Describe (Hastings' Dictionary)
In Jos 18- ••"''" to describe ' is to map out, or divide into lots, as Jos 18' ' Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.' This is Coverdale's tr., from Vulg. describere (in Jos 18* •• '■ •"", in • divisei-unt, scribentes). In Jp 8" the same Ilcb. (3?; 'write') is again tr. 'describe' (Vulg. describere), but the meaning is ' write a list of.'
In this passage the LXX gives ypitpui, the word used in Ro 10° ' Aloses describeth the righteousness wbi.li is of the law' (RV ' writeth that,' etc.); wliile in 4' ' descrilietli the blessedness ' the vb. is \(yu (RV ' pronounceth blessing upon '). IJesides Jos 18' (above), where there is no eorrcsp. Heb., description occurs only 1 Es 5^ with the meaning of ' list ' : the descrijition of ' the kindred ' (t^j ycfiKris ypa(pTJs, i.e. the genealogy'). J. Hastings.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Describe
Describe de-skrib': This verb, now obsolete, in the sense used in Jos 18:4,6,8-9 and Jg 8:14, is a translation of kathabh, usually rendered "to write" or "inscribe." But in the above passages it has the Old English meaning of dividing into parts or into lots, as for example: "Walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance" (Jos 18:4); that is, describe in writing the location and size of the several parcels of land thus portioned out. In Jg 8:14 "described" should be translated "wrote down a list of." "Describe" occurs twice in the King James Version of the New Testament (Ro 4:6 and Ro 10:5), where lego, and grapho, are both rendered "describeth." the Revised Version (British and American) corrects both, and substitutes "pronounceth" in the first and "writeth" in the second passage. ⇒See the definition of describe in the KJV Dictionary Description = "list" (1 Esdras 5:39). W. W. Davies
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia