "siccita", "siccita'"]·jav["ara-ara-samun", "garing", "ing-ara-ara-samun-garing", "tanah-garing", "wonten-ing-ara-ara-samun"]·KO["그리고-마른-땅이", "마른-곳들-에서", "마른-땅-에서", "마른-땅으로", "메마른-땅을"]·PT["aridez", "e-terra-árida", "no-deserto", "pelos-lugares-secos", "terra-seca"]·RU["в-пустыне", "засуха", "засушливую-землю", "и-засуха", "по-засушливым-местам"]·ES["en-sequedad", "en-sequedades", "lo-árido", "sequedad", "y-la-tierra-seca"]·SW["jangwani", "katika-jangwa", "na-nchi-kame", "nchi-kavu"]·TR["kurak", "kurak-yeri", "kuraklıklarda", "ve-kurak-toprak", "çölde"]·urd["اور-خشک-زمین", "بِ-بیابان", "خشک زمین", "خشک-زمین", "صحراؤں-میں"]
3. drought — Drought as a temporal climatic event — a prolonged period of severe water scarcity rather than the quality of the land or its location. A single occurrence in Job 24:19 pairs tsiyyah with heat (hom) in describing how 'drought and heat snatch away the snow waters,' the seasonal cycle of scarcity that afflicts the poor. Spanish sequía and French sécheresse here carry the temporal sense of a drought season. The pairing with heat as a parallel natural force distinguishes this from the adjectival or geographical senses — tsiyyah here names something that happens in time, not something that simply exists as a landscape feature. 1×
AR["جَفَافٌ"]·ben["খরা"]·DE["[ציה]"]·EN["drought"]·FR["sécheresse"]·heb["צייה"]·HI["सूखा"]·ID["kekeringan"]·IT["drought"]·jav["kering"]·KO["가뭄과"]·PT["Secura"]·RU["засуха"]·ES["Sequía"]·SW["Ukame"]·TR["kuraklık"]·urd["خشکی"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)H6965b 4. Hifil: to establish, confirm (covenant/kingdom/word) (40×)H1197a 1. burn, be on fire (39×)H4306 1. rain, showers (38×)H1653 1. rain, precipitation (34×)G4655 1. darkness (30×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† צִיָּה n.f. dryness, drought;—abs. צ׳ Ho 2:5 +; pl. צִיּוֹת ψ 105:41;—drought Jb 24:19 (‖ חֹם); elsewhere of land (often ‖ מִדְבָּר, עֲרָבָה, etc.): אֶרֶץ צ׳ land of drought, desert Ho 2:5 (sim.), Je 2:6; 50:12 (fig.), 51:43; Is 41:18; 53:2 (in sim.), ψ 107:35; + צָמָא Ez 19:13 (fig.), + שְׁמָמָה Jo 2:20, + עָיֵף ψ 63:2 (fig.); צ׳ = desert Is 35:1; Zp 2:13; Jb 30:3 ψ 78:17; pl. 105:41.