Original Word: צִיָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: tsiyah
Pronunciation: tsee-yah
Phonetic Spelling: (tsee-yaw')
KJV: barren, drought, dry (land, place), solitary place, wilderness
NASB: dry, parched, desert, drought, dry places, parched land
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to parch]

1. aridity
2. (concretely) a desert

barren, drought, dry land, place, solitary place, wilderness

From an unused root meaning to parch; aridity; concretely, a desert -- barren, drought, dry (land, place), solitary place, wilderness.

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
dryness, drought
NASB Translation
desert (3), drought (2), dry (5), dry places (1), parched (4), parched land (1).

צִיָּה noun feminine dryness, drought; — absolute ׳צ Hosea 2:5+; plural צִיּוֺת Psalm 105:41; — drought Job 24:19 ("" חֹם); elsewhere of land (often "" מִדְבָּר, עְַרָבָה etc.): ׳אֶרֶץ צ land of drought, desert Hosea 2:5 (simile), Jeremiah 2:6; Jeremiah 50:12 (figurative), Jeremiah 51:43; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 53:2 (in simile), Psalm 107:35; + צָמָא Ezekiel 19:13 (figurative), + שְׁמָמָה Joel 2:20, + עָיֵף Psalm 63:2 (figurative); ׳צ =desert Isaiah 35:1; Zephaniah 2:13; Job 30:3; Psalm 78:17; plural Psalm 105:41.

Physical Landscape and Daily Life

צִיָּה depicts the stark, waterless terrain that shaped Israel’s geography and imagination. From the Judean wilderness in the south to the eastern plateau beyond the Jordan, inhabitants knew the searing winds and cracked earth of a land where rainfall could not be presumed. Job pictures such wasteland when he observes, “Drought and heat consume the snow waters” (Job 24:19). The word calls to mind an uninhabitable expanse—fit only for wild beasts and hardy nomads—yet it is precisely here that God proves Himself sufficient for His people.

Symbol of Judgment

When covenant breakers harden their hearts, the prophets invoke צִיָּה to portray the consequence. Jeremiah foretells Babylon’s fate: “Her cities will become a desolate land, a parched desert, an uninhabited land” (Jeremiah 51:43). Hosea warns Israel of the same: “I will make her like a desert; I will make her like a parched land and let her die of thirst” (Hosea 2:3). Drought is not random hardship but a visible verdict on rebellion, reminding hearers that turning from the fountain of living waters inevitably brings barrenness.

Backdrop for Divine Deliverance

Against this bleak canvas, the Lord’s redemptive power shines. Psalm 107:35 rejoices, “He turns a desert into pools of water, a dry land into flowing springs.” Isaiah adds, “I will open rivers on the barren heights and springs in the middle of the valleys; I will turn the desert into a pool of water” (Isaiah 41:18). Such transformations echo the Exodus miracle celebrated in Psalm 105:41 when “He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.” The once-thirsty wasteland becomes evidence of covenant love, ensuring that no circumstance is too arid for grace.

Spiritual Longing and Renewal

צִיָּה often serves as a metaphor for the soul’s yearning. David prays, “O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my body yearns for You in a dry, weary land without water” (Psalm 63:1). Here the outward environment mirrors an inner ache only God can satisfy. Preachers and counselors draw from this imagery to invite believers to confess dryness, seek the Spirit’s refreshment, and cultivate disciplines that channel the living water of the Word.

Messianic Implications

Isaiah 53:2 declares of the Servant: “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.” The Redeemer enters the very realm of barrenness—politically, spiritually, and environmentally—yet life flourishes through Him. His humble advent in “dry ground” assures sinners that salvation does not spring from fertile human effort but from divine initiative amid desolation.

National Destiny and Eschatological Hope

Joel prophesies that the northern invader “has been driven into the parched land and barren desert” (Joel 2:20). Zephaniah announces a similar fate for Assyria: “Nineveh will become a desolation, parched as the desert” (Zephaniah 2:13). These judgments anticipate a final reckoning when all opposition to God is reduced to dust, while the redeemed inherit a re-created earth where “the desert and the parched land will be glad” (Isaiah 35:1).

Pastoral and Missional Application

Ministry often encounters hearts that feel like צִיָּה—bleached by suffering, sin, or apathy. Shepherds can reassure such souls that Scripture’s wasteland scenes are never God’s last word. He specializes in making “streams in the wasteland” and calling forth praise where silence reigned. Likewise, mission strategists recognize that unreached regions—culturally or geographically—may appear barren, yet the gospel can carve rivers there. Prayer, proclamation, and patient labor turn deserts into gardens.

Conclusion

צִיָּה threads through Scripture as both warning and witness: warning that departure from the Lord leads to drought, witness that His presence turns drought into delight. Whether confronting nations or comforting individuals, the biblical writers employ this term to exalt the God who alone can satisfy thirst and make all things new.

בַּצִּיָּֽה׃ בַּצִּיּ֥וֹת בציה׃ בציות וְצִיָּ֑ה וציה צִ֝יָּ֗ה צִיָּ֑ה צִיָּ֔ה צִיָּ֖ה צִיָּ֣ה צִיָּ֤ה צִיָּ֥ה ציה baṣ·ṣî·yāh baṣ·ṣî·yō·wṯ baṣṣîyāh baṣṣîyōwṯ batztziYah batztziYot ṣî·yāh ṣîyāh tziYah vetziYah wə·ṣî·yāh wəṣîyāhInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts