Mount Sinai/Horeb isn't where they say it is!
In this article, we will follow the children of Israel as they journey from Egypt thru the wilderness to Mount Horeb, and then on to Kadesh-barnea. We will show that Mount Sinai near the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula is not Mount Horeb. We will not prove but will strongly suggest that what is known as Mount Karkum today is Mount Horeb. We will also show the true location of Kadesh-barnea. One thing to keep in mind as we follow the children of Israel during their journeys before they entered the promised land, is that they never camped or traveled within the land while Moses and Aaron were alive.
Let us start with the crossing of the Red Sea.
Exodus 14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
Exodus 15:4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, what we call the Gulf of Suez today. When the Egyptians tried to cross they all drowned.
Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
The Wilderness of Shur is between Egypt and Canaan. The traditional view is that they turned back to the Gulf of Suez and then went south. It is my opinion that they continued east. They next come to a place called Elim that had twelve wells and seventy palm trees.
Numbers 33:10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. 11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
If they continued east and camped by the Red Sea as Numbers 33:11 tells us, then this would be the Gulf of Aqaba, which is also part of the Red Sea, near the modern city of Eilat Israel. From the Red Sea, they travel to the Wilderness of Sin, from there to Dopkah, Alush, and then Rephidim. At the camp in the Wilderness of Sin God gave them quail to eat in the evening and manna in the morning. They stayed there for seven days, gathering manna in the morning for six days, then they rested on the seventh day as God commanded.
Exodus 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai,
If the Wilderness of Sin is between Sinai and Elim then it should also be between Sinai and the camp at the Red Sea. It was at the camp at Rephidim that Moses struck the rock of Meribah and water came out. Afterward, the Amalekites came out and fought against the Israelites. The Amalekites lived in the southeast corner of Canaan. It is my opinion that the camp at Rephidim and the rock of Meribah were on the border of the land of the Amalekites, which is over two hundred miles north of the traditional Mount Sinai. It seems unreasonable to me that the Amalekites would come out of their border and pursue after the children of Israel two hundred miles to the south. Especially since the children of Israel would be going away from them and not toward their border. If Rephidim is on the border of Amalek then that means it is north of the Wilderness of Sin, which means that Sinai is north of the Wilderness of Sin. Elim and the camp at the Red Sea would be south of the Wilderness of Sin. So the traditional site of Mount Sinai/Horeb can not be true, as it is two hundred miles to the south.
Exodus 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
They left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai at Mount Horeb. It is my opinion that Mount Horeb is north of the Wilderness of Sin not far from the border of the Amalekites. They stay at Mount Sinai for one year and then they travel north to go into the promised land.
Numbers 10:12 And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.
The Wilderness of Paran is north of Mount Horeb where Kadesh is, this is where Moses sends out the spies. The Bible tells us it was three days journey from Mount Horeb to Kadesh, what Moses thirty-eight years later would call Kadesh-barnea when referring to the land or the spies. It is never called Kadesh-barnea when referring to their wilderness journeys.
Numbers 10:33 And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
The resting place was in the Wilderness of Paran where Moses sent out the spies and where they returned to him. This place was called Kadesh, and years later Moses would refer to it as Kadesh-barnea. After forty years in the wilderness, Moses writes the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter one verse 19 when talking about the land that God has promised them he calls it Kadesh-barnea. Then in verse 42 when referring to the camp in the wilderness he calls it Kadesh. This proves that Kadesh-barnea and Kadesh are the same place.
Numbers 13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
After leaving Mount Horeb they camped twice before they arrived at Kadesh.
Numbers 11: 34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. 35 And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.
Numbers 12:16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.
Numbers 33:16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they departed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. 18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.
In these verses, we see that they left Mount Horeb, which is Sinai, and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah, and then at Hazeroth, and then the Wilderness of Paran or Rithmah. We know this is where Kadesh is from Numbers 13:26. They did not camp in Kadesh because Kadesh is within the border of the Promised Land, Numbers 34:4, Moses and Aaron never entered the Promised Land. They camped outside the city in the Wilderness of Zin, and the camp was called Rithmah. Three camps suggest three days of travel. If they traveled twenty miles a day that would be sixty miles from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea. Taberah, which is mentioned in Numbers 11:3 should not be considered a separate camp because it is not listed in Numbers 33:16. It is the same place as Kibroth-hattaavah.
Deuteronomy 1:2 (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.)
This verse tells us as they traveled north they went by way of Mount Seir, which is east of Mount Ramon and the Ramon crater. This proves that Kadesh-barnea is to the east of Mount Ramon and the Ramon crater. It is also south of the Scorpian Pass (ascent of Akrabbim), Numbers 34:4. Therefore, the mountain that is the best candidate for Mount Horeb is called Mount Karkum today. In Deuteronomy 1:2 the word journey is not in the original Hebrew, it was added by the English translators. We should understand this verse to mean that it took eleven days to get from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, and not that they traveled or journeyed eleven days. If we count the days we will see that it took eleven days. One day from Horeb to Kibroth-hattaavah, one day to gather the quail, one day to travel from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth, that makes three days, and then seven days while Miriam was shut out of the camp because she was leprose (Numbers 12) makes ten days. Then one day from Hazeroth to Kadesh-barnea makes eleven days. Where is Kadesh-barnea? In my opinion the site known as tel-Tamar, also called Ir Ovot today is Kadesh-barnea. The site on the west side of Mount Ramon identified as Kadesh-barnea on most Bible maps, is also called Ain el-Qudeiat, can not possibly be Kadesh-barnea of the Bible because it is on the west side of Mount Ramon and not near Mount Seir or Edom. In my opinion, this place is Azmon in the Bible, Numbers 34:4.
Feel free to copy and share my little hand-drawn map as much as you like.
