Bible Location

Wilderness of Sin

A Visit With Jesus

The Wilderness of Sin was a desert region through which the Israelites traveled after leaving Egypt and before reaching Mount Sinai. Exodus places it between Elim and Sinai.

In this wilderness the Israelites complained because of hunger, and God provided manna and quail. The manna subsequently became the regular food of Israel during the wilderness journey.

The Wilderness of Sin should not be confused with the Wilderness of Zin farther north. Its precise modern location remains uncertain.

Biblical Significance

After leaving Elim, the Israelites entered the Wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from Egypt.

There the congregation complained against Moses and Aaron because of hunger and remembered the food they had eaten in Egypt. God responded by promising bread from heaven and providing quail in the evening and manna in the morning.

The instructions concerning gathering manna also introduced the people to a regular pattern in which twice as much was gathered on the sixth day and none was gathered on the Sabbath.

Numbers includes the Wilderness of Sin among the stations on Israel's journey toward Sinai.

Historical Background

The Wilderness of Sin belongs to the biblical itinerary between the departure from Egypt and arrival at Mount Sinai.

Exodus places it between Elim and Sinai, while Numbers 33 places Israel's encampment there after the Red Sea and before Dophkah and Alush.

Several locations in the Sinai Peninsula have been proposed, but the identification depends upon broader reconstructions of the Exodus route and the location of Mount Sinai.

Modern Identification

The precise location of the Wilderness of Sin is unknown.

Proposals have included areas in the western or interior Sinai Peninsula, including the coastal plain of el-Markha and the interior region of Debbet er-Ramleh.

No proposal has been demonstrated conclusively. AVWJ should therefore represent the Wilderness of Sin as an approximate region and should carefully distinguish it from the Wilderness of Zin.

Scripture References

Exodus 16:1 Exodus 17:1 Numbers 33:11

Related Resources

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Sources

Bible: Exodus 16:1-36, Exodus 17:1, Numbers 33:10-12; historical geography of the Exodus itinerary; biblical geographical studies concerning the Wilderness of Sin, Elim, Rephidim, and Mount Sinai