South: Heb. Negeb, that arid district to the south of Israel through
which lay the caravan route from Central Israel to Egypt
(Gen. 12:9; 13:1, 3; 46:1-6). "The Negeb comprised a
considerable but irregularly-shaped tract of country, its main
portion stretching from the mountains and lowlands of Judah in
the north to the mountains of Azazemeh in the south, and from
the Dead Sea and southern Ghoron the east to the Mediterranean
on the west." In Ezek. 20:46 (21:1 in Heb.) three different
Hebrew words are all rendered "south." (1) "Set thy face toward
the south" (Teman, the region on the right, 1 Sam. 33:24); (2)
"Drop thy word toward the south" (Negeb, the region of dryness,
Josh. 15:4); (3) "Prophesy against the forest of the south
field" (Darom, the region of brightness, Deut. 33:23). In Job
37:9 the word "south" is literally "chamber," used here in the
sense of treasury (compare 38:22; Ps. 135:7). This verse is
rendered in the Revised Version "out of the chamber of the
south."