Valley of Zered
Valley of Zered is a location mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Negev in modern-day Israel. Known today as Wadi al Hasa. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
The Valley of Zered marks a geographically and theologically significant boundary in Israel's wilderness journey. Numbers 21:12 records that the Israelites set out and camped in the Valley of Zered as they moved northward along the eastern frontier of Edom and Moab. Deuteronomy 2:13-14 gives the crossing of the Wadi Zered a momentous significance: Moses tells the next generation that the crossing of this wadi marked the end of the thirty-eight years of wilderness wandering that followed Israel's faithlessness at Kadesh Barnea. All the men of war from the generation that left Egypt had died during those years, as God had sworn (Deuteronomy 2:14-15). The crossing of the Zered thus functions as a passage from judgment to promise, the old generation had perished, and a new generation stood ready to enter the land. The valley forms the traditional southern boundary of Moab, separating Moabite territory from Edomite and marking the transition into the region controlled by Sihon the Amorite. Its crossing signals Israel's movement from wilderness to the edge of conquest.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The Valley of Zered is identified with Wadi al Hasa, a substantial perennial wadi that flows westward into the southern end of the Dead Sea, roughly corresponding to the ancient boundary between Edom and Moab. The wadi is one of the more significant watercourses in Transjordan, cutting deeply through the Moabite plateau. Archaeological surveys along the wadi have documented Bronze Age and Iron Age sites on the surrounding plateau, consistent with settled populations in the biblical period. The wadi's role as a natural frontier is confirmed by the distribution of archaeological remains north and south of the ravine. It remains one of the most confidently identified geographical features in the Transjordanian itinerary of the Israelite exodus.
Verse Appearances (1)
Num
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]