Bible Atlas: A Manual of Biblical Geography and History

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

1. Boundaries. Moab; Desert: Midianites; Arabah.

2. Names. Seir, Edom, Idumea, Geballene, Jebal and esh Sherah.

3. Natural Features. Mountains; Soil; Capitals (Bozrah, Petra).

4. History. Horites; Esau; Edomites; Israelite Supremacy; Chaldeans; Nabatheans; Maccabeans; Romans.

5. Peculiarities. Religion; Rock Houses.

THE WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS.

There are great difficulties in fixing the location of the places and the order of events in the history of the forty years which intervened between the exodus, or "going out," from Egypt, and the entrance into the Promised Land (B.C. 1250-1210). These difficulties arise from various causes: the antiquity of the events, the fragmentary character of the history, the extent of the country, our scanty knowledge of the region, and especially the changes which have taken place in the sea-coast during the 3,000 years past. While the general course of the journey can be easily defined, the particular localities are, in many instances, exceedingly uncertain. For the convenience of the student, we divide the entire journey from Egypt to Canaan into sections.

I. From Rameses to the Red Sea. (Exod. 12-14; Num. 33:5-8.) The sojourn of the Israelites was passed in the Land of Goshen, between the Nile and the Isthmus of Suez. The court of the reigning Pharaoh during the time while Moses was negotiating for the departure of the Israelites, was at Zoan, or Tanis (Psa. 78:12), the royal city of the Delta. Rameses, the place of meeting for the Israelites, was probably a district rather than a city (Gen. 47:8), but may have been at Abu Kesheib. Pithom (Exod. 1:11) has been discovered at Tell Maskutor, ten miles west of Lake Timsah. Succoth, "booths" or "tents," was probably not a city but a camp, and its location is unknown. Etham, "wall" (Exod. 13:20), may indicate a place near the great wall which extended across the isthmus. Pi-hahiroth may be at Agrud, near Suez. Baal-zephon may be the mountain Jebel Alaka. The Israelites crossed the sea at the narrow Strait of Suez, where the distance from shore to shore is about two-thirds of a mile. At that time the gulf probably extended several miles north of its present position. The northeast wind drove out the waters, leaving a path across the gulf, with pools on either side, as a "wall" or defense to the crossing Israelites.

II. From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai. (Exod. 15-19; Num. 33:8-15.) The general direction can be traced with certainty, but the precise places of encampment are only conjectural. It is probable that so vast a body of people, about two millions, must have occupied a large extent of territory, and the "stations" were the various headquarters of the camp. This section of the journey was mostly spent in the two narrow plains along the coast, the Wilderness (or desert) of Etham, and that of Sin. At Marah (Ain Hawârah) the bitter waters were healed; at Elim (Wady Ghurundel) they were refreshed by the "twelve wells and three-score and ten palm trees." At the next station, No. 9, "the encampment at the Red Sea," they saw for the last time the waters of the western gulf, and the land of Egypt beyond them. Here they turned eastward, and, passing the mountain barrier, entered the Wilderness of Sin. (This is to be distinguished from the Wilderness of Zin, or the Arabah, on the eastern side of the peninsula.) In this wild and barren country, food failed them, and the manna began to be supplied (Exod. 16), to last for forty years. Their general course was now eastward, through the wadies, or dry beds of winter torrents. At Rephidim (station 13) two events are recorded as occurring. The want of water led to a miraculous supply from the smitten rock (Exod. 17:2-7); and the Israelites fought the first battle in their history, with the wandering Amalekites, who attacked the rear of the scattered host. Under Joshua, who here appears for the first time, they were defeated, and devoted to complete destruction. (Exod. 17:8-16; Deut. 25:18.) The next station was Mount Sinai, in front of which they encamped, probably on the plain er Rahah. Their journey thus far had occupied two months and a half, and here they remained for a year. The principal events at Mount Sinai were: 1. The giving of the law. (Exod. 19-31.) 2. The worship of the golden calf, and its punishment. (Exod. 32.) 3. The building and consecration of the Tabernacle. (Exod. 35-40.) 4. The numbering and organization of the people. (Num. 1-2.)

III. From Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. After a year spent at and around Mount Sinai, the camp was taken up, and the host, led by the Ark of the Covenant, entered once more upon its march. The direction of the journey was northeast, and the route was probably through the Wady Saal. At Taberah (station 15), the "fire of the Lord" consumed some on the verge of the camp who murmured against God's commands. (Num. 11:1-3.) At Kibroth-hattaavah (station 16), (perhaps the same place with the preceding), a dislike of the manna and a lust for flesh-meat seized the crowd of people, and for a month they fed upon quails, but were punished by a plague, which destroyed multitudes, and gave a name to the place, "the graves of lust." (Num. 11:4-35.) At Hazeroth (probably Ain Hudherah), Miriam instigated Aaron to a rebellion against Moses, but was smitten with leprosy, though healed at the prayer of Moses. (Num. 12:1-16.) The Israelites followed the mountain chain by the Red Sea, keeping upon the western side of the hills, and, passing through the edge of the Wilderness of Paran and along the Arabah, followed up the line of the "Mount of the Amorites" (which appears to have been a general name for the mountains in the southern portion of the Negeb, or South Country), until they came to Kadesh-barnea. The location of this place is the great difficulty in the geography of the period. The name appears to be used with reference to a region, and more definitely referring to a place. Three localities have been claimed, all on the border of the "Mount of the Amorites," or the South Country. The most southerly location is that now known as Ain esh Shehabeh, on the Wady Jerafeh; the most westerly, at Ain Gadis, or Quadis, directly south of the land of Judah; the one farthest to the north and east, at Ain el Weibeh, in the edge of the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea. The latter has been regarded by most explorers since Dr. Robinson, as the correct site, and as it appears on the older maps. But the Rev. J. Rowlands, on a journey through the entire region, identified Ain Quadis as the true Kadesh-barnea, and his conclusion was confirmed by Dr. H. C. Trumbull after a thorough investigation of all the three places. It is now accepted by most writers. We have therefore regarded Ain Quadis as Kadesh-barnea, and have made it the center of Israelite journeying during the thirty-eight years of the wandering. The change in the location of Kadesh-barnea may necessitate a change in the location of Mount Hor, which Trumbull places at Jebel Maderah, but we have retained the old locality on the edge of Edom. Twice the Israelites were encamped at Kadesh, which marked the beginning and end of the thirty-eight years' wandering in the Wilderness of Paran. From Kadesh the twelve spies were sent northward into the Land of Canaan, and the adverse report of ten of them caused such terror and rebellion in the host, that God declared that they should not enter the Promised Land until all that generation should have passed away. (Num. 13, 14.) They were ordered to turn back into the wilderness, but disobeyed, and, against their leaders' advice, undertook to force a passage to Canaan, probably up the pass es Sufa. But the inhabitants of the mountains (Amorites, Canaanites, and Amalekites in alliance) attacked them to their utter defeat at Hormah, and effectually barred their entrance to the land through the South Country, as the warlike Philistines had closed it against them by the way of the plain by the sea. (Exod. 13:17.) Discouraged and despairing, the host of Israel again turned their faces once more toward the terrible Wilderness of Paran.