Paran

DESERT OF, a “great and terrible wilderness” which the children of Israel entered after leaving Mount Sinai, Num 10:12; Deu 1:19; and in which thirty-eight of their forty years of wandering were spent. It extended from Mount Sinai on the south, to the southern border of the land of Canaan on the north; having the desert of Shur, with its subdivisions, the deserts of Etham and Sin, on the west, and the eastern branch of the Red Sea, the desert of Zin and Mount Seir, on the east. Burckhardt represents this desert, which he entered from that of Zin, or valley of El Araba, about the parallel of Suez, as a dreary expanse of calcareous soil, covered with black flints.

Pa´ran a name which seems to be applied in Scripture to the whole of the desert region extending from the frontiers of Judah to the borders of Sinai. The name is still preserved in that of Wady Feiran, a valley of the lower Sinai, through which lay the road which appears to have been taken by the Israelites in their march to the upper region. In this valley there are ruins of a town, and indeed of more than one, with towers, aqueducts, and sepulchral excavations; and here Rüppell found the remains of a church, which he assigns to the fifth century. This was the Pharan or Faran which had a Christian population, and was the seat of a bishopric so early is A.D. 400.

Pa’ran. (peace of caverns). A desert or wilderness, bounded on the north by Palestine, on the east by the valley of Arabah, on the south by the desert of Sinai, and on the west by the wilderness of Etham, which separated it from the Gulf of Suez and Egypt. The first notice of Paran is in connection with the invasion of the confederate kings. Gen 14:6. The detailed itinerary of the children of Israel in Num 33:1, does not mention Paran because it was the name of a wide region; but the many stations in Paran are recorded, Numbers 17-36, and probably, all the eighteen stations were mentioned between Hazeroth and Kadesh were in Paran.

Through this very wide wilderness, from pasture to pasture, as do modern Arab tribes, the Israelites wandered in irregular lines of march. This region through which the Israelites journeyed so long is now called by the name it has borne for ages -- Bedu et-Tih, "the wilderness of wandering". ("Bible Geography," Whitney).

"Mount" Paran occurs only in two poetic passages, Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3. It probably denotes the northwestern member of the Sinaitic mountain group, which lies adjacent to the Wady Teiran. (It is probably the ridge, or series of ridges, lying on the northeastern part of the desert of Paran, not far from Kadesh. -- Editor).

EL PARAN. The Et Tih ("the wanderings") desert, N. of the wilderness of Sinai. Israel passed from the latter into Paran on their way N. toward Kadesh. (See KADESH.) (Num 10:12; Num 13:26). Paran comprises one third of the peninsula which lies between Egypt and Canaan, the eastern half of the limestone plateau which forms the center of the peninsula. Bounded on the N. by southern Canaan; on the W. by the brook or river of Egypt, parting it from Shur wilderness, the other half of the plateau; on the S. by the great sand belt sweeping across the peninsula in a concave northward line from gulf to gulf, and forming the demarcation between it and Sinai; on the E. by the northern part of the Elanitic gulf, and the Arabah dividing it from the Edom mountains. The Zin (not Sin) wilderness, Canaan’s (Num 34:3) immediate boundary, was its N.E. extremity, from whence Kadesh is spoken of as in Zin wilderness or in Paran (Num 13:26; Num 20:1.) In 1Sa 25:1-2 the southern parts of Canaan are called Paran.

The beautiful wady Feiran is probably distinct (Speaker’s Commentary, Num 10:12). Phara, a Roman station between the heads of the two gulfs, takes its name from Paran. Paran is a dreary waste of chalk covered with coarse gravel, black flint, and drifting sand, crossed by watercourses and low horizontal hills. Not so wild looking as the Arabah, nor yet relieved by such fertile valleys as lie amidst the granite mountains of Sinai. Vegetation would probably cover the level plains, which have red clay soil in parts, but for the reckless destruction of trees for charcoal, so that the winter rains run at once to waste. Ishmael’s dwelling (Gen 21:21; Gen 21:14; compare Gen 14:6). "Mount Paran" in Deu 33:2 is the range forming the northern boundary of the desert of Sinai. In Deu 1:1 Paran is either Mount Paran or a city mentioned, by Eusebius and Jerome near the mountain. The Paran of Hadad the Edomite (1Ki 11:18) lay to N.W. or the Egyptian side of Horeb, between Midian and Egypt. Capt. Burton has found extensive mineral districts in Midian, the northern Being little worked, the southern with many traces of ancient labor, shafting and tunneling.

Silver and copper abound in northern, gold in southern, and turquoise in northern southern, and central Midian. How strikingly accurate are Scripture details! We should never have guessed that a nomadic people like the Midianites would have wrought mines; but research confirms fully the truth of Scripture, which represents them as having ornaments and tablets of gold, and chains for their camels’ necks. The spoils from Midian (Num 31:50-53) included gold (of which was offered to Jehovah 16,750 shekels!), silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead. The gold taken by Gideon from them was so enormous as to suffice for making a golden ephod (Jdg 8:24-27). The Haj route from Egypt by Elath to Mecca still runs through the Paran desert. Hadad would take that road to Egypt, "taking men with them out of Paran" as guides through the desert. Seir (Edom and Teman), Sinai, and Paran are comparatively adjacent, and therefore are associated together in God’s giving the law (Hab 3:3), as in Deu 33:2.

Paran, El-paran (pâ’ran), place of caverns. A desert or wilderness south of Palestine, and near the wilderness of Etham, which separated it from the Gulf of Suez and Egypt. Paran is named in connection with the invasion of the confederate kings, Gen 14:6, and in the story of Hagar, Gen 21:21. In the detailed itinerary of the children of Israel, Num 33:1-56, many stations in Paran are recorded. Num 33:17-49, and probably all the eighteen stations there mentioned between Hazeroth and Kadesh were in Paran. Through this very wide wilderness, from pasture to pasture, as do modern Arab tribes, the Israelites wandered in irregular lines of march.

[Pa’ran]

The wilderness on the south of Canaan and west of Edom. It was here Ishmael dwelt, and in which was Kadesh, where the Israelites encamped when they sent out the twelve spies, and again near the close of their wanderings. David also at one time took shelter in this wilderness. Gen 21:21; Num 10:12; Num 12:16; Num 13:3; Num 13:26; Deu 1:1; 1Sa 25:1; 1Ki 11:18. In Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3 MOUNT PARAN is spoken of, which doubtless refers to some mount in the same district. Paran is now called et Tih, it lies between Kadesh and Sinai.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Schulim Ochser

1. Desert, corresponding to the present Badiyyat al-Tih, bounded on the north by the Jabal al-Makhrah, on the south by the watershed toward the Sinai Peninsula, on the east by the mountains of Wadi al-'Arabah, and on the west by the Wadi al-'Arish. Ishmael is said to have settled here after his separation from Abraham (Gen. xxi. 21). The Israelites went there on leaving the territory of Sinai, and the spies went thence into Canaan (Num. x. 12, xiii. 3). David went to Paran after having made peace with Saul (I Sam. xxv. 1). In the Roman period a highway led through this desert, according to the "Tabula Peutingeriana" (ed. Miller, 1888), but now Al-Tih is a desolate waste.

2. Locality near the southern boundary of Canaan, between Israel and Edom. Moses repeated the Law to the Israelites "between Paran and Tophel" (Deut. i. 1), and the Edomite Hadad stopped at Paran when fleeing before Solomon to Egypt (I Kings xi. 18). According to the "Onomasticon" of Eusebius (ed. Lagarde, p. 298), this place is identical with the present Ḳal'at al-Naḥl.

3. Mountain or mountain range. "Yhwh shined forth from Mount Paran" (Deut. xxxiii. 2), and "the Holy One [came] from Mount Paran" (Hab. iii. 3). This mountain or mountain range may be identical with the mountains surrounding the present Wadi al-'Arabah.

PARAN.—El Pârân, ‘the oak or terebinth (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ) of Paran’ (Gen 14:6), is probably identical with Elath, the ancient seaport on the Gulf of Akabah. Perhaps in this region should be sought ‘Paran’ of Deu 33:2, Hab 3:3 (Driver, ‘Deut.’ [ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] ], 392). Palmer (Desert of the Exodus, p. 510) identifies it with Jebel Magrah, c [Note: circa, about.] . 29 miles S. of ‘Ain Kadîs. If Deu 2:8 refers to a place in Moab, no trace of it has yet been found. A city may be intended in 1Ki 11:13, lying between Edom and Egypt, which cannot now be identified. The exiled Ishmael settled in the ‘Wilderness of Paran,’ evidently S. of Beersheba (Gen 21:21). Israel’s first march from Sinai brought them to this wilderness (Num 10:12). Within it lay Taberah, Kibroth-hattaavah, Mazeroth, Kadesh, and what is called the ‘Wilderness of Zin.’ The spies went from the ‘Wilderness of Zin’ (Num 13:21), in which lay Kadesh (Num 20:1, Num 27:14, cf. Num 33:36), and this again is identified with the ‘Wilderness of Paran’ (Num 13:26). It corresponds to the great limestone plateau of et-Tîh, stretching from the S. of Judah to the mountains of Sinai, having the Arabah on the E. and the desert of Shur on the W. Hither David fled after Samuel’s death (1Sa 25:1. LXX [Note: Septuagint.] B here gives Maan = Heb. Ma‘ôn. See Smith, ‘Samuel’ [ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] ], 220 f.).

W. Ewing.

Paran was a barren region in the Sinai Peninsular. It was located south of Kadesh-barnea and west of Ezion-geber. (For map and other details see KADESH-BARNEA.) Refugees at times escaped to Paran, and the people of Israel camped there on their way from Egypt to Canaan (Gen 21:21; Num 10:12; Num 13:25-26; 1Ki 11:17-18).