PHARAN. - Desert of Arabia Petraea, called today Badjet et-Tih. It is formed by a broad plain bordering to the east on the valley 'Arabah, which extends from the south of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Elanitic; to the west on the desert of Sur or Etham (Gen. 16, 7); to the south on the Gebel et-Tih; to the north on the desert of Sin and on the mountains of the Amorites, or the southern borders of the country of Canaan. It is called "a terrible and vast desert" (Deut. 1, 17), in which there are "fiery serpents, scorpions, arid land, devoid of water" (ibid. 8, 15).
Modern travelers describe it as a horribly wild place, without vegetation, with bare little hills of clay, plains covered with black flints, broad stretches of shifting sands, interrupted only here and there by rare oases. It is mentioned first in Gen. 14, 6, as the extreme southern limit of the expedition of Chodorlahomor.
In this desert Ishmael dwelt (Gen. 21, 10, 21). It owes its special renown, however, to the 38 years spent there by the Hebrews after their departure from Egypt: in it must be sought the 19 stages of the Hebrews reported by Num. 22, 18-36. Kadesh (v.) was located in the northern part of the desert, a part also called the "desert of Sin."
David, persecuted by Saul, took refuge there after the death of Samuel (I Sam. 25, 1); the Idumean Hadad too, fleeing from Joab toward Egypt, crossed the desert and led with him many inhabitants of the country (I Reg. 11, 17 ff.).
Vincenzo M. Jacono