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Bible Encyclopedias
Dearth
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (usually רָעָב, hunger; λιμός, famine; as both are elsewhere rendered; but in Jeremiah 14:1, בִּצֹּרֶת, batstso'reth, restraint, sc. of rain, drought, as in Jeremiah 17:8), a scarcity of provisions. Although Palestine is a very fruitful land, yet a famine naturally followed a lack of crops, especially when the rain failed (1 Kings 17; Josephus, Ant. 15:9, 1), or the country was visited, among the not infrequent land-plagues (2 Samuel 24:13; Psalms 33:19; Ezekiel 36:29; Jeremiah 14:13; Jeremiah 14:15), with swarms of locusts (q.v.); and we read of dearths in the historical narratives not only in the patriarchal period (Genesis 12:10; Genesis 47:4; Genesis 47:13), and the era of the judges (Ruth 1:1), when the soil was not regularly farmed, but also in the time of the kings (2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 18:2; 2 Kings 4:38; Jeremiah 14:1), and, indeed, the destitution sometimes continued more than one year together (2 Samuel 21:1). In such cases the inhabitants availed themselves of supplies from the neighboring Egypt (Genesis 12:10; Genesis 42:1 sq.; Genesis 43:1 sq.; Josephus, Ant. 15:9, 2; 20:2, 6; 5, 2), although this region likewise suffered in like manner whenever the Nile failed to reach its usual overflow (Genesis 41, 43). Under the Roman rule an extensive famine prevailed (Acts 11:12) in the time of the emperor Claudius (q.v.), which occurred during several years in different provinces of the empire, and reached Palestine at the end of the fourth year of his reign (Joseph. Ant. 20:2, 6; comp. 3, 15, 3). (See AGABUS). Josephus mentions an earlier famine (Ant. 15:9, 1), that took place in the thirteenth year of Herod the Great, which resulted from drought, and was followed by pestilence. (See FAMINE).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Dearth'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/d/dearth.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
