The Hebrew verb yavesh (H3001) means to dry up, to wither, to become parched, or by extension to wither in humiliation. It applies to plants, rivers, the human body, and spiritual states.
Yavesh is used powerfully in the prophets. Isaiah 40:7-8 draws the sharpest contrast: 'The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.' Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones (37:4) uses yavesh — Israel's hopeless exile — as the starting point for God's resurrection. Wherever humans see irreversible withering, God sees raw material for new life.