The wilderness. מִדְבַּר; This was the eastern part of the territory of Judah, bordering on the Dead Sea. Here David took refuge from the pursuit of Saul (Psalms 63:1), here St. John the Baptist prepared the way of Christ.
It is described by Tristram as "a wilderness, but no desert." Herbage is to be found there, but no trees, no signs of the cultivation formerly bestowed upon the hill country (see above, Joshua 15:48).
And the fewness of the cities in early times is a proof that its character has not been altered by time. The hills, says Canon Tristram, are of a "peculiar desolate tameness," and are intersected by the traces of winter watercourses, seaming the sides of the monotonous round-topped hills.
Other writers describe this country in less favourable terms, denying it even the scanty herbage found there by Canon Tristram.