Wilderness of Paran

The Wilderness of Paran in the Bible

The Wilderness of Paran appears in several passages of the Old Testament.

• Genesis: Genesis 14:6 records that the coalition led by Chedorlaomer struck the Horites and reached "Elparan, which is by the wilderness." According to Genesis 21:20-21, Ishmael, after being sent away from Abraham's household, grew up in the Wilderness of Paran. He became an archer, and his mother took him a wife from the land of Egypt (Hagar and Ishmael).
• Numbers: Israel departed from the Wilderness of Sinai at the foot of Mount Sinai, and the cloud rested in the Wilderness of Paran (Numbers 10:12). After leaving Hazeroth, the people encamped in the Wilderness of Paran (Numbers 12:16). From there Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan. The spies returned "unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh" and gave their report (Numbers 13:3, 26). The people then murmured, and the sentence was pronounced that they would spend forty years in the wilderness (Twelve Spies, Forty Years in the Wilderness).
• Deuteronomy and Habakkuk: Deuteronomy 33:2 sings that the LORD "shined forth from mount Paran." Habakkuk 3:3 likewise declares that "the Holy One [came] from mount Paran," portraying God as appearing from the southern wilderness.
• Historical books: After the death of Samuel, David went down to the Wilderness of Paran (1 Samuel 25:1). In the time of Solomon, Hadad the Edomite left Midian and passed through Paran as he fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11:18).

Background and Location

The Wilderness of Paran is generally regarded as a broad arid region between Egypt and Edom, south of the Negev in the southern part of Canaan. Many identify it with the plateau region of the northeastern Sinai Peninsula, though its exact boundaries are unknown. Numbers 13:26 places Kadesh in the Wilderness of Paran, whereas Numbers 20:1 locates the same Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin. For this reason, some hold that the two wildernesses adjoined each other or that the names were used broadly and overlapped. The original meaning of the name is uncertain.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Wilderness of Paran is the setting of the episode in which the Exodus generation, standing on the very threshold of the Promised Land, failed to believe and turned back. The name Paran does not appear in the New Testament. However, 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 presents the experiences of the wilderness generation as "ensamples" written "for our admonition." Hebrews 3-4 likewise cites those who could not enter into rest because of unbelief as a warning and exhorts believers to enter into God's rest (Hebrews 4:9-11).

Interpretations and Issues

• In 1 Samuel 25:1, some manuscripts of the Septuagint read "Maon" in place of "Paran." Because the account set in Maon follows immediately, some scholars adopt this reading.
• Some interpreters in the Islamic tradition identify the Paran where Ishmael lived with the Hejaz region of Arabia. They read "Sinai," "Seir," and "mount Paran" in Deuteronomy 33:2 as a prophecy referring in sequence to Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. The common Jewish and Christian interpretation understands the verse as a poem celebrating God's appearing in the southern wilderness near Sinai and Edom.