Zin Desert

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The Wilderness of Zin/Desert of Zin (Hebrew: מדבר צן, Midbar Tzin) is a geographic area mentioned by the Torah as containing Kadesh-Barnea within it;[1] and it is therefore also referred to as the "Wilderness of Kadesh"[2]. Most scholars, as well as traditional sources, consequently identify this wilderness as being part of the Arabah.[3]

Similarly named is the Wilderness of Sin. Modern English translations make a distinction; but it is not easily evident from the LXX and the Vulgate that, apart from a couple of instances,[4] render both Hebrew ṣin and sîn as "Sin". The "Wilderness of Sin" is mentioned by the Bible as being adjacent to Mount Sinai; many modern scholars consider Sinai to refer to al-Madhbah at Petra, adjacent to the central Arabah, and it is thus eminently possible that the "Wilderness of Sin" and the "Wilderness of Zin" are actually the same place.

[edit] References

  1. ^ e.g. Numbers 27:14; Numbers 33:36
  2. ^ Psalms 29:8
  3. ^ Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
  4. ^ Numbers 34:4, Joshua 15:3
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