nature
dry
At a glance
In short
Charev is dried only in part: the surface has dried, but moisture remains underneath. Yavesh is dry outright, drained through and through. This is the distinction the Vilna Gaon and Malbim draw, and Malbim adds that wherever the two stand together, charev comes first and yavesh second. Rabbi Klein cautions, though, that Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi equates chareivah with yavesh, which leaves open the possibility that the two are synonyms. Negev is arid or parched, and it can carry only the partial dryness of charev, never the total dryness of yavesh (Rabbi Yaakov Zev Lev). In Tanach it nearly always means "south." Rabbi Yehuda Leib Shapira-Frankfurter holds that in Hebrew it means only "south," dryness being its sense in Aramaic alone, while Rabbi Klein finds it most plausible that its core meaning is "dry."
Distinctions
Charev (חרב), chareivah / charavah (חרבה)
The root ח-ר-ב appears over 500 times in Tanach and carries several senses, among them "sword," "destruction, desolation," and "dry."
- The Vilna Gaon (to Yeshayahu 8:23): chorev means most of the liquid has gone but some is left; yavesh means totally dry. His raya is the drying of the world after the Mabul, where the two words mark two stages: charvu hamayim and charvu penei ha'adamah on the first of the first month, then yavshah ha'aretz on the twenty-seventh of the second (Bereishis 8:13-14). The reading can already be gleaned from Rashi there: at charvu the ground was "like mud whose upper surface crusted over," at yavshah it was dry land as it ought to be.
- Sefer HaChochmah (ascribed to Rabbi Elazar Rokeach of Worms) writes that in general yabashah is a place truly dry, while chareivah is a muddy place still dripping with moisture.
The Malbim offers a similar explanation and adds the ordering proof: in every pasuk where the two appear side by side, charev precedes yavesh (Yeshayahu 19:5, Iyov 14:11), which to him implies that yavesh is the more intense.
- Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer applies it to a halachic difficulty: the Torah distinguishes a minchah mixed with oil from one that is chareivah (Vayikra 7:10), yet no minchah is bone dry. On this reading chareivah means only "oil-free," drier than its neighbor but not absolutely dry, and the Torah's choice of chareivah over yeveishah says exactly that.
- Against this, Rabbi Klein enters a caution of his own: Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi's lexicon of rabbinic Hebrew equates chareivah in Mishlei 17:1 with yavesh, which leaves open the possibility that the two terms are indeed synonymous.
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim gives two accounts.
- In Cheshek Shlomo and in one place in Yerios Shlomo he takes the difference as quantitative, as above.
- Elsewhere in Yerios Shlomo he makes it qualitative, keyed to the two kinds of moisture he distinguishes under ratuv and lach: chorev is dryness on the outside, yavesh is an interior empty of liquid, and in either case it does not matter whether the thing was ever wet before. A marsh can be called charavah, its surface firm enough to walk on, and can never be called yavesh, its inside still saturated. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, commenting on Shemos 14:21-22, where the sea is first made charavah by the east wind and Bnei Yisrael then come into it bayabashah, quotes Pappenheim's second explanation and adds nothing of his own. The reading that the seabed dried in stages, firm on the surface first and only afterward dry within, is Rabbi Klein's inference about what Mecklenburg intends, not something Mecklenburg says.
- On the root: Shoresh Yesha takes ח-ר-ב at core as destruction, the opposite of living and thriving, which yields both cherev (the instrument of destruction) and dryness (what withers for lack of juice); Pappenheim says something similar.
- Elsewhere Pappenheim explains churban as what is not inherently damaged but is called destroyed because it is disconnected from an outside element it needs in order to flourish; by the same token an especially dry and arid land is called a charbah because its infertility is not due to a problem in the land itself but to its inability to receive outside water, as where rainfall is a rarity.
- Rabbi Avraham Maimuni (to Bereishis 31:40) seems to read chorev as dryness caused by heat, and Radak in Sefer HaShorashim holds that heat is the core of ח-ר-ה and anger the result.
- Rabbi Klein offers two speculations of his own, both flagged as such. First, on that footing, that ח-ר-ב may somehow be an offshoot of ח-ר-(ה), the "destruction" sense alluding to the eventual consequence of uncontrolled anger and the "sword" being the tool of that destruction; he names the downside himself, that most grammarians and lexicographers agree a beis cannot serve as a radical added to a biliteral root. Second, that ח-ר-ב may be a portmanteau of ח-ר, hole, as in chor, and ר-ב, many, as in rav, harbeh, rabbim: as a thing dries it has less moisture holding it together and may develop many holes or cracks, and a thing full of holes is that much more open to destruction, whence also "destruction" and "sword."
Avos d'Rabbi Nasan (version 1, ch. 37) counts charavah and yabashah among seven words for the earth, and version 2 explains that the land is called charavah and yabashah, synonyms for dry land, because of its role in absorbing the water of the Mabul after the flood ended (or, according to Midrash Mishlei, in absorbing Hevel's blood after he was buried).
Yavesh (יבש), yabashah (יבשה)
Pappenheim: the root is ב-ש, delay or withholding, as in boshesh Moshe laredes (Shemos 32:1), Moshe's return withheld from the people, and as in bushah, where a man withholds his face from the public. Yavesh is accordingly the withholding of the flourishing a thing should have shown; in plants that often comes of dryness, and from there the word covers anything drained of its life-giving liquid. Case in point: Yeravam's hand at the mizbeach in Beis El, vativash yado (Melachim I 13:4), shriveling rather than literally drying.
Rabbi Aharon Marcus writes that the core meaning of ב-ש is finishing or completing a project, and claims that this original sense is still known to us through Akkadian. It shows, he says, in two Hebrew roots: י-ב-ש, dryness, which seemingly denotes the end or completion of the drying process, and ב-ש-ל, giving bishul as cooking and bishul as ripening (Bereishis 40:10), the completion of preparing food. He also supposes that the shin of ב-ש stands for aish, fire, alluding to the part heat plays in cooking, ripening and drying alike. His completion sense dovetails with the Vilna Gaon and Malbim on yavesh as completely dry.
Negev (נגב)
Of its 110 appearances in Tanach nearly all mean "south"; only a few can mean "dry" (Yehoshua 15:19, Shoftim 1:15, Yeshayahu 21:1, Tehillim 126:4). In Mishnaic Hebrew, however, its cognates are the ordinary verb for drying something off (Chagigah 3:1, Avodah Zarah 2:11 and 5:11, Menachos 3:3 and 8:4, Keilim 25:6, Taharos 2:1, Machshirin 3:5, Mikvaos 10:4, Tvul Yom 3:6, Parah 5:2, and elsewhere).
Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (Meturgeman) observes an asymmetry in Targum: it may leave charev as charev (Yeshayahu 19:5) and yavesh as yavesh (Bereishis 8:14, Shemos 14:22, Yeshayahu 19:5, Iyov 14:11, Tehillim 102:12), and it may render charev as negev (Bereishis 8:13, Tehillim 106:9, Iyov 14:11) or as yavesh (Bereishis 7:22, Shemos 14:21), but it never renders yavesh as negev. Rabbi Yaakov Zev Lev (Me'at Tzari to Bereishis 8:13) offers a partial resolution: negev cannot carry the total dryness of yavesh, only the partial dryness of charev.
- Why negev is also "south": Rabbi Yehuda Leib Shapira-Frankfurter holds that in Hebrew it means only "south" and that the region called the Negev (Bereishis 12:9) is named for the direction, dryness being an Aramaic sense alone; he says this explicitly, probably basing himself on Ibn Ezra there.
- Rabbi Klein calls it most plausible that the core meaning is indeed "dry," the arid southern region being named for that.
Various explanations are given for why negev also means the direction, most of them assuming the south always gets more light and heat from the sun (Ibn Ezra to Bereishis 12:9; Peirush HaRokeach there; Rav Hirsch there), but Rabbi Klein thinks the most reasonable is that once the southern part of Eretz Yisrael was called the Negev on account of its dryness, the word was borrowed for the southern direction everywhere.
Also discussed in
- Compass directionsנגב (negev)
- Destructionחרבה / חורבן / חרב (ח-ר-ב)
- Earth (the seven names)חרבה / יבשה (ח-ר-ב, י-ב-ש)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ח-ר-ב
To be dry, or to dry up. A חֶרֶב is anything that cuts, sword, razor or stonecutter's tool, and the verb is to smite with one. Also to lie waste; a חָרְבָּה is a ruin.
Dryness
חָרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (Bereishis 8:13), the face of the ground was dry, and וְנָהָר יֶחֱרַב וְיָבֵשׁ (Yeshayahu 19:5), and the river will be parched and dry. The nouns are חָרָבָה, dry land, and חֹרֶב, drought and heat; the adjective is פַּת חֲרֵבָה (Mishlei 17:1), a dry crust. Their sense, he says, is dryness, drying and heat.
Anything that cuts
Whatever cuts is called a חֶרֶב, whether of iron or of sharpened stone, as חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (Yehoshua 5:2), which he reads as sharpened flints. It is a general name that is sometimes particular to the sword, and it takes in a razor, קַח לְךָ חֶרֶב חַדָּה תַּעַר הַגַּלָּבִים (Yechezkel 5:1), take a sharp blade, a barbers' razor; the tool that stones are dressed with, כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ (Shemos 20:22), for you have lifted your tool over it; and the tool that throws towers down, וּמִגְדְּלֹתַיִךְ יִתֹּץ בְּחַרְבוֹתָיו (Yechezkel 26:9), he will break down your towers with his tools.
Lying waste
וְהָעִיר הַזֹּאת תֶּחֱרַב (Yirmiyahu 26:9), this city shall be laid waste, with חָרְבָּה for a ruin and הֶחֳרָבוֹת for ruins.
A reading Rabbi Yonah settles
וְשַׂעֲרוּ חָרְבוּ מְאֹד (Yirmiyahu 2:12), and shudder, be exceedingly dried up, he reads with a chataf kamatz under the ches, a command like שֹׁמּוּ, be astonished, earlier in the pasuk. Rabbi Yonah wrote that some read it like חָרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה, the face of the ground was dry, and took it too for a command, of the doubled form, on the pattern of פָּרְקוּ נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב (Shemos 32:2), break off the golden rings. Rabbi Yonah refuted them on the strength of the Mesorah, which marks this חָרְבוּ as the only one of its kind, and the חָרְבוּ of the waters as one of two in a single pasuk.
Drying a river up
The same word is used of one who dries a thing out: וְכָל־הַנְּהָרוֹת הֶחֱרִיב (Nachum 1:4), He dried up all the rivers; וְאַחְרִב בְּכַף־פְּעָמַי (Yeshayahu 37:25), I dry up with the sole of my foot; and וְהַחֲרַבְתִּי אֶת־יַמָּהּ (Yirmiyahu 51:36), I will dry up her sea. What has not been dried is אֲשֶׁר לֹא־חֹרָבוּ (Shoftim 16:7), which have not been dried out. וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת־הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה (Shemos 14:21) is the sea turned to dry ground.
Drought
חֹרֶב is the dryness itself: יְהִי נָא חֹרֶב אֶל הַגִּזָּה (Shoftim 6:39), let there be dryness on the fleece, and וְעַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ חֹרֶב (Shoftim 6:37), and dryness on all the ground. Other forms of it are בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ (Tehillim 32:4), in the droughts of summer, and וּבַחַרְחֻר וּבַחֶרֶב (Devarim 28:22), with burning heat and with drought. וְלֹא צָמְאוּ בָּחֳרָבוֹת (Yeshayahu 48:21), they did not thirst in the dry places, is the plural.
Heat with no relief
כְּחֹרֶב בְּצָיוֹן שְׁאוֹן זָרִים תַּכְנִיעַ (Yeshayahu 25:5) he reads as heat in a parched place, a distress that gives no rest, and so will the noise of strangers be brought down past rising again. חֹרֶב בְּצֵל עָב, heat under the shadow of a cloud, he reads as a man who has lain in a hot place and then comes into a cold one and cannot bear it; so will זמיר עריצים, the song of the tyrants, be humbled until they cannot rise.
Smiting with the sword
From the sword comes a verb of putting to the sword: חִרְבוּ כָּל פָּרֶיהָ (Yirmiyahu 50:27), put all her bullocks to the sword, and חֲרֹב וְהַחֲרֵם אַחֲרֵיהֶם (Yirmiyahu 50:21), smite and destroy after them. In הָחֳרֵב נֶחֶרְבוּ הַמְּלָכִים (Melachim II 3:23), the kings have surely smitten one another, both words are this verb: נֶחֶרְבוּ in another of its forms, and הָחֳרֵב its infinitive, of the form that names no doer.
Laying a city waste
The act has its own forms: הֶחֱרִיבוּ מַלְכֵי אַשּׁוּר (Yeshayahu 37:18), the kings of Ashur laid waste, and מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ (Yeshayahu 49:17), those who tear you down and lay you waste go out from you. The ruin left is וְחִדְּשׁוּ עָרֵי חֹרֶב (Yeshayahu 61:4), they will renew the waste cities, and וְעָרֵיכֶם יִהְיוּ חָרְבָּה (Vayikra 26:33), your cities will be a ruin. The place so left is described חָרֵב הוּא מֵאֵין אָדָם (Yirmiyahu 33:10), waste without a man, and אֲשֶׁר יְרוּשָׁלַם חֲרֵבָה (Nechemiah 2:17), that Yerushalayim lies waste. He allows that וְשַׂעֲרוּ חָרְבוּ מְאֹד (Yirmiyahu 2:12) may belong to this sense rather than to dryness.
חָֽרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָֽאֲדָמָֽה (בראשית ח, יג), וְנָהָר יֶחֱרַב וְיָבֵֽשׁ (ישעיה יט, ה), הָאֹמֵר לַצּוּלָה חֳרָבִי (ישעיה מד, כו), וְשַֽׂעֲרוּ חָרְבוּ מְאֹד (ירמיה ב, יב), החי"ת תקרא בקמץ חטף והוא צווי כמו שֹׁמּוּ, וְשַֽׂעֲרוּ (שם). וכתב רבי יונה כי אנשים היו קוראים אותו כמו חָֽרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָֽאֲדָמָֽה והיו מפרשים אותו גם כן צווי מן הדגש על משקל פָּֽרְקוּ נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב (שמות לב, ב). והוא השיב אותם מפני המסורה שהוא על חָֽרְבוּ מאד לית רבותיה, ועל חָֽרְבוּ המים אומר המסורת שהם שנים ובפסוק. ושלא נזכר פועלו [פֻּעַל] אֲשֶׁר לֹא־חֹרָבוּ (שופטים טז, ז). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְכָל־הַנְּהָרוֹת הֶֽחֱרִיב (נחום א, ד), וְאַחְרִב בְּכַף־פְּעָמַי (ישעיה לז, כה), וְהַֽחֲרַבְתִּי אֶת־יַמָּהּ (ירמיה נא, לו). והשם מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בֶּחָֽרָבָה מֵֽתוּ (בראשית ז, כב), וְנָֽתַתִּי יְאֹרִים חָֽרָבָה (יחזקאל ל, יב), וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת־הַיָּם לֶחָֽרָבָה (שמות יד, כא). ומשקל אחר יְהִי־נָא חֹרֶב אֶל־הַגִּזָּה (שופטים ו, לט), וְעַל־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ חֹרֶב (שופטים ו, לז), כְּחֹרֶב בְּצָיוֹן שְׁאוֹן זָרִים תַּכְנִיעַ (ישעיה כה, ה), חֹרֶב אֶל־מֵימֶיהָ וְיָבֵשׁוּ (ירמיה נ, לח). והקבוץ בלשון נקבות וְלֹא צָֽמְאוּ בָּֽחֳרָבוֹת (ישעיה מח, כא). ומשקל אחר בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ (תהלים לב, ד). ומשקל אחר וּבַֽחַרְחֻר וּבַחֶרֶב (דברים כח, כב), בשש נקדות. והתאר טוֹב פַּת חֲרֵבָה (משלי יז, א), וְכָל־מִנְחָה בְלוּלָֽה־בַשֶּׁמֶן וַֽחֲרֵבָה (ויקרא ז, י), ענין היובש והנגוב והחמימות. ופירוש כְּחֹרֶב בציון כחום במקום ציה שהיא צרה שאין לה הנחה כן תכניע שאון זרים הכנעה בלי תקומה. חֹרֶב בְּצֵל עָב (ישעיה כה, ה), כמו מי ששכב במקום חם ואחר כך בא במקום קר זהו בצל עב שלא יוכל לסבול כן יענה ויכניע זמיר עריצים עד שלא יוכלו לקום. וענין אחר חֶרֶב לַֽי"י וּלְגִדְעֽוֹן (שופטים ז, כ), וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ אֵהוּד חֶרֶב וְלָהּ שְׁנֵי פֵיוֹת (שופטים ג, טז), קַח־לְךָֽ חֶרֶב חַדָּה תַּעַר הַגַּלָּבִים (יחזקאל ה, א), מַשִּׂיגֵהוּ חֶרֶב בְּלִי תָקוּם (איוב מא, יח), בשש נקדות. כל דבר הכורת יקרא חרב, או ברזל או החדורה כמו חַֽרְבוֹת צֻרִים, (יהושע ה, ב), רצונו לומר חדורי הצורים. והוא שם כלל פעמים ופעם פרט על הסייף כמו ויעש לו אהוד חֶרֶב, וְכִתְּתוּ חַרְבוֹתָם לְאִתִּים (ישעיה ב, ד), והדומים להם. ועל התער קַח־לְךָֽ חֶרֶב חַדָּה (יחזקאל ה, א). וכן נקראת המקבת שמסתתין בה האבנים חרב כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ וַֽתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ (שמות כ, כב). וכן הכשיל שמפילין בו המינים וּמִגְדְּלֹתַיִךְ יִתֹּץ בְּחַרְבוֹתָֽיו (יחזקאל כו, ט), הַנְּתֻצִים אֶל־הַסֹּֽלְלוֹת וְאֶל־הֶחָֽרֶב (ירמיה לג, ד), [בְּחַרְבֹֽתֵיהֶם] סָבִֽיב (דברי הימים ב' לד, ו). והפעל מזה חִרְבוּ כָּל־פָּרֶיהָ (ירמיה נ, כז), חֲרֹב וְהַֽחֲרֵם אַֽחֲרֵיהֶם (ירמיה נ, כא). והנפעל נֶֽחֶרְבוּ הַמְּלָכִים (מלכים ב' ג, כג). והמקור שלא נזכר פועלו [הָפְעַל] הָֽחֳרֵב נֶֽחֶרְבוּ הַמְּלָכִים (שם). ומשקל אחר וְהָעִיר הַזֹּאת תֶּחֱרַב (ירמיה כו, ט), וְהַגּוֹיִם חָרֹב יֶחֱרָֽבוּ (ישעיה ס, יב), וְהֶעָרִים הַנּֽוֹשָׁבוֹת תֶּחֱרַבְנָה (יחזקאל יב, כ), לְמַעַן יֶֽחֶרְבוּ וְיֶֽאְשְׁמוּ (יחזקאל ו, ו). ויתכן מזה הענין וְשַֽׂעֲרוּ חָרְבוּ מְאֹד (ירמיה ב, יב). והנפעל עִיר נֶחֱרֶבֶת (יחזקאל כו, יט), וְעָרָיו בְּתֽוֹךְ־עָרִים נַֽחֲרָבוֹת (יחזקאל ל, ז). והכבד [הִפְעִיל] הֶחֱרִיבוּ מַלְכֵי אַשּׁוּר (ישעיה לז, יח), הֶחֱרַבְתִּי חֽוּצוֹתָם מִבְּלִי עוֹבֵר (צפניה ג, ו) וְאֵת מַחֲרִיב אַרְצֵנוּ (שופטים טז, כד), מְהָֽרְסַיִךְ וּמַֽחֲרִבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵֽאוּ (ישעיה מט, יז), בְּתוֹךְ עָרִים מָֽחֳרָבוֹת (יחזקאל כט, יב). ושלא נזכר פעלו אִמָּֽלְאָה הָֽחֳרָֽבָה (יחזקאל כו, ב). והתאר חָרֵב הוּא מֵאֵין אָדָם (ירמיה לג, י), אֲשֶׁר יְרֽוּשָׁלַם חֲרֵבָה (נחמיה ב, יז), וְנִבְנוּ הֶֽחֳרָבֽוֹת (יחזקאל לו, לג), בקמץ הרי"ש והוא משקל אחר. ובצרי הרי"ש וְהֶֽעָרִים הֶֽחֳרֵבוֹת וְהַֽנְשַׁמּוֹת וְהַנֶּהֱרָסוֹת (יחזקאל לו, לה), כֵּן תִּהְיֶינָה הֶֽעָרִים הֶֽחֳרֵבוֹת (יחזקאל לו, לח), וקמץ החי"ת בהם לתפארת. והשם וְחִדְּשׁוּ עָרֵי חֹרֶב (ישעיה סא, ד), לְחָרְבוֹת חֹרֶב שְׁמָמָה (יחזקאל כט, י). ובה"א הנקבה וְעָֽרֵיכֶם יִהְיוּ חָרְבָּֽה (ויקרא כו, לג), וְאֶתְּנֵךְ לְחָרְבָּה וּלְחֶרְפָּה (יחזקאל ה, יד), לְחָרְבוֹת חֹרֶב שְׁמָמָה (יחזקאל כט, י), אבל כְּשֻֽׁעָלִים בָּחֳרָבוֹת (יחזקאל יג, ד) הוא משקל אחר האחד ממנו חֳרָבָה בשקל בַּֽסֳעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיִם (מלכים ב' ב, א), ואפשר שהוא תאר. וְדָרְשׁוּ מֵֽחָרְבוֹתֵיהֶֽם (תהלים קט, י), כלם ענין חרבה וידוע.
י-ב-ש
To dry up, and to dry a thing up, with יַבָּשָׁה, the dry land; another sense is shame, and two pesukim in Yoel can be read in either sense.
Drying up
כִּי יָֽבְשׁוּ אֲפִיקֵי מָיִם (Yoel 1:20), the water channels are dried up; יָֽבְשׁוּ עַצְמוֹתֵינוּ (Yechezkel 37:11), our bones are dried; יָֽבְשָׁה הָאָֽרֶץ (Bereishis 8:14), the earth was dry; וַיִּיבַשׁ הַנָּחַל (Melachim I 17:7), the brook dried up. The sense is known: it is dryness.
A dispute over the pointing
On הֵן יַעְצֹר בַּמַּיִם וְיִבָשׁוּ (Iyov 12:15), He holds back the waters and they dry up, Rabbi Yonah wrote that the vav takes a chirik and the yod is quiescent. Radak did not find it so in the accurate books, but with a sheva under the vav and a chirik under the yod.
Drying a thing up
אֲשֶׁר־ הוֹבִישׁ (Yehoshua 2:10), how Hashem dried up the waters of Yam Suf; הוֹבַשׁתִּי עֵץ לָח (Yechezkel 17:24), I dried up the green tree; וְהֹבִישׁוּ כֹּל מְצוּלוֹת יְאֹר (Zecharyah 10:11), and they shall dry up all the depths of the river, which is also a verb that takes an object. Rabbi Yonah set that last as a word standing alone, and Radak says there is no need, for the pasuk means: a wind of trouble shall pass through the sea and strike the waves of the sea, and the winds shall dry up all the depths of the river. Of another heavy form, תְּיַבֶּשׁ ־גָּֽרֶם (Mishlei 17:22), it dries the bone, and גּוֹעֵר בַּיָּם וַיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ (Nachum 1:4), He rebukes the sea and dries it up. By rule that is וַיְיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ: the written yod is the prefix, the root's own yod has dropped, and when it dropped its vowel stayed on the added yod. Rabbi Yehudah said the reverse; and some say it is of the same heavy form as הוֹבִישׁ, which is also the view of Radak's father.
The dry land
וְנוֹזְלִים עַל־ יַבָּשָׁה (Yeshayahu 44:3), streams on the dry ground, and וְתֵֽרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה (Bereishis 1:9), let the dry land appear, which may be a noun or an adjective; with a tav for the heh, וְיַבֶּשֶׁת יָדָיו יָצָֽרוּ (Tehillim 95:5), His hands formed the dry land. In another pattern the adjective: עֵץ יָבֵשׁ (Yechezkel 17:24), a dry tree, and נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה (Bamidbar 11:6), our soul is dried up.
The other sense, shame
לֹֽא־עַתָּה יֵבוֹשׁ יַֽעֲקֹב (Yeshayahu 29:22), Yaakov shall not now be shamed; גַּם־ בּוֹשׁ לֹֽא־ יֵבוֹשׁוּ (Yirmiyahu 6:15), they are not ashamed at all; יֵבשׁוּ רֹֽדְפַי (Yirmiyahu 17:18), let my pursuers be shamed; and where it takes an object, הֹבַשְׁתָּ הַיּוֹם אֶת־פְּנֵי כָל־עֲבָדֶיךָ (Shmuel II 19:6), today you have shamed the face of all your servants.
Where the two senses meet
Intransitive: הֹבִישׁוּ אִכָּרִים (Yoel 1:11), the farmers are ashamed, and הַגֶּפֶן הוֹבִישָׁה (Yoel 1:12), the vine is ashamed, by way of figure, as though the vine had shame when it does not give its fruit as it should. So too הוֹבִישׁ תִּירוֹשׁ (Yoel 1:10), the new wine is ashamed, and הֹבִישׁוּ חֲכָמִים (Yirmiyahu 8:9), the wise are ashamed; all of them are the sense of shame. But הַגֶּפֶן הוֹבִישָׁה and הוֹבִישׁ תִּירוֹשׁ can be read instead as the sense of drying and ceasing.
כִּי יָֽבְשׁוּ אֲפִיקֵי מָיִם (יואל א, כ), יָֽבְשׁוּ עַצְמוֹתֵינוּ (יחזקאל לז, יא), יָֽבְשָׁה הָאָֽרֶץ (בראשית ח, יד), וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ יָמִים וַיִּיבַשׁ הַנָּחַל (מלכים א' יז, ז), וְיֵבוֹשׁ מְקוֹרוֹ (הושע יג, טו), על משקל יֵאוֹת מן יאת, הֵן יַעְצֹר בַּמַּיִם וְיִבָשׁוּ (איוב יב, טו). ורבי יונה כתב כי וִיבָשׁוּ בחירק הו"ו ונוח היו"ד ואנחנו לא מצאנוהו כן בספרים המדויקים כי אם בשוא הו"ו וחירק היו"ד. וְחֶלְקָה אֲשֶֽׁר־לֹֽא־תַמְטִיר עָלֶיהָ תִּיבָֽשׁ (עמוס ד, ז), עַד־יְבשֶׁת הַמַּיִם (בראשית ח, ז), מקור בפלס מִבִּלְתִּי יְכֹלֶת י"י (במדבר יד, טז), או יהיה שם. והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] אֲשֶׁר־הוֹבִישׁ י"י אֶת־מֵי יַם־סוּף (יהושע ב, י), הוֹבַשׁתִּי עֵץ לָח (יחזקאל יז, כד), וְהֹבִישׁוּ כֹּל מְצוּלוֹת יְאֹר (זכריה י, יא), וגם הוא פעל יוצא. ורבי יונה שמהו בודד ואין צורך כי כן פירוש הפסוק ועבר בַּיָם צָרָה (שם), פירוש ועבר בים רוח צרה, והכה בים גלים פירוש והכה הרוח אוז גלי הים והובישו הרוחות כל מצולות יאור. וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] תְּיַבֶּשׁ־גָּֽרֶם (משלי יז, כב), גּוֹעֵר בַּיָּם וַיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ (נחום א, ד), משפטו וַיְיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ והיו"ד הכתובה היא יו"ד הא"י"ת"ן ויו"ד השרש נעדרת וכשנעדרה נשארה תנועתה על היו"ד הנוספת. ורבי יהודה אמר בהפך זה. ויש אומרים כי משפטו וַיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ מבנין הפעיל וכן דעת אדוני אבי ז"ל. והשם וְנוֹזְלִים עַל־יַבָּשָׁה (ישעיה מד, ג), וְתֵֽרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה (בראשית א, ט), או הוא תאר. ובתי"ו תמורת הה"א וְיַבֶּשֶׁת יָדָיו יָצָֽרוּ (תהלים צה, ה). והתאר במשקל אחר עֵץ יָבֵשׁ (יחזקאל יז, כד), נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה (במדבר יא, ו), יְבֵשׁוֹת מְאֹֽד (יחזקאל לז, ב), הענין הזה ידוע שהוא ענין חורב. וענין אחר לֹֽא־עַתָּה יֵבוֹשׁ יַֽעֲקֹב (ישעיה כט, כב), גַּם־בּוֹשׁ לֹֽא־יֵבוֹשׁוּ (ירמיה ו, טו). יֵבשׁוּ רֹֽדְפַי וְאַל־אֵבשָׁה אָנִי (ירמיה יז, יח), על משקל יֵאוֹת, יֵאוֹתוּ מן יָאַת. והפעל הכבד הֹבַשְׁתָּ הַיּוֹם אֶת־פְּנֵי כָל־עֲבָדֶיךָ (שמואל ב' יט, ו). ואשר הם פעל עומד הֹבִישׁוּ אִכָּרִים (יואל א, יא), הַגֶּפֶן הוֹבִישָׁה (יואל א, יב), על דרך משל כאילו יש לה בושת כשאינה נותנת פריה כראוי. וכן הוֹבִישׁ תִּירוֹשׁ (יואל א, י), הֹבִישׁוּ חֲכָמִים (ירמיה ח, ט), כֹּל הֹבִאישׁ עַל־עַם לֹא־יוֹעִילוּ לָמוֹ (ישעיה ל, ה), כתוב בשני נחים באל"ף וביו"ד. כִּֽי־הֹבִישׁ שָׂשׂוֹן מִן־בְּנֵי אָדָֽם (יואל א, יב), כלם ענין בשת, ויש לפרש הַגֶּפֶן הוֹבִישָׁה, הוֹבִישׁ תִּירוֹשׁ, ענין יובש והפסק.
נ-ג-ב
The south, and waste, parched land; in the Targum and in Chazal, to dry. The south itself is called נֶגֶב, he says, for the drought of that quarter and its heat.
The south
מֶֽלֶךְ־ הַנֶּגֶב (Daniel 11:5), the king of the south, with six points, and צָפֹנָה וָנֶגְבָּה (Bereishis 13:14), northward and southward: it is the south.
Dry ground
כִּי אֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב נְתַתָּנִי (Yehoshua 15:19), for you have given me a land of the Negev, which he explains as ארץ חרבה וחררה, a waste and parched land; and likewise כַּֽאֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּֽגֶב (Tehillim 126:4), like streams in the dry land, כְּסוּפוֹת בַּנֶּגֶב (Yeshayahu 21:1), like whirlwinds in the dry land, and מַשָּׂא בַּֽהֲמוֹת נֶגֶב (Yeshayahu 30:6), the burden of the beasts of the dry land.
Drying, in Targum and in Chazal
חָֽרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָֽאֲדָמָֽה (Bereishis 8:13), the face of the ground was dry, which the Targum renders נְגוּבוּ אַפֵּי אַרְעָא, the face of the land dried; and Chazal (Taharos 10:8) say מנגבן והן טהורין, he wipes them dry and they are clean. They use the word much besides.
Which sense, in Shmuel and Yirmiyahu
וְדָוִד קָם מֵאֵצֶל הַנֶּגֶב (Shmuel I 20:41), and David rose from beside the Negev, נֶגֶב יְהוּדָה (Shmuel I 27:10), the Negev of Yehudah, and אֶל־ נֶגֶב וְאֶל־צִקְלַג (Shmuel I 30:1), to the Negev and to Tziklag, may all be the wilderness and the place of waste and dryness, or they may be the south; so too עָרֵי הַנֶּגֶב סֻגְּרוּ (Yirmiyahu 13:19), the cities of the Negev are shut up. Or these may mean level ground, since the wilderness too is level. The south itself is called נֶגֶב because that quarter has much drought and no settlement as the others have, for its heat.
מֶֽלֶךְ־הַנֶּגֶב (דניאל יא, ה), בשש נקודות. צָפֹנָה וָנֶגְבָּה (בראשית יג, יד), הוא דרום. כִּי אֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב נְתַתָּנִי (הושע טו, יט), פירוש ארץ חרבה וחררה. וכן כַּֽאֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּֽגֶב (תהלים קכו, ד), כְּסוּפוֹת בַּנֶּגֶב (ישעיה כא, א), מַשָּׂא בַּֽהֲמוֹת נֶגֶב (ישעיה ל, ו). ותרגום חָֽרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָֽאֲדָמָֽה (בראשית ח, יג) נְגוּבוּ אַפֵּי אַרְעָא. וכן בדברי רבותינו ז"ל (טהרות פרק י, משנה ח) מנגבן והן טהורין. וזולת זה נשתמשו בלשון הזה הרבה. וְדָוִד קָם מֵאֵצֶל הַנֶּגֶב (שמואל א' כ, מא), עַל־נֶגֶב יְהוּדָה וְעַל־נֶגֶב הַיְּרַחְמְאֵלִי וְאֶל־נֶגֶב הַקֵּינִֽי (שמואל א' כז, י), אֶל־נֶגֶב וְאֶל־צִקְלַג (שמואל א' ל, א), יתכן בכלם שפירושם המדבר ומקום החרב והיבש או פירושם דרום. וכן עָרֵי הַנֶּגֶב סֻגְּרוּ (ירמיה יג, יט). או יהיה פירוש אלה ארץ מישור, כי גם המדבר הוא מישור, והדרום עצמו נקרא על כן נֶגֶב לפי שיש בפאת דרום חרב הרבה ואין בה ישוב כמו בשאר הפאות מפני החמימות.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "On Dry Land," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 9 July 2022.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Words of Destruction," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 29 July 2017.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Seasoning the Land (Part 2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 4 September 2021.
Cited in the essay: Avos d'Rabbi Nasan version 1 ch. 37 and version 2; Midrash Mishlei; Bereishis 7:22, 8:13-14, 12:9, 31:40, 40:10; Shemos 14:21-22, 32:1; Vayikra 7:10; Yehoshua 15:19; Shoftim 1:15; Melachim I 13:4; Yeshayahu 8:23, 19:5, 21:1; Tehillim 102:12, 106:9, 126:4; Mishlei 17:1; Iyov 14:11; Vilna Gaon to Yeshayahu 8:23; Rashi to Bereishis 8:13-14; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim on ח-ר-ה; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur, Meturgeman; Mishnah Chagigah 3:1, Avodah Zarah 2:11 and 5:11, Menachos 3:3 and 8:4, Keilim 25:6, Taharos 2:1, 3:8, 10:2 and 10:8, Machshirin 3:5 and 4:9, Mikvaos 10:4, Tvul Yom 3:6, Parah 5:2, 7:8, 9:1 and 11:8.