# The Northern Ḥeǧâz/Appendix 8

APPENDIX VIII
ÊL PÂRÂN AND PÂRÂN
According to Genesis, 14: 6 f., the Babylonian kings destroyed the men of Ḥôr in Mount Seʻîr as far as Êl Pârân, which is situated in the desert. They then turned and came to ʻÊn Mišpaṭ, which is Ḳadeš, and laid waste the whole of the land of the Amalekites and of the Amorites dwelling in Ḥaṣaṣôn Tamar, whereupon they encountered the allied kings in the lowland of Siddîm.—
The Babylonian kings must have proceeded southward along the eastern side of Moab and Edom as far as Êl Pârân, where they turned back in a northerly direction and reached the lowland of Siddîm by the Dead Sea. They certainly followed the great transport route leading from Damascus southward, and from it they made raids on the separate settlements and encampments. This transport route leads through the eastern part of Moab and Seʻîr. Through the southern half of the latter a branch road leads to the harbor of al-ʻAḳaba, at the northern extremity of the gulf of the same name.
Near al-ʻAḳaba are situated the ruins of the city of Ajla (Elath) which I identify with Êl Pârân of our account. Of Êl Pârân it is stated that it lies in the wilderness, or near the wilderness, and this would tally with the situation of Elath. At the halting places on the trade route and at the harbor of Êl Pârân the kings certainly expected to find an abundance of spoil, and, descending by the convenient transport route as far as Êl Pârân, they avoided the troublesome march through the difficult passes leading from Mount Seʻîr westward to the territory of the Amalekites and Amorites. From the context we may infer that they passed through the whole of Mount Seʻîr, turning back near Êl Pârân, beyond the borders of this mountain; we may also suppose that Êl Pârân did not lie within Mount Seʻîr proper. Proceeding from Êl Pârân toward ​the north they likewise followed a convenient road, along which, if it was the rainy season, they found plenty of pasture for their animals and perhaps also numerous flocks belonging to the native population, who like to stay in this hot rift valley during the cold season. From al-ʻAraba the kings could make raids on the separate encampments to the east or west, both to ʻÊn Mišpaṭ, or Ḳadeš, which I locate in the vicinity of Petra, as well as to the territory of the Amalekites and Amorites west and northwest of ʻÊn Mišpaṭ.
The suggestion that we should identify Êl Pârân with the later Elath is supported also by the account given in 1 Kings, 11: 18. Joab, David’s captain, conquered Edom and had every member of the king’s family murdered. The royal servants protected Ḥadad, one of the sons of the king of Edom, and, wishing to escape with him to Egypt, departed from Madian and reached Pârân. Taking people with them from Pârân, they arrived in Egypt.
From the context it may be supposed that the servants were seeking a refuge for Ḥadad in Madian but that they did not stay long there. The ruler of Madian could not protect Ḥadad if he did not wish to lose the profit he derived from accompanying the trade caravans, which had either to pass through Edom or at least to go round it. The same was the case with the other tribes encamping on the borders of Edom and even with the southern Arabian commanders guarding the separate stopping places on the great transport route. This was known to the protectors of Ḥadad, and they therefore fled with him to Egypt, the only land where he could obtain not only complete safety but also help in recovering his father’s inheritance. In order not to attract attention to themselves, they did not join any of the large trade caravans but fled alone with Ḥadad. They certainly passed along the transport route, upon which there were wells and where, because it was the usual route, they were not so conspicuous. From 2 Kings, 16: 6 and 2 Chronicles, 28: 17, it appears that Edom proper lay to the east of al-ʻAraba. The later kings of Judea held Elath, although Edom did not belong to them; the people of Edom, however, finally took Elath itself away from them, though they were unable to gain possession of the territory to the south of Judea and to the west of al-ʻAraba. We must therefore locate the center of the Madianites beyond the reach of Joab’s army, i. e. not to the west but to the southeast of Elath.
Through this center passed a branch road of the main transport route from southern Arabia to Egypt, running thence to the present settlement of al-ʻAḳaba (the ancient Ajla or Elath). Proceeding along it, the king’s servants crossed the rift valley of al-ʻAraba at Elath. They certainly did not cross farther to the north, because they would then have reached Edom (Seʻîr), which extended as far as the ridge of Mount Seîr. They would have naturally avoided such a northerly route, not wishing again to incur the danger of being caught by Joab’s spies. If we grant that they crossed al-ʻAraba at the present settlement of al-ʻAḳaba, then we may, and in fact must, locate Pârân there also. And even if this Pârân is not exactly identical with Elath, it lay at any rate in the closest vicinity to it or in any case in the southern part of al-ʻAraba.
From there the fugitives took guides as well as protectors against the tribes encamping between Edom and Egypt.—In a settlement through ​which, or in the immediate neighborhood of which, the caravans passed, such guides were and still are easier to find than at a distance in the desert.
From the context it cannot be decided whether Madian denotes the settlement, the tribe, or the territory of the tribe. All these interpretations are possible, and none of them can be wholly rejected. But, whatever it may denote, Madian must be located outside Edom and to the south of it, as we cannot suppose that the servants would have ventured, accompanied as they were by the king’s son, to penetrate to Pârân through Edom, which was occupied by Joab’s army. Pârân was situated between Egypt and Edom and thus to the west of Edom proper. Furthermore, Pârân may have been not only a settlement but also a territory which did not belong, however, to Edom and was as yet unoccupied by Joab.
The harbor of Elath, with which I identify Êl Pârân, or Pârân, is not situated in Edom proper and certainly never belonged exclusively to it. The inhabitants of the port, as well as those in charge of the transport routes, whether southern Arabians or others dwelling and encamping to the southeast, east, west, and northwest of Elath, took care that the garrison of Edom should not fortify itself there and that the Edomite officials should not retain the payments which they themselves received. From the Biblical accounts we see that the Edomites held authority in Elath only temporarily. At the time when Joab occupied Elath he controlled al-ʻAraba as far as the Red Sea, and a secret journey from east to west to Egypt would therefore have been very dangerous and even impossible. Hence, it must be supposed that the servants saved Ḥadad before the army of Judea had reached the Red Sea. If we judge Pârân to be a locality, then we must identify it with Êl Pârân and Elath; but if we decide that in our account it denotes a larger territory, then we must locate it in al-ʻAraba and must locate the place where the servants crossed the rift valley with Ḥadad on the transport route not far from Elath.
In 1 Samuel, 25: 1f., it is stated that David ascended from Engadi into the mountains; whereupon he went down into the wilderness of Pârân, whence he sent messengers to Nabal, the husband of Abigail, at Maon.
The positions of Engadi on the western shore of the Dead Sea, and of Maon to the southwest of it, are known. The rift valley of al-ʻAraba, the southern part of which we identify with the Biblical territory of Pârân, extends from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, so that we might locate the wilderness of Pârân, where David stayed with his men, in this lowland. But it would seem that the word Pârân found its way into this account owing to an inaccurate transcription of the word Maon. This might very easily happen because of the great similarity of the two first consonants in the ancient script. Even if, however, we insist upon Pârân, it is not necessary for us to extend the wilderness of Pârân to the Dead Sea itself: we may admit that the shepherds in charge of Nabal’s flocks remained during the rainy season in the rift valley of al-ʻAraba at some distance from Maon and that David protected them from the raids of various nomads. Although we should thus not gain absolute certainty as to where the Pârân of this account should be located, yet we see that we are led by it into al-ʻAraba or at least to its border.
​This is also where we arrive by considering the early encampments of Ishmael, who, according to Genesis, 21: 21, settled in the wilderness of Pârân. According to the Assyrian and Biblical accounts, Ishmael’s descendants encamped from the Egyptian frontiers and the northern gulf of the Red Sea as far as Dûmât al-Ǧandal, and al-ʻAraba, or Pârân, formed a kind of center from which they spread both to the west and to the east.
In the accounts of the migrations of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land there are references to Pârân, and not a single one of them is at variance with our identification.
According to Numbers, 10: 12, the Israelites, having departed from the wilderness of Sinai, encamped in the wilderness of Pârân; according to Numbers, 13: 3, Moses sent spies from there to the Promised Land. These proceeded from Pârân to Ṣin and returned (Num., 13: 26) to “the wilderness of Pârân, which is Ḳadeš.”—
The wilderness of Ṣin is the name of the territory extending westward from northern Seʻîr and southward from Palestine. The spies, wishing to become acquainted with the Promised Land (that is Palestine proper) proceeded from Pârân to Ṣin. This is entirely possible if we identify Pârân with the southern half of al-ʻAraba. The spies proceeded to the northwest and came to the Biblical wilderness of Ṣin and, farther, to the southern part of Palestine and the mountain of the Amorites. Returning, they came back to the wilderness of Pârân, or Ḳadeš, which we locate in the vicinity of Petra, on the borders of Pârân and Ṣin.
The sojourn of the Israelites in Pârân is mentioned in Deuteronomy, 33: 2, where it is recorded that Jehovah came from Sinai and shone upon his people from Seʻîr, gleaming from Mount Pârân, coming from Merîbat Ḳadeš. This repeats in other words Habakkuk, 3: 3, where it is stated that God came from Têmân and the Holy One from Mount Pârân.—
Mount Pârân here denotes the broken plateau enclosing al-ʻAraba on the east and extending as far as the foot of Mount Seʻîr.