The waste, probably some high waste land to the south of the Dead Sea (Num. 21:20; 23:28; 1 Sam. 23:19, 24); or rather not a proper name at all, but simply “the waste” or “wilderness,” the district on which the plateau of Ziph (q.v.) looks down.
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition