Dictionary of Biblical Words:
This is literally the desert between Egypt and Canaan, traversed by the children of Israel in their wanderings. Figuratively it is this world, through which the believer is called to pass as a pilgrim and a stranger on his way to heaven. The history of the journeyings of the children of Israel thus becomes of special interest; indeed it was expressly recorded for our instruction (1 Cor. 10).
Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(shrub). That part of the Arabian wilderness or desert lying south of Palestine, adjacent to Judah, and bounded on the east by the Dead Sea and valley of Arabah (Num. 13:21,26; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; 34:3; Josh. 15:1-3).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
A district far south of Judah, lying between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba, in which Kadesh was situated, and in which a great part of the wanderings of the Israelites occurred (Num. 13:21; Num. 20:1; Num. 27:14; Num. 33:36; Num. 34:3-4; Deut. 32:51; Joshua 15:1,3). It must not be confounded with the Wilderness of Sin.