Difference between revisions of "Shur"

<p> [[Shur]] was a desert region in the north of the [[Sinai]] Peninsular. It was bounded by Egypt on the west (the border being along the line of the present-day [[Suez]] Canal), and the [[Negeb]] on the east (the border being along the [[Brook]] of Egypt) (&nbsp;Genesis 20:1; &nbsp;Exodus 15:22; &nbsp;1 Samuel 15:7; &nbsp;1 Samuel 27:8). The main inland route from Egypt to [[Jerusalem]] passed through the [[Wilderness]] of Shur and the [[Judean]] towns of [[Beersheba]] and [[Hebron]] (&nbsp;Genesis 13:1; &nbsp;Genesis 13:18; &nbsp;Genesis 16:7; &nbsp;Genesis 21:14; &nbsp;Genesis 46:5). (For further details see PALESTINE, sub-heading ‘Negeb’.) </p>

<p> Outside the eastern border of Egypt. ("a wall".) The strip of desert which skirts the wall-like range of jebel er Rahah ''(E. Of Suez, The Continuation Of The [[Range]] '' jebel et Τih '' [[Northward]] Toward The Mediterranean, Still Called By The Arabs Jebel Es Sur)'' as far S. as wady Gharandel. [[Hagar]] fleeing from Abraham, then in southern Palestine, reached a fountain "in the way to Shur" (&nbsp;Genesis 16:7). She was probably making for her country Egypt by the inland caravan route, the way by [[Star]] over jebel er Rahah as distinguished from the coast road by el Arish. [[Abraham]] settled for a time between the two deserts of [[Kadesh]] and Shur, and finally sojourned at [[Gerar]] (&nbsp;Genesis 20:1). </p> <p> In &nbsp;Genesis 25:18 Shur is defined to be "before ''(I.E. E. Of)'' Egypt." So &nbsp;1 Samuel 15:7; &nbsp;1 Samuel 27:8; [[Josephus]] (Ant. 6:7) makes it [[Pelusium]] , near the Nile's mouth; others the N.E. part of the wilderness of Paran, now ''Al Jifar'' . [[Gesenius]] makes Shur the modern Suez. [[Israel]] entered "the wilderness of Shur" when they had crossed the Red Sea (&nbsp;Exodus 15:22-23). The wilderness of Shur is the whole district between the N.E. frontier of Egypt and Palestine, Shur being derived from the [[Egyptian]] Κhar ''(Occurring In A [[Papyrus]] Of The 19Th Dynasty)'' , Κh and Sh being interchanged. In &nbsp;Numbers 33:8 the special designation occurs, "the wilderness of Etham" ''(At The Northern [[Extremity]] Of The [[Bitter]] Lakes)'' . </p>

<p> (Heb. Shur, שׁוּר; Sept, Σούρ; Vulg. [[Sur]] )'','' a place just without the eastern border of Egypt. Its name, if [[Hebrew]] or Arabic, signifies "a wall;" and there can be little doubt that it is of Shemitic origin from the position of the place. The Sept. seems to have thus interpreted it, if we may judge from the obscure rendering of &nbsp;1 Samuel 27:8, where it must be remarked the extraordinary form Γελαμψούρ is found. This word is evidently a transcription of the words שׁוּרָה ... מֵעוֹלָ ם, the farmer, save the initial particle, not being translated. The [[Targums]] of Onkelos and [[Jonathan]] interpret Shur by ''Chagara'' (חגרא ), and Josephus by [[Pelusium]] (Πηλούσιον [''Ant.'' 6, 7, 3]); but the latter was called [[Sin]] by the Hebrews. </p> <p> Shur is first mentioned in the narrative of Hagar's flight from Sarah. Abraham was then in southernmost Palestine, and when Hagar fled she was found by an angel "by the fountain in the way to Shur" (&nbsp;Genesis 16:7). Probably she was endeavoring to return to Egypt, the country of her birth — she may not have been a pure Egyptian — and had reached a well in the inland caravan route. Abraham afterwards "dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar" (&nbsp;Genesis 20:1). From this it would seem either that Shur lay in the territory of the [[Philistines]] of Gerar, or that this pastoral tribe wandered in a region extending from Kadesh to Shur. (See Gerar). </p> <p> In neither case can we ascertain the position of Shur. The first clear indications of this occurs in the account of Ishmael's posterity: "And they dwelt from [[Havilah]] unto Shur, that [is] before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria" (25:18). With this should be compared the mention of the extent of the Amalekitish territory given in this passage, "And, Saul smote the [[Amalekites]] from Havilah [until] thou comest to Shur, that [is] over against Egypt" (&nbsp;1 Samuel 15:7). It is also important to notice that the Geshurites, Gezrites, and Amalekites, whom David smote, are described as "from an ancient period the inhabitants of the land as thou comest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt" (27:8). The Wilderness of Shur was entered by the [[Israelites]] after they had crossed the Red Sea (&nbsp;Exodus 15:22-23). It was also called the Wilderness of [[Etham]] (&nbsp;Numbers 33:8). The first passage presents one difficulty, upon which the Sept. and Vulg. throw no light, in the mention of Assyria. If, however, we compare it with later places, we find בֹּאֲכָה אִשּׁוּרָה here remarkably like בּוֹאֲךָ שׁוּרָה in &nbsp;1 Samuel 27:8, and בּוֹאֲךָ שׁוּר in 15:7, as if the same phrase had been originally found in the first as a gloss; but it may have been there transposed, and have originally followed the mention of Havilah. In the notices of the Amalekitish and Ishmaelitish region, in which the latter succeeded the former, there can be no question that a strip of Northern [[Arabia]] is intended, stretching from the Isthmus of Suez towards, and probably to, the [[Persian]] Gulf. The name of the wilderness may indicate a somewhat southern position. Dr. Trumbull (Kadesh-bamea, p. 44 sq.) labors at great length to prove that Shur was a line of fortifications extending from Suez to the Mediterranean; but in that case the word must have had the article, "The Wall," which it never takes; nor does it appear that the forts in question were as continuous as a wall would be. His etmologies connecting. it in this sense with Etham are very forced. </p> <p> According to recent authorities the "Wilderness of Shur" is substantially identical with the modern desert el-Jifar, which extends between the Red Sea and the [[Mediterranean]] from Pelusium to the southwest borders of [[Palestine]] (Rosenmuller, Alterth. 3, 241 sq.). It consists of white shifting sand (yet see Schubert, 2, 273), has very little signs of habitations, and is some seven days' journey across. The simple word Shur evidently designates, in general, a high ridge running north and south in the form of a high wall, according to the meaning of the word before, i.e. on the east side of Egypt (&nbsp;Genesis 25:18; &nbsp;Exodus 15:22). This can be no other than the high range to the east of Suez, the continuation of the great chain of Jebel et-Tih northward towards the Mediterranean, forming a sharp ridge or a high [[Wall]] as seen from a distance east and west, and a grand barrier on the east side of Egypt and to the west of the great plain in the interior of the wilderness called Desert et-Tih. There is no other range whatever of the kind between Egypt and the interior of the wilderness (see Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, p. 44). This must be, therefore, the Wilderness of Shur. It is called by the Egyptians, and those who live to the west of it, Jebel er-Rahah, or the [[Mountain]] of Rahah. But (according to some travellers) by the Arabs of the interior of the wilderness, on the east side of the range, it is called Jebel es-Sur, or the Mountain of Shur. </p>

<p> ''''' shûr ''''' , ''''' shōōr ''''' ( שׁוּר , <i> ''''' shūr ''''' </i> ; Σούρ , <i> ''''' Soūr ''''' </i> ): The name of a desert East of the [[Gulf]] of Suez. The word means a "wall," and may probably refer to the mountain wall of the <i> ''''' Tı̂h ''''' </i> plateau as visible from the shore plains. In &nbsp; Genesis 16:7 Hagar at Kadesh ( <i> '''''‛Ain''''' </i> <i> '''''Ḳadı̂s''''' </i> ) (see &nbsp;Genesis 16:14 ) is said to have been "in the way to Shur." Abraham also lived "between Kadesh and Shur" (&nbsp;Genesis 20:1 ). The position of Shur is defined (&nbsp;Genesis 25:18 ) as being "opposite Egypt on the way to Assyria." After crossing the Red Sea (&nbsp;Exodus 15:4 ) the Hebrews entered the desert of Shur (&nbsp;Exodus 15:22 ), which extended southward a distance of three days' journey. It is again noticed (&nbsp;1 Samuel 15:7 ) as being opposite Egypt, and (&nbsp;1 Samuel 27:8 ) as near Egypt. There is thus no doubt of its situation, on the East of the Red Sea, and of the Bitter Lakes. </p> <p> Brugsch, however, proposed to regard Shur ("the wall") as equivalent to the Egyptian <i> ''''' anbu ''''' </i> ("wall"), the name of a fortification of some kind apparently near Kantarah (see [[Migdol]] (2)), probably barring the entrance to Egypt on the road from Pelusium to Zoan. The extent of this "wall" is unknown, but Brugsch connects it with the wall mentioned by [[Diodorus]] Siculus (i. 4) who wrote about 8 BC, and who attributed it to [[Sesostris]] (probably [[Rameses]] II) who defended "the east side of Egypt against the irruptions of the [[Syrians]] and Arabians, by a wall drawn from Pelusium through the deserts as far as to Heliopolis, for a space of 1,500 furlongs." [[Heliopolis]] lies 90 miles (not 188) Southwest of Pelusium: this wall, if it existed at all, would have run on the edge of the desert which extends North of <i> ''''' Wâdy ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Tumeilât ''''' </i> from <i> ''''' Ḳanṭarah ''''' </i> to <i> ''''' Tell ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Kebı̂r ''''' </i> ; but this line, on the borders of Goshen, is evidently much too far West to have any connection with the desert of Shur East of the Gulf of Suez. See Budge, <i> Hist. </i> <i> Egypt </i> , 90; Brugsch, <i> Egypt under the Pharaohs </i> , abridged edition, 320. </p>