And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
The children of Israel ... journeyed from Kadesh. At that stage they had three routes to Canaan to decide upon. The one that led northward was the most direct and the shortest-that by which an unsuccessful attempt had been made on the first encampment at Kadesh (Numbers 13:1-33). The second, which was much longer, penetrated through the Edomite territory (2 Kings 14:7), passing in the immediate vicinity of Selah (Petra), and winding to the left along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. But permission to go by this road having been denied, followed by the appearance of armed bands to repel the unwelcome wanderers from the confines of a country which at that time was richly cultivated (Numbers 20:17), the Israelites were constrained to adopt the only remaining line-by far the most circuitous-namely, that of traveling southward, and then, crossing by the northern extremity of the Red Sea, march in a northerly direction to the land of Moab.
And came unto mount Hor, х Hor (H2023) haahaar (H2022); Septuagint, eis Oor to oros] - 'Hor, the mount.' This emphatic name was given to it, not on account of its extraordinary height, but of its isolated position and special form. Its site is described by geographical marks (Numbers 20:23: cf. Numbers 33:37; Numbers 33:41; Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 4:, ch. 4:, sec. 7) which have led to its being generally considered the hill which tradition points out on the east side of the great valley of the Arabah. This mountain, which is now called Jebel Haroun, is the most striking and elevated of the Seir range. It is a sandstone hill, variegated in colour, conspicuous for its double summit (Robinson mentions three peaks), rising 6,000 feet above the sea level (Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' vol 2:, p. 589; Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 87; Kurtz, 'History of the Old Covenant,' vol. 3:, p. 342; Karl Ritter, ch. 14:, p. 1127). Wilton ('Negeb,' pp. 127, 128) rejects the traditional site of mount Hor, on the ground that it lay within the Edomite territory, from which the Israelites were repelled, fixes on Jebel Moderah (or Madura) south of the Sufah pass, and supports his view:
(1) By assuming that Moserah, which, as appears from Numbers 20:22-29; Numbers 33:37-39; Deuteronomy 10:6, is synonymous with Hor, is only another form of Moderah.
(2) Because, as mount Her was the next stage after leaving Kadesh, so Jebel Moderah is an average day's journey from Ain Kadeis.
(3) Because the terms, "by the coast" (Numbers 20:23) and "in the edge of the land of Edom" (Numbers 33:37), are applied (Joshua 15:1) to the northern frontier of Idumea.
(4) Because any transaction that took place on its summit would be "in the sight of all the congregation" encamped in the subjacent plain of Wady Murreh; and,
(5) Because it suits the circumstances connected with the attack of king Arad (Numbers 21:1) better than Jebel Haroun.
The traditional view is embraced by almost all writers of authority on subjects of Biblical geography.