PARAN:
- 1. Desert, corresponding to the present Badiyyat al-Tih, bounded on the north by the Jabal al-Makhrah, on the south by the watershed toward the Sinai Peninsula, on the east by the mountains of Wadi al-'Arabah, and on the west by the Wadi al-'Arish. Ishmael is said to have settled here after his separation from Abraham (Gen. xxi. 21). The Israelites went there on leaving the territory of Sinai, and the spies went thence into Canaan (Num. x. 12, xiii. 3). David went to Paran after having made peace with Saul (I Sam. xxv. 1). In the Roman period a highway led through this desert, according to the "Tabula Peutingeriana" (ed. Miller, 1888), but now Al-Tih is a desolate waste.
- 2. Locality near the southern boundary of Canaan, between Israel and Edom. Moses repeated the Law to the Israelites "between Paran and Tophel" (Deut. i. 1), and the Edomite Hadad stopped at Paran when fleeing before Solomon to Egypt (I Kings xi. 18). According to the "Onomasticon" of Eusebius (ed. Lagarde, p. 298), this place is identical with the present Ḳal'at al-Naḥl.
- 3. Mountain or mountain range. "Yhwh shined forth from Mount Paran" (Deut. xxxiii. 2), and "the Holy One [came] from Mount Paran" (Hab. iii. 3). This mountain or mountain range may be identical with the mountains surrounding the present Wadi al-'Arabah.
E. G. H. S. O.
