3/25/2023 0 Comments Gulf of aqaba port mapAs seen in the film Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle II. The raised portion of the hill on the far right is the location of the altar. Slaves Hill, the center of copper mining north of the Gulf of Aqaba. There’s no need to complicate this by imagining places now gone, or interpreting the landmarks in other ways including compass directions. Migdol, Baal-Zephon, and Pi-Hahiroth may all be identified there as precise locations very close together. But turning back from Etham’s true location would have brought Israel to the three places we encounter in the text. If Etham were west of the head of the Gulf, and if Israel turned aside instead of back, they might have come to Nuweiba beach, a popular candidate for the place of crossing. Turning-back would return Israel to three landmarks which they had just passed on their way to Etham. Three Biblical Landmarks are Located on This Path This order would have required Israel to retrace their steps, coming again to the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba. The Hebrew word for turn back is “shuv.” It means to go back to where you were before, not in some other direction. Having reached the Wilderness of Etham, Israel was ordered to turn back (Exodus 14:1). That’s where the Etham appears on old maps, just past the head of the Gulf to the east.įrom Etham Israel Turned Back the Way They Came Biblical Etham must then be directly on the only path to Midian from Egypt, the path around the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba. Israel was headed toward Midian (Exodus 3:12). An Etham appears there on old maps (Etham, Ithm, Ythm, Yuttum).Ī Pillar of Cloud and Fire led Israel for multiple days and nights (Exodus 13:21-22), suggesting that Israel traveled some distance from Egypt. But the wilderness has another edge, across the Sinai Peninsula. They have reasoned that the place of crossing must also be somewhere along the eastern edge of Egypt. Led by Moses, Israel traveled from Succoth to Etham (Numbers 33:6), “on the edge of the wilderness.” Most discussions of the crossing since the mid-20th Century have looked in eastern Egypt for Etham, thinking it is a corruption of “Khetem,” an Egyptian word for fortress. Israel Camped at Etham, Northeast of the Gulf of Aqaba Timna is essentially simple, consistent with Ockham’s Razor. But the solution presented here for the location of the crossing site just east of Mt. The problem of finding the place where Moses led Israel through the sea requires a book to do justice to all the issues involved. Ockham’s Razor has long been a rule used for common-sense problem-solving: prefer the solution which (A) takes into account all the facts, and (B) is the simplest. “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.” -Exodus 14:2 (ESV) Cutting Away the Complexity Fred Baltz argues that the simplest interpretation of the evidence favors Timna as the site where Moses and Israel crossed the sea during the Exodus from Egypt.
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