Bible Encyclopedias
Describe

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dē̇ -skrı̄b ´: This verb, now obsolete, in the sense used in Joshua 18:4 , Joshua 18:6 , Joshua 18:8 , Joshua 18:9 and Judges 8:14 , is a translation of כּתב , kāthabh , 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" (Joshua 18:4 ); that is, describe in writing the location and size of the several parcels of land Thus portioned out. In Judges 8:14 "described" should be translated "wrote down a list of." "Describe" occurs twice in the King James Version of the New Testament ( Romans 4:6 and Romans 10:5 ), where λέγω , légō , and γράφω , gráphō , are both rendered "describeth." the Revised Version (British and American) corrects both, and substitutes "pronounceth" in the first and "writeth" in the second passage.

Description = "list" (1 Esdras 5:39).