Numbers 10:12

10:12 So the Israelites set out ¹  on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.

Numbers 13:3

13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command ²  of the Lord. All of them were leaders ³  of the Israelites.

Numbers 13:26

The Spies’ Reports

13:26 They came back ⁴  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ⁵  They reported ⁶  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

Genesis 21:21

21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ⁷  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ⁸ 

Genesis 21:1

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ⁹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ¹⁰  for Sarah what he had promised. ¹¹ 

Genesis 25:1

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken ¹²  another ¹³  wife, named Keturah.

Habakkuk 3:3

3:3 God comes ¹⁴  from Teman, ¹⁵ 

the sovereign ¹⁶  one from Mount Paran. ¹⁷  Selah. ¹⁸ 

His splendor covers the skies, ¹⁹ 

his glory ²⁰  fills the earth.

[10:12]  ¹ sn The verb is the same as the noun: “they journeyed on their journeyings.” This underscores the point of their continual traveling.

[13:3]  ² tn Heb “mouth.”

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “heads.”

[13:26]  ⁴ tn 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.

[13:26]  ⁵ sn Kadesh is Ain Qadeis, about 50 miles (83 km) south of Beer Sheba. It is called Kadesh-barnea in Num 32:8.

[13:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “They brought back word”; the verb is the Hiphil preterite of שׁוּב (shuv).

[21:21]  ⁷ sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[21:1]  ⁹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spoken.”

[25:1]  ¹² tn Or “took.”

[25:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn In vv. 3-15 there is a mixture of eleven prefixed verbal forms (without vav [ו] consecutive or with vav conjunctive), sixteen suffixed forms, and three prefixed forms with vav consecutive. All of the forms are best taken as indicating completed action from the speaker’s standpoint (all of the prefixed forms being regarded as preterites). The forms could be translated with the past tense, but this would be misleading, for this is not a mere recital of God’s deeds in Israel’s past history. Habakkuk here describes, in terms reminiscent of past theophanies, his prophetic vision of a future theophany (see v. 7, “I saw”). From the prophet’s visionary standpoint the theophany is “as good as done.” This translation uses the English present tense throughout these verses to avoid misunderstanding. A similar strategy is followed by the NEB; in contrast note the NIV and NRSV, which consistently use past tenses throughout the section, and the NASB, which employs present tenses in vv. 3-5 and mostly past tenses in vv. 6-15.

[3:3]  ¹⁵ sn Teman was a city or region in southern Edom.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or traditionally, “holy one.” The term קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy [one]”) here refers to God’s sovereignty. See v. 3b.

[3:3]  ¹⁷ sn The precise location of Mount Paran is unknown, but like Teman it was located to the southeast of Israel. Habakkuk saw God marching from the direction of Sinai.

[3:3]  ¹⁸ tn Selah. The meaning of this musical term (which also appears in vv. 9, 13, and in the Psalms as well) is unknown.

[3:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “heavens.”

[3:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “praise.” This could mean that the earth responds in praise as God’s splendor is observed in the skies. However, the Hebrew term תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) can stand by metonymy for what prompts it (i.e., fame, glory, deeds).