Desert
A place in the Bible
In the Bible, the “desert” of John the Baptist is not a desert of sand dunes. It is dry, rocky land with almost no people. It lies west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, near Jericho.
What happened here
- John the Baptist: there the word of God came to him. There he preached and baptized.
- Jesus: the Spirit led him into the desert. He stayed there forty days, he was tempted, and the angels ministered to him.
Where it appears in the Bible
Mark 1:4; Luke 3:2; Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:13
What the Bible says
Mark 1:4
John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, unto remission of sins.
Luke 3:2
Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert.
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Desert”; NABRE note on Matthew 3:1; RAE, “desierto”