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ἐρημία

erēmía

G2047 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

A state or condition of being uninhabited, emptiness, or desolation; refers primarily to a place characterized by absence of population or cultivation (i.e., wilderness, desert, solitude), and by extension describes loneliness or a solitary state. The primary sense is the quality or state of being a deserted or uninhabited place, but it may also refer metaphorically to spiritual or social desolation.

Semantic Range

desert, wasteland, wilderness, solitude, desolation, state of being uninhabited, spiritual or social emptiness

Root / Etymology

From the adjective ἔρημος (erēmos), meaning 'desolate, deserted, uninhabited.' The suffix -ία forms an abstract noun indicating quality, condition, or state.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, ἐρημία most commonly refers literally to deserted or uninhabited land, such as wilderness or empty fields, distinguished from cultivated or populated places. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, including the Septuagint and New Testament, it frequently denotes the wilderness as a region outside settled or civilized areas—such as the arid regions around Judea or Egypt. The term could invoke imagery of danger, trial, or isolation as experienced in narratives about prophetic figures (e.g., Elijah or John the Baptist). In both the Septuagint and New Testament, ἐρημία maintains this sense of an abandoned or desolate place, but also acquires a metaphorical sense for spiritual barrenness or social isolation (e.g., moral desolation or absence of the divine). English translations as 'desert' or 'wilderness' capture the geographic sense, but may underplay associations with emptiness or solitude inherent in the term. Contrasts with terms for cultivated countryside (ἀγρός) or settled areas (πόλις). Attested from classical writers (Herodotus, Hippocrates) to later Koine authors; more commonly used in literary or formal registers than in everyday vocabulary.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from ἔρημος; solitude (concretely):--desert, wilderness.

Root Family

ἐρημία (erēmia) — desolation, wilderness, uninhabited state, solitude, emptiness

Root ἐρημ- to be deserted, to be uninhabited, to be empty

Word Forms

3 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G2047-01 ἐρημίᾳ eremia N DAT F SG the wilderness in desolation in desolation 2
G2047-02 ἐρημίαις eremiais N DAT F PL deserts in desolate places desolate places 1
G2047-03 ἐρημίας eremias N GEN F SG the wilderness of desolation desolation 1

Occurrences in Scripture

4 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G2047-01 Matthew 15:33 ἐρημίᾳ eremia N DAT F SG wilderness in desolation wilderness
G2047-03 Mark 8:4 ἐρημίας eremias N GEN F SG the wilderness of desolation desolation
G2047-01 2 Corinthians 11:26 ἐρημίᾳ eremia N DAT F SG the wilderness in desolation in desolation
G2047-02 Hebrews 11:38 ἐρημίαις eremiais N DAT F PL deserts in desolate places desolate places
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