And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
Journeyed from the wilderness of Sin. In the succinct annals of this book, those places only are selected for particular notice by the inspired historian which were scenes memorable for their happy or painful interest in the history of the Israelites. A more detailed itinerary is given in the later books of Moses; and we find that here two stations are omitted, (Numbers 33:1-56.)
According to Jerome, the whole of the desert region to Sinai comprehending El Murkha and El Kaa, was called "the wilderness of Sin." There were three routes by which the Israelites could have traversed it. The first, that advocated by Strauss, Knobel, Graul, and Keil, starting from Elim (Ghurundel) - not to speak at present of "the encampment by the Red Sea" (Numbers 33:10), at the descent of the fertile Wady Taiybeh, was in a northeasterly direction, over the wide sandy plain of Debbet el Ramleh, which these writers suppose to have been the scene of the complaining. That course leads into Wady es-Shiekh; but it is most unlikely that the Israelites took such a direction, both from the long detour, and from the extreme difficulty of leading so vast a multitude through narrow and rocky defiles.
The second route, approved by some, and fully described (Sandie, 'Horeb and Jerusalem'), was directly southward, along the seacoast to Tor, and then turning eastward, by Wady Daghadah, into Wady Rudhwan, which is considered to have been Rephidim, at the extremity of Wady er Rahab. In support of this hypothesis an appeal is made to Josephus, who says ('Antiquities,' b. 3:, ch. 1:, sec. 7), that the Israelites were supplied with water during this part of their journey from mountain springs and rills; and both Niebuhr and Lepsius testify that there is still plenty of water to be got from the hills along this way, before reaching the high watershed at Rudhwan. The third route is a middle one, along the ordinary caravan road, which, through Wadys Shellal and Mukatteb, leads into Wady Feiran-the most beautiful locality in the whole Peninsula.
According to the commandment ... - not given in oracular response, nor a vision of the night, but indicated by the movement of the cloudy pillar. The same phraseology occurs elsewhere (Numbers 9:18-19).
Pitched in Rephidim, х bi-Rªpiydiym (H7508)] - i:e., stays, resting-places, a particular station; now believed, on good grounds, notwithstanding the abundance of good water there now, to Wady Feiran, which is exactly a day's march from Mount Sinai, and at the entrance of the Horeb district. It is a long circuitous defile, about 40 feet in width, with perpendicular granite rocks on both sides. The wilderness of Sin, through which they approached to this valley, is very barren, has an extremely dry and thirsty aspect, little or no water, scarcely even a dwarfish shrub to be seen, and the only shelter to the panting pilgrims is under the shadow of the great overhanging cliffs.
Lepsius, Bartlett ('Forty Days in the Desert'), Stewart ('Tent and Khan'), identify this halting-place with Wady Feiran, under the impression that Moses, from his knowledge of the rich and well-watered character of this extensive valley, must have led the people there in order to secure for them on their journey the benefit of its abundant resources in water and pasturage. But, not to dwell on the circumstance that the choice of the encampments did not depend on Moses, the hypothesis of these writers is inconsistent with the fact, that no water could be obtained in all the neighbourhood; and although it is conceivable that the extreme heat at that season, as in some seasons still, might have dried up the wells and fountains, there is another objection to the position assigned to Rephidim in Feiran, founded on the statement in a subsequent verse (Exodus 17:6), that it was not far from Horeb. [Accordingly, Eusebius ('Onomast.') says, 'Rafidim, topos tees Ereemou para to chooreb oros engus Faran'-Rephidim, a place in the desert, beside Mount Horeb, near Pharan.]
Cosmas ('Indicopleustes'), who traveled through the Sinaitic peninsula A.D. 535 AD, describes Rephidim in Greek: hoos apo milioon hex, about six miles from Horeb - i:e., at the spot in Wady es-Shiekh where now stands the tomb of Shiekh Saleh. According to Dr. Robinson, Rephidim is a mile or two further down that wady, at a narrow gorge which opens into the central mountain range. This is on the skirts of Horeb, taking Horeb as the general name for the region.