By Khen Lim
Image Source: ukcbc.blogspot.com
In Classical Hebrew, we call it Qadesh-Barneʿa (קָדֵשׁ בַּרְנֵעַ). It is said that etymologically, the name has identifiable
Aramaic, Hebrew and Syriac roots. Kadesh and Barnea, it seems, means ‘holy’ and
‘wilderness wandering’ respectively. So when joined together, it might possibly
mean ‘the holiness of wandering in the wilderness.’
But it is in
Numbers that Kadesh-Barnea assumed the greatest importance, dishing out
memorable lessons to us all for this was the place that was supposedly the
final stop before the Israelites would have first entered the Promised Land. The
fact that it didn’t happen proved to be a serious turning point in the relationship
between God and His people.
Biblical Significance
Could this possibly be Kadesh-Barnea? (Image Source: biblicalarchaeology.org)
In Deuteronomy 1:46, the Israelites were brought to
Kadesh-Barnea as the site of their encampment amidst their wandering in the
wilderness of Zin. Further on in Numbers 13:1-26, it became the place from
which the Israelites were to launch their spying mission into Canaan upon
instructions from Moses who was himself told to do so by God.
Kadesh-Barnea appears strikingly as a place where certain tests
had occurred; tests that however resulted in tragic failures.
For that whole
generation of Israelites who rebelled following the fateful spying mission, the
result was disastrous as God essentially sentenced all of them to die in the
desert and not see the reality of the Promised Land that is, with the exception
of Joshua and Caleb (14:26-35, 40-45).
Later in 20:8-12, Moses failed to obey God’s instruction to
speak to the rock to bring forth water to the desert. Instead he chose to
strike at it. Tragically, that action alone caused God to bar this great
patriarch from entering the Promised Land although he could still view it from Mount
Nebo.
Shortly after that in 20:14, in the same place, Moses despatched envoys
to the King of Edom, seeking consent for the Israelites to cross his territory en
route but was denied the request.
In 12:2, Moses’ two siblings – Miriam and Aaron – questioned his
leadership and was soundly rebuked by God. A double catastrophe ensued. Firstly
his outspoken sister was harshly punished with leprosy that cast her out for
seven days (12:10-15).
Despite Aaron’s pleading of mercy, God decided that both
of them would never enter the Promised Land as well. Evidently they too died and
were buried in Kadesh-Barnea (26:58-62).
Historical Geography
Image Source: s-word.net
According to Numbers 34:4, God instructed Moses as to the
directions to Canaan. In and amongst them was the way to Kadesh-Barnea via
Akrabbim and Zin, meaning that it delineated the southern borders of Israel.
The same can be found in Joshua 15:3 and Ezekiel 47:19.
In fact according to
Deuteronomy 1:2, Kadesh-Barnea was an oasis located south of Canaan, west of
Arabah and east of the brook of Egypt. From Horeb, the Bible records an 11-day solid
walk under the harsh sun to Kadesh-Barnea via the Mount Seir route.
Still, archaeologists today are having some trouble siting the
actual location with as many as eighteen proposals as to where it actually is.
This may be because there are clarity issues as to how one reads its location
in the Bible.
For example Numbers 13:26 suggests that Kadesh-Barnea is
connected with the desert of Paran but then in 20:1, it is mentioned in the
same breath as the Zin Desert instead.
However it is said that the famous historian Josephus and also
Eusebius of Caesarea had taken the view that there could actually be two sites
to Kadesh namely the western and eastern. The former is in the wilderness of
Zin while the latter is in the wilderness of Paran, close to Petra, Jordan.
Of course that alone doesn’t settle the issue for there are
other theories also. Excavations at modern Ain el-Qudeirat in the Wadi el-Ain,
north of the Sinai, have revealed Israelite settlements but they were
controversial as some believed that they dated back to only 8th or 7th BC,
which would make them hundreds of years too recent to be the real
Kadesh-Barnea.
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