Wither (To)

"to be dry, be dried up, be withered." This term is found throughout the development of the Hebrew language and a few other Semitic languages. It is found approximately 70 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. In its verbal form yabesh is found for the first time in Gen 8:7, when after the Flood, "the waters were dried up from the earth." However, the noun derivative, yabbashâ, which means "dry ground," already occurs in Gen 1:9.

Physical "drying up" can involve bread (Josh 9:5), the ground in time of drought (Jer 23:10; Amos 4:7), brooks and streams (1Kings 17:7), and crops (Isa 42:15). The shortness of man's life is compared to the "drying up" of grass (Psa 90:6; Psa 102:11; Isa 40:7). Because of affliction, the heart too "withers" like the grass (Psa 102:4). In his parable of the vine, Ezekiel likens God's judgment on Judah to the "withering" of a vine that is pulled up (Ezek 17:9-10). Because of his disobedience, Jeroboam's hand "is dried up" as judgment from God (1Kings 13:4). Psychosomatic awareness is clearly demonstrated in Prov 17:22: "…A broken spirit drieth the bones."