A place in the desert of Zion. (Num 20:1 ). The name means, holy or holiness.
Ka´desh or Kadesh-barnea, a site on the south-eastern border of the Promised Land towards Edom, of much interest as being the point at which the Israelites twice encamped with the intention of entering Palestine, and from which they were twice sent back; the first time in pursuance of their sentence to wander forty years in the wilderness, and the second time from the refusal of the King of Edom to permit a passage through his territories. It was from Kadesh that the spies entered Palestine by ascending the mountains; and the murmuring Israelites, afterwards attempting to do the same, were driven back by the Amalekites and Canaanites, and afterwards apparently by the King of Arad, as far as Hormah, then called Zephath (Num 13:17; Num 14:40-45; Num 21:1-3; Deu 1:41-44; comp. Jdg 1:7). There was also at Kadesh a fountain (En-mishpat) mentioned long before the exode of the Israelites (Gen 14:7); and the miraculous supply of water took place only on the second visit, which implies that at the first there was no lack of this necessary article. After this, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom, informing him that they were in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost part of his border, and asking leave to pass through his country, so as to continue their course round Moab, and approach Palestine from the east. This Edom refused, and the Israelites accordingly marched to Mount Hor, where Aaron died; and then along the Arabah (desert of Zin) to the Red Sea (Num 20:14-29). The name of Kadesh again occurs in describing the southern quarter of Judah, the line defining which is drawn ’from the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looked southward; and it went out to the south side of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side to Kadesh-barnea’ (Jos 15:1-3; comp. Num 34:3-4).
From these intimations the map-makers, who found it difficult to reconcile them with the place usually assigned to Kadesh (in the desert about midway between the Mediterranean and Dead Sea), were in the habit of placing a second Kadesh nearer the Dead Sea and the Wady Arabah. But it was shown by Dr. Kitto in the Pictorial Bible (Note on Num 20:1) that one Kadesh would sufficiently answer all the conditions required, by being placed more to the south, nearer to Mount Hor, on the west border of the Wady Arabah, than this second Kadesh.
According to this view Kadesh was laid down in his map in the same line, and not far from the place which has since been assigned to it from actual observation by Dr. Robinson. This concurrence of different lines of research in the same result is curious and valuable, and the position of Kadesh will be regarded as now scarcely open to dispute. It was clear that the discovery of the fountain in the northern part of the great valley would go far to fix the question. Robinson accordingly discovered a fountain called Ain el-Weibeh, which is even at this day the most frequented watering-place in all the Arabah, and he was struck by the entire adaptedness of the site to the Scriptural account of the proceedings of the Israelites on their second arrival at Kadesh. ’Over against us lay the land of Edom; we were in its uttermost border; and the great Wady el-Ghuweir afforded a direct and easy passage through the mountains to the table-land above, which was directly before us; while further in the south Mount Hor formed a prominent and striking object, at the distance of two good days’ journey for such a host’ (Bib. Researches, ii. 538). Further on (p. 610) he adds: ’There the Israelites would have Mount Hor in the S.S.E. towering directly before them… in the N.W. rises the mountain by which they attempted to ascend to Palestine, with the pass still called Sufah (Zephath); while further north we find also Tell Arad, marking the site of the ancient Arad. To all this comes then the vicinity of the southern bay of the Dead Sea, the line of cliffs or offset separating the Ghôr from the Arabah, answering to the ascent of Akrabbim; and the desert of Zin, with the place of the same name between Akrabbim and Kadesh, not improbably at the water of Hasb, in the Arabah. In this way all becomes easy and natural, and the Scriptural account is entirely accordant with the character of the country.’
Ka’desh. See Kadeshbarnea.
Kadesh, sacred, or Kadesh-barnea (kâ’desh-bär’ne-ah). A place on the southern frontier of Canaan. It was "eleven days," or about 165 miles, distant from Horeb, Deu 1:2: on the border of Edom, Num 20:16; not far from Gerar, Gen 20:1; to the east of Bered, Gen 16:14; in the desert of Zin, Num 20:1; Num 27:14; Num 33:36; Deu 32:51; and the point to which Chedorlaomer returned, having driven the Horites over the Arabah into the Et Tih region, and then going northward. Gen 14:7. In Scripture it is sometimes called Kadesh alone, and sometimes Kadesh-barnea, and is identical with Meribah-kadesh, Eze 47:19; Jos 15:3; Jos 15:23; with En-Mishpat = the fountain of judgment, Gen 14:7; and with Rithmah = the broom, Num 33:18, thus called from a shrub growing in the desert. Spies were sent into the land of Canaan. The people rebelled, and were condemned to 40 years sojourn in the wilderness, Num 13:14, during which time Kadesh seems to have been their chief centre. At the end of 40 years they encamped again at Kadesh for a march to Canaan. Num 20:1. Here Miriam died and was buried, and the rock was smitten for water. Num 20:1-21. It was 40 to 50 miles directly south of Beer-sheba.
or KADESH-BARNEA (
[= "sanctuary"]; 
):
By: Emil G. Hirsch, J. F. McLaughlin
A place on the western frontier of Edom, in the "wilderness of Paran," "eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir" (Num. xiii. 26, xx. 16; Deut. i. 2). In whole or in part, the same region was apparently known also as the "wilderness of Zin" (Num. xiii. 21, xx. 1), as the "wilderness of Kadesh" (Ps. xxix. 8), and as the "country of the Amalekites" (Gen. xiv. 7). The term "city" (
, Num. xx. 16) may possibly refer to an Amalekite encampment. The name "En-mishpat" = "well of judgment" (Gen. xiv. 7) seems to point to the existence of an ancient sanctuary which, as the seat of an oracle, was a place of judgment (comp. Ex. xxi. 6; xxii. 8, 9, where, also, the Hebrew sanctuary is the place of judgment). Just to the south, according to Num. xxxiv. 4 (P), ran the boundary-line of Judah (see also Josh. x. 40-42, xv. 3; Ezek. xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28). Hither the Israelites came in the second year of the Exodus (Num. xii. 16, xiii. 26; Deut. i. 19; but comp. Num. xx. 1, where the date given is, apparently, the first month of the fortieth year). From this place the spies were sent to "spy out the land of Canaan." Here occurred the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Here, too, Miriam died and was buried. At one time the springs failed, and Moses, at the command of Yhwh, "smote the rock twice; and the water came out abundantly." Owing to the rebellious conduct of the people on this occasion the name "water of Meribah" (= "strife") was given to the springs (Num. xx. 2-13; comp. Deut. xxxii. 51 and xxxiii. 2, where Wellhausen reads "Meribat Ḳadesh"). Moses and Aaron on account of the angry spirit they exhibited were forbidden by Yhwh to lead Israel into the land of promise (Num. xx. 12; Ps. cvi. 32-33).
The site of Kadesh was discovered in 1842 by John Rowland, and has since been visited and described by Trumbull. It lies midway between Al-'Arish and Mount Hor in a great treeless limestone plateau. The spring of clear water, which rises at the foot of a limestone cliff, is still called "'Ain-Ḳadis"= "spring of Kadesh."
Bibliography:
Trumbull, Kadesh Barnea, New York, 1884;
Pal. Explor. Fund Quarterly Statement, 1881, p. 210;
Palmer, Desert of the Exodus;
Gray, Commentary on Numbers.
KADESH or KADESH-BARNEA was a place of note in olden time (Gen 14:7; Gen 16:14). This it could not have been without a supply of water. The Israelites may therefore have expected to find water here, and finding none—a peculiarly exasperating experience—were naturally embittered. The flow of the spring, by whatever means it had been obstructed, was restored by Moses, under Divine direction (Num 20:2 ff.), and for a long time it was the centre of the tribal encampments (Num 20:1, Deu 1:46). It was the scene of Korah’s rebellion (Num 16:1-50), and of Miriam’s death (Num 20:1). The spies were sent hence (Num 32:8, Deu 1:20 ff.,) and returned hither (Num 13:26). Before moving from here, the embassy was despatched to the king of Edom (Num 20:14 ff., Jdg 11:16).
Kadesh-barnea lay on the south boundary of the Amorite highlands (Deu 1:18), ‘in the uttermost border’ of Edom (Num 20:6). The conquest of Joshua reached thus far (Jos 10:41): It was therefore on the line, running from the Ascent of Akrabbim to the Brook of Egypt, which marked the southern frontier of Canaan (Num 34:4, Jos 15:3). In Gen 20:1 it is placed east of Gerar; and in Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28 between Tamar and the Brook of Egypt. All this points definitely to the place discovered by the Rev. J. Rowlands in 1842. The ancient name persists in the modern ‘Ain Qadîs, ‘holy spring.’ An abundant stream rises at the foot of a limestone cliff. Caught by the wells and pools made for its reception, it creates in its brief course, ere it is absorbed by the desert, a stretch of greenery and beauty amid the waste. From the high grazing grounds far and near, the flocks and herds come hither for the watering. The place was visited again by Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, whose book, Kadesh Barnea (1884), contains a full account of the spring and its surroundings. It lies in the territory of the ‘Azâzine Arabs, about 50 miles south of Beersheba, to the south-west of Naqb es-Safâh—a pass opening towards Palestine from Wâdy el-Fiqra, which may he the Ascent of Akrabbim—and east of Wâdy Jerûr. The name ‘En-mishpat, ‘Fountain of Judgment’ (Gen 14:7), was doubtless due to the custom of coming here for the authoritative settlement of disputes (Driver, Genesis, ad loc).
For Kadesh on the Orontes see Tahtim-hodshi.
W. Ewing.