situation of this important place has been practically settled since the
appearance of Trumbull's Kadesh-Barnea in 1884 (see Guthe, ZDPV, viii.
183 ff.). It is the spring now known as 'Ain Ḳadîs, at the head of the
Wādī of the same name, "northward of the desert proper," and about
50 m. S of Beersheba (see the description by Trumbull, op. cit.
272-275). The distance in a straight line from Elath would be about
80 m., with a difficult ascent of 1500 ft. The alternative name (
Hebrew characters)
('Well of Judgement') is found only here. Since (Hebrew characters) means 'holy' and
(Hebrew characters) 'judicial decision,' it is a plausible conjecture of Rob. Sm. that the
name refers to an ordeal involving the use of 'holy water' (Nu. 517) from
the sacred well (RS2, 181). The sanctuary at Kadesh seems to have
occupied a prominent place in the earliest Exodus tradition (We.
Prol.6 341 ff.); but there is no reason why the institution just alluded
to should not be of much greater antiquity than the Mosaic age.—(Hebrew characters)
is, according to 2 Ch. 202, 'Ēn-gĕdî ('Ain Ǧidī), about the middle of
the W shore of the Dead Sea. A more unsuitable approach for an
army to any part of the Dead Sea basin than the precipitous descent
of nearly 2000 feet at this point, could hardly be imagined: see
Robinson, BR, i. 503. It is not actually said that the army made the
descent there: it might again have made a detour and reached its goal
by a more practicable route. But certainly the conditions of this
narrative would be better satisfied by Kurnub, on the road from Hebron
to Elath, about 20 m. WSW of the S end of the Dead Sea. The
identification, however, requires three steps, all of which involve
uncertainties: (1) that (Hebrew characters) = the (Hebrew characters) of Ezk. 4719 4828; (2) that this is
the Thamara of OS (853, 21086), the (Greek characters) of Ptol. xvi. 8; and (3) that
the ruins of this are found at Kurnub. Cf. EB, 4890; Buhl, GP, 184.
The six peoples named in vv.5-7 are the primitive races which,
according to Heb. tradition, formerly occupied the regions traversed
by Chedorlaomer. (1) The (Hebrew characters) are spoken of as a giant race dwelling
partly on the W (1520, Jos. 1715, 2 Sa. 2116, Is. 175), partly on the E,
of the Jordan, especially in Bashan, where Og reigned as the last of
the Rephaim (Dt. 311, Jos. 124 etc.).—(2) The (Hebrew characters), only mentioned here,
are probably the same as the Zamzummîm of Dt. 220, the aborigines of
the Ammonite country. The equivalence of the two forms is considered
by Sayce (ZA, iv. 393) and others to be explicable only by the Babylonian
confusion of m and w, and thus a proof that the narrative came
ultimately from a cuneiform source.—(3) (Hebrew characters)] a kind of Rephaim,
aborigines of Moab (Dt. 210f.).—(4) (Hebrew characters)] the race extirpated by the
Edomites (3620ff., Dt. 212. 22). The name has usually been understood to
mean 'troglodytes' (see Dri. Deut. 38); but this is questioned by Jen.
(ZA, x. 332 f., 346 f.) and Homm. (AHT, 2642), who identify the word with
Ḫaru, the Eg. name for SW Palestine.[1]—(5) (Hebrew characters)] the Amalekite
territory ((Hebrew characters)), was in the Negeb, extending towards Egypt (Nu. 1329
1443. 45, 1 Sa. 278). In ancient tradition, Amalek was 'the firstling of
peoples' (Nu. 2420), although, according to Gn. 3612 its ancestor was
a grandson of Esau.—(6) (Hebrew characters)] see on 1016; and cf. Dt. 144, Ju. 136.—
- ↑ Cf. Müller, AE, 136 f., 148 ff.
