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According to the
Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and com ...
, Taberah ( he, תבערה) is one of the locations which the
Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
passed through during their
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
journey. The biblical narrative states that the place received its name, which means ''the pӀace of burning'', because the fire of the LORD had burned there in anger because of their continued complaints. The text states that the fire first burned at the outskirts of the Israelite camp, killing some of those who lived on the edge of the group, but it was extinguished when
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
prayed on the people's behalf. According to textual scholars, the account concerning Taberah is part of the
Elohist According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah,McDermott, John J., ''Reading the Pentateuch: A Historical Introduction'' (Pauline Press, 2002) p. 21. Via Books.google.com.a ...
text, and occurs at the same point in the Exodus narrative as the account of Kibroth Hattaavah in the
Jahwist The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist. The existence of the Jahwist is somewhat controversial, ...
text;Cheyne and Black, ''Encyclopedia Biblica'' indeed, one or both of ''Tabarah'' (תבערה) and ''Hattavah'' (התאוה) may be
phonological Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
and
typographical Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...
corruptions of the same original word. Taberah is not listed in the full
stations list The Stations of the Exodus are the locations visited by the Israelites following their exodus from Egypt, according to the Hebrew Bible. In the itinerary given in Numbers 33, forty-two stations are listed, although this list differs slightly ...
later in the Book of Numbers, with the people going straight from
Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
to Kibroth-hattavah, and there is no hint that the Israelites had to travel from Taberah to Kibroth-hattaavah, implying that they were the same location;''Jewish Encyclopedia'' nevertheless, Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah are listed as different places by a passage in
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
, which textual scholars ascribe to the
deuteronomist The Deuteronomist, abbreviated as either Dtr or simply D, may refer either to the source document underlying the core chapters (12–26) of the Book of Deuteronomy, or to the broader "school" that produced all of Deuteronomy as well as the Deutero ...
, and consequently date to over two centuries later than the Jahwist and Elohist, and also later than the combined JE text. Taberah is described by the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
as being three days' journey from
Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
, and therefore its modern identification relies heavily on the identification of Mount Sinai. The traditional identification of Mount Sinai as one of the mountains at the southern tip of the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
would imply that Taberah and ''Kibroth-hattaavah'' was/were probably in the Wadi Murrah, about 30 miles north-east of the southern tip, and exactly a
day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible, ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the dis ...
from 'Ain Hudherah. An ancient encampment has been found in this area, at the Erweis el-Ebeirig, but it dates to the
Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
(the early 3rd millennium BC). The traditional location of Mount Sinai has been rejected by the majority of scholars, as well as theologians, who favour a location at
Mount Seir Mount Seir ( he, הַר-שֵׂעִיר, ''Har Sēʿīr'') is the ancient and biblical name for a mountainous region stretching between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba in the northwestern region of Edom and southeast of the Kingdom of Judah. It ...
or in north western
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, Other writers have proposed locations in the
Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
, or the central or northern Sinai desert.Menashe Har-El, ''The Sinai Journeys: The Route of the Exodus''


Citation

{{reflist, 2 Torah places