Dictionaries :: Mirage

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Mirage:

me-razh' (sharabh, "heat-mirage"; Arabic sarab, from verb which means "to go forth," "to flow"; hence, "flowing of water"): "The glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water" (Isa 35:7); the King James Version has "parched ground" and the Revised Version margin "mirage." The same Hebrew word is also used in Isa 49:10, "Neither shall the heat (margin "mirage") nor sun smite them." These are the only uses of the word in the Scriptures, although mirages are very common in the drier parts of the country. However, the context in both cases seems to justify the translation usually given, rather than "mirage."

Written by Alfred H. Joy