Genesis 14:7

14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again,¹ and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

Genesis 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai,² Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children,³ but she had an Egyptian servant⁴ named Hagar.⁵

Genesis 16:7

16:7 The Lord’s angel⁶ found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur.⁷

Genesis 16:14

16:14 That is why the well was called⁸ Beer Lahai Roi.⁹ (It is located¹⁰ between Kadesh and Bered.)

Numbers 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back¹¹ to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh.¹² They reported¹³ to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Numbers 20:16

20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger,¹⁴ and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now¹⁵ we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country.¹⁶

Deuteronomy 1:19

1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea.

Deuteronomy 32:51

32:51 for both of you¹⁷ rebelled against me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the desert of Zin when you did not show me proper respect¹⁸ among the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 32:1

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 15:7

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite¹⁹ from one of your villages²⁰ in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive²¹ to his impoverished condition.²²

Psalms 29:8

29:8 The Lord’s shout shakes²³ the wilderness,

the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.²⁴

¹tn Heb “they returned and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh).” The two verbs together form a verbal hendiadys, the first serving as the adverb: “they returned and came” means “they came again.” Most English translations do not treat this as a hendiadys, but translate “they turned back” or something similar. Since in the context, however, “came again to” does not simply refer to travel but an assault against the place, the present translation expresses this as “attacked…again.”

²tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

³sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

⁴tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

⁵sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)

⁶tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

⁷tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

⁸tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.

⁹sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.

¹⁰tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹tn The construction literally has “and they went and they entered,” which may be smoothed out as a verbal hendiadys, the one verb modifying the other.

¹²sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

¹³tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

¹⁴tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

¹⁵tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

¹⁶tn Heb “your border.”

¹⁷tn The use of the plural (“you”) in the Hebrew text suggests that Moses and Aaron are both in view here, since both had rebelled at some time or other, if not at Meribah Kadesh then elsewhere (cf. Num 20:24; 27:14).

¹⁸tn Heb “did not esteem me holy.” Cf. NIV “did not uphold my holiness”; NLT “failed to demonstrate my holiness.”

¹⁹tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

²⁰tn Heb “gates.”

²¹tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

²²tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

²³tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms are descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.

²⁴sn Kadesh. The references to Lebanon and Sirion in v. 6 suggest this is a reference to the northern Kadesh, located north of Damascus, not the southern Kadesh mentioned so often in the OT. See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:178.