Paran

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

EL PARAN. The Εt Τih ("the wanderings") desert, N. of the wilderness of Sinai. Israel passed from the latter into Paran on their way N. toward Kadesh. (See Kadesh .) ( Numbers 10:12;  Numbers 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 ( Numbers 34:3) immediate boundary, was its N.E. extremity, from whence Kadesh is spoken of as in Zin wilderness or in Paran ( Numbers 13:26;  Numbers 20:1.) In  1 Samuel 25:1-2 the southern parts of Canaan are called Paran.

The beautiful Wady Feiran is probably distinct (Speaker's Commentary,  Numbers 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 ( Genesis 21:21;  Genesis 21:14; compare  Genesis 14:6). "Mount Paran" in  Deuteronomy 33:2 is the range forming the northern boundary of the desert of Sinai. In  Deuteronomy 1:1 Paran is either Mount Paran or a city mentioned, by Eusebius and Jerome near the mountain. The Paran of Hadad the Edomite ( 1 Kings 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 ( Numbers 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 ( Judges 8:24-27). The Ηaj 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 ( Habakkuk 3:3), as in  Deuteronomy 33:2.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PARAN. El Pârân , ‘the oak or terebinth (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ) of Paran’ (  Genesis 14:6 ), is probably identical with Elath, the ancient seaport on the Gulf of Akabah. Perhaps in this region should be sought ‘Paran’ of   Deuteronomy 33:2 ,   Habakkuk 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   Deuteronomy 2:8 refers to a place in Moab, no trace of it has yet been found. A city may be intended in   1 Kings 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 (  Genesis 21:21 ). Israel’s first march from Sinai brought them to this wilderness (  Numbers 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’ (  Numbers 13:21 ), in which lay Kadesh (  Numbers 20:1 ,   Numbers 27:14 , cf.   Numbers 33:36 ), and this again is identified with the ‘Wilderness of Paran’ (  Numbers 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 (  1 Samuel 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.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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.  Genesis 14:6. The detailed itinerary of the children of Israel in  Numbers 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,  Deuteronomy 33:2;  Habakkuk 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).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

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.  Genesis 21:21;  Numbers 10:12;  Numbers 12:16;  Numbers 13:3,26;  Deuteronomy 1:1;  1 Samuel 25:1;  1 Kings 11:18 . In  Deuteronomy 33:2;  Habakkuk 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.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

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,  Genesis 14:6, and in the story of Hagar,  Genesis 21:21. In the detailed itinerary of the children of Israel,  Numbers 33:1-56, many stations in Paran are recorded.  Numbers 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.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Desert Of a "great and terrible wilderness" which the children of Israel entered after leaving Mount Sinai,  Numbers 10:12;  Deuteronomy 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.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Numbers 10:11-12 Numbers 13:3 13:26 Genesis 14:5-7 Genesis 21:21 1 Kings 11:17-18 2 Deuteronomy 33:2 Habakkuk 3:3

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

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 ( Genesis 21:21;  Numbers 10:12;  Numbers 13:25-26;  1 Kings 11:17-18).

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 21:21 Numbers 10:12,33 1 Samuel 25:1,4

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Paran', פָּארָן , according to Gesenius and Furst, Excavated , i.e. a place of caves, from an Arab. root; according to others, from פָּאִר , To Be Beautiful ; Sept. and Josephus, Φαράν ; Vulg. Pharan ), a name given in the Bible to a desert and to a mountain. The present article embodies the Biblical and the modern information on this subject.

1. THE Wilderness Of Paran ( מַדְבִּר פָּארָן ; Sept. Ἡ Ἔρημος Τοῦ Φαράν ). The situation and boundaries of this desert are set forth with considerable exactness by a number of incidental notices in Scripture. It had Palestine on the north, the valley of Arabah on the east, and the desert of Sinai on the south. Its western boundary is not mentioned in the Bible, but it appears to have extended to Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The first notice of Paran is in connection with the expedition of the eastern kings against Sodom. After defeating the giant tribes east of the Jordan, they swept over Mount Seir (Edom) "unto the terebinth of Paran ( עִד אֵיל פָּארָן ; Sept. Ἕως Τῆς Τερεβίνθου Τῆς Φαράν Vulg. Usque Ad Campestria Pharan , A.V. "El Paran"), which is in the wilderness" ( Genesis 14:6). Doubtless some well-known sacred tree is here referred to. It stood on the western border of Seir, and consequently in the Arabah, (See Seir); and it was "in the wilderness" — that is, the desert of Paran, apparently considerably south of Kadesh. From the terebinth of Paran they turned back, "and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh." — When Abraham sent away Hagar and Ishmael from his tent at Beersheba, they went out into "the wilderness of Paran;" and Ishmael dwelt there, allying himself doubtless with the nomad tribes who made that place their home ( Genesis 21:14;  Genesis 21:21).

But it is from its connection with the wanderings of the Israelites that Paran derives its chief and abiding interest: "And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran" ( Numbers 10:12). From this it might be thought that Paran lay close to Mount Sinai, where the Israelites had long been encamped; but the full narrative which is afterwards given shows that from the encampment at Sinai they made a four-days march to Hazeroth ( Numbers 10:33;  Numbers 11:3;  Numbers 11:34-35); and then the next march brought them into "the wilderness of Paran" ( Numbers 12:16). From Paran the spies were sent to survey Canaan ( Numbers 13:3); and after completing their mission they returned to the camp "unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh" ( Numbers 13:26). There is an apparent difficulty here. At first sight it would appear as if Kadesh in Paran was only a single march from Hazeroth; while Hazeroth has been identified with Ain Hudherah, which is 140 miles distant from Kadesh. The difficulty is solved by a reference to the detailed itinerary in Numbers 33 :Paran is not mentioned there, because it was the name of a wide region, and the sacred writer records only the names of the camp-stations. Hazeroth is mentioned, however, and so is Kadesh; and between them there are twenty stations (17-38). Most probably all these stations were in Paran, for it is said that when they "took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai, the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran" (10:12); and Moses also states, "When we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw by way of the mountain of the Amorites; and we came to Kadesh- barnea" ( Deuteronomy 1:19). The wilderness of Paran in fact extended from Hazeroth, and the desert of Sinai (or Horeb) on the south, to the foot of the mountains of Palestine on the north; and its eastern border ran along the valley of the Arabah, from the gulf of Akabah to the southern shore of the Dead Sea. Through this wide region the Israelites marched, not in a straight line, but, like the modern Arab tribes, from pasture to pasture; and. it was when entering upon that long and toilsome march that Moses said to his father-in-law, "Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be ‘ to us instead of eyes" ( Numbers 10:31). Jethro was intimately acquainted with the whole wilderness. As a nomad pastoral chief he knew the best pastures and all the wells and fountains; and hence Moses was most anxious to secure his services as guide.

The reference made to Paran in 1 Samuel 25 shows that it bordered upon the southern declivities of the mountains of Judah. Probably its boundary was not very accurately defined; and whatever part of that region lay between the limits of settled habitation was called "the wilderness, or pasture-land, of Paran." It thus included a large section of the Negeb. (See South Country). — The reference to Paran in  Deuteronomy 1:1 is not so clear. The object of the sacred writer is to describe the place where Moses gave his long address to the Israelites. It was "on this (the east) side of Jordan, in the wilderness" (or Midbar of Moab; comp.  Deuteronomy 1:5), in the plain (the Arabah, ערבה ) over against the Red Sea (or "opposite to Suf, מול סו Š ), between Paran and Tophel, etc. ("between Paran, and between Tophel and Laban," etc.). The sense appears to be that the Arabah in which Moses stood was opposite to the northern gulf of the Red Sea, and had on the one side Paran, and on the other Tophel, etc. It must not be inferred that Paran extended up to Jericho; all that seems to be meant is that it formed the western boundary of the greater part of the Arabah. — It would seem from the incidental statement in  1 Kings 11:18 that Paran lay between Midian and Egypt. The region there called Midian was situated on the south of Edom, (See Midian), apparently at the head of the A Elanitic gulf; and the road taken by the fugitive Hadad was most probably that now traversed by the Egyptian Haj route, which passes through the whole desert of Tih.

It is strange that both Eusebius and Jerome (followed by Steph. Byz.; Reland, p. 556; Raumer, and others) speak of Paran as a city, which they locate three days' journey east ( Πρὸς Ἀνατολάς , but they must evidently mean West ) of Aila ( Onomast . s.v. Faran). They refer, doubtless, to the old town of Faran, in the valley of Feiran, at the foot of Mount Serbal, in the desert of Sinai. In this valley there are still ruins of a town, and indeed of more than one, with towers, aqueducts, and sepulchral excavations; and here Ruppell found the remains of a church, which he assigns to the 5th century (Reise in Nubien . p. 263). This was the Pharan or Faran which had a Christian population, and was the seat of a bishopric so early as A.D. 400 (Orieons Christ. col. 735; Reland, Palaest. p. 219, 220, 228). The city is described, under the name of Feiran, by the Arabian historian Edrisi, about A.D. 1150, and by Makriri about A.D. 1400. The description of the latter is copied by Burckhardt (Syria, p. 616). He mentions it as having been a city of the Amalekites; and the history of the Hebrew pilgrimage renders it extremely probable that the Amalekites were actually stationed in-this valley. from which they came forth to attack the Israelites, when encamped near it at Rephidim ( Exodus 17:8). Feiran was thus an important place in early ages (Robinson, 1:126, 592); but it lies nearly thirty miles beyond the southern boundary of Paran. Nevertheless it seems to be a trace of the ancient name transferred to an adjoining locality. Some writers even regard it as the source of the designation of the region. Josephus mentions a valley of Paran; but it was situated somewhere in the wilderness of Judaea (War, 4:9, 4).

Paran is not strictly speaking "a wilderness." The sacred writers call it midbar; that is, a pasture-land, as distinguished from an agricultural country. Its principal inhabitants were nomads, though it had a few towns and some corn-fields (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1:190 sq.). The leading features of its physical geography are as follows: The central section, from Beersheba to Jebel et-Tib, is an undulating plateau, from 600 to 800 feet in height, traversed by bare rounded ridges, and shallow, dry valleys, running on the one side into the Arabab, and on the other to the Mediterranean. The soil is scanty, white, and thickly strewn with nodules of flint. In early spring it is partially covered with grass, shrubs, and weeds; but during the heat and drought of summer all vegetation disappears. and the whole surface assumes that aspect of dreary desolation which led the Israelites to call it "a great and terrible wilderness" ( Deuteronomy 1:19); and which suggested in recent times the somewhat exaggerated language of Mr. Williams — "A frightfully terrific wilderness, whose horrors language must fail to describe" (Holy City, 1, App. 1, p. 464). Fountains are rare, and even wells and tanks are far apart. The plateau rises considerably towards the north-east; and, as deep glens descend from it to the Arabah, this section presents the appearance of a series of parallel ridges extending east and west. Their southern sides are mostly bluffs of naked white rock, which seem from a distance like colossal terrace-walls. These are the mountains of the Amorites mentioned in  Deuteronomy 1:19-20, to which the Israelites approached through the wilderness, and which formed the southern border of Canaan. Besides these there is a line of bare white hills running along the whole western border of the Arabah, and forming the support of the table-land of Paran. Towards the valley they descend in steep shelving slopes and rugged precipices, averaging about a thousand feet in height; and everywhere deeply furrowed by wild ravines. The passes from the Arabah to Paran are difficult,, and a comparatively small band of resolute men might defend them against an army. The southern declivities of the mountain of the Amorites would also present serious obstacles to the advance of a large host.

These natural features enable us to understand more fully some points in the history of the wilderness journey, and to illustrate many incidental expressions in the sacred narrative. They show why the Israelites feared to enter Canaan from Kadesh until they had ascertained by the report of the spies that those formidable mountain-passes were open ( Deuteronomy 1:22). They show how the Amorites, "which dwelt in that mountain," were able to drive them back when they attempted to ascend ( Deuteronomy 1:44; comp.  Numbers 14:40-45). They show how expressive and how natural is the language so often used by Moses at Kadesh. When he sent the spies, "he said unto them, Get You Up This Way southward, and go up into the mountain;" " So They Went Up ... they ascended by the south." "Caleb said, Let us go up at once. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people" ( Numbers 13:17;  Numbers 13:21-22;  Numbers 13:30-31). Again, in describing the defeat of the people — "They rose up early... And Gat Them Up into the top of the mountain, saying, We will Go Up into the place which the Lord hath promised... Moses said, Go Not Up . . . But they presumed to go up. . . and the Amalekites came down," etc. (14:40, 42, 44, 45).

The name Paran thus corresponds in general outline with the desert Et-Tih. The Sinaitic desert, including the wedge of metamorphic rocks, granite, syenite, and porphyry, set, as it were, in a superficial margin of old red sandstone, forms nearly a scalene triangle, with its apex southward, and having its base or upper edge not a straight, but concave crescent line — the ridge, in short, of the Et-Tih range of mountains, extending about 120 miles from east to west, with a slight dip, the curve of the aforesaid crescent southward. Speaking generally, the wilderness of Sinai ( Numbers 10:12;  Numbers 12:16), in which the march-stations of Taberah and Hazeroth are probably included towards its north-east limit, may be said to lie south of the Et-Tih range, the wilderness of Paran north of it, and the one to end where the other begins. That of Paran is a stretch of chalky formation, the chalk being covered with coarse gravel, mixed with black flint and drifting. sand. The caravan route from Cairo to Akaba crosses the Et-Tih desert in a line from west to east, a little south. In this wide tract, which extends northward to join the "wilderness of Beersheba" ( Genesis 21:21; comp.  Genesis 21:14), and eastward probably to the wilderness of Zin, (See Kadesh), on the Edomitish border, Ishmael dwelt, and there probably his posterity originally multiplied. Ascending northward from it on a meridian to the east of Beersheba, we should reach Maon and Carmel, or that southern portion of the territory of Judah, west of the- Dead Sea, known as "the South," where the waste changes gradually into an uninhabited pasture-land, at least in spring and autumn, and in which, under the name of "Paran," Nabal fed his flocks ( 1 Samuel 25:1). Between the wilderness of Paran and that of Zin no strict demarcation exists in the narrative, nor do the natural features of the region, so far as yet ascertained, yield a well-defined boundary. The name of Paran seems, as in the story of Ishmael, to have predominated towards the western extremity of the northern desert frontier of Et-Tih, and in  Numbers 34:4 the wilderness of Zin, not Paran, is spoken of as the southern border of the land or of the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 15:3).

If by the Paran region we understand "that great and terrible wilderness" so emphatically described as the haunt of noxious creatures and the terror of the wayfarer ( Deuteronomy 1:19;  Deuteronomy 8:15), then we might see how the adjacent tracts, which still must be called "wilderness," might, either as having less repulsive features, or because they lay near to some settled country, have a special nomenclature of their own. For the latter reason the wilderness of Zin, eastward towards Edom and Mount Seir, and of Shur, westward towards Egypt, might be thus distinguished; for the former reason that of Zin and Sinai. It would not be inconsistent with the rules of scriptural nomenclature if we suppose these accessory wilds to be sometimes included under the general name of wilderness of Paran;" and to this extent we may perhaps modify the previous general statement that south of the Et-Tih range is the wilderness of Sinai, and north of it that of Paran. Still, construed strictly, the wildernesses of Paran and Zin would seem to lie as already approximately laid down. If, however, as previously hinted, they may in another view be regarded as overlapping, we can more easily understand how Chedorlaomer, when he "smote" the peoples south of the Dead Sea, returned round its south-western curve to the El-Paran, or "terebinth tree of Paran," viewed as indicating a locality in connection with the wilderness of Paran, and yet close, apparently, to that Dead Sea border ( Genesis 14:6). It is worthy of special note that the wanderings of the Israelites through Paran became to it as a new baptism. Its name is now, and has been for ages; Bedu et-Tih, "The wilderness of wandering" (Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 4; Jaubert's Edrisi, 1:360). In addition to the authorities already referred to, notices of Paran will be found in the writings of Burckhardt (Travels in Syria, p. 444); Seetzen (Zach's Monatl. Corresp. ch. xvii); Ruppell (Reisen, p. 241); Bartlett (Forty Days in the Desert, p. 149 sq.); Ritter (Pal. und Syr. 1:147 sq., 1079 sq.); Olin (Travels in Egypt, etc. 2:59 sq.); Miss Martineau (Eastern Life, p. 418 sq.); and especially in Palmer's Desert of the Exodus, (1872). (See Sinai).

2. Mount Paran ( הִר פָּארָן ) is mentioned only in two passages, both sublime odes celebrating the Divine Majesty. The same glorious event, whatever it may have been, is plainly alluded to in both. Moses says, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran," etc. ( Deuteronomy 33:2); and Habakkuk writes: "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran" ( Habakkuk 3:3). The object of both writers is to call attention to those places where the most striking manifestations of divine power and majesty were made to Israel. Next to Sinai, Kadesh stands out as the theater of the Lord's most remarkable workings. It lies in the valley of the Arabah, with Seir on the one side and the highlands of Paran on the other. The summits of both these ranges were, doubtless, now illumined, now clouded, like the brow of Sinai, by the divine glory (comp.  Numbers 16:19-35;  Numbers 16:42;  Numbers 20:1). Teman was another name for Edom, or Seir; and hence the local allusions of Moses and Habakkuk are identical. It may therefore be safely concluded that Mount Paran is that ridge, or series of ridges, already described, lying on the north-east part of the wilderness of Tih. There is nothing in Scripture which would lead us to connect it more closely with Sinai than with Seir, or to identify it with Jebel Serbal, which overlooks Wady Feiran, as is done by Stanley and some others.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

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.