Paralysis, paralytic (Hastings' Dictionary)

See MEDICINE, p. 326. PARAN (xp, Φαράν) occurs in Gn 145 217, Nu 1013 1216 13% 28, Dt 11 333,1 S 251, 1 K 1118, Hab 3°. Note the insertion in Nu 33 by LXX after the word ‘Zin,’ ‘and they removed from the wilder- ness of Zin and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.’ Paran is here introduced into the itinerary of Nu 33 and identified with Kadesh as in Nu 13% (‘and they went and came to Moses and to Aaron... unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh’).

κατα- σκίου δασέος in LXX of Hab 3° should not be passed by unnoticed. Of these passages two are poetical, and contain the expression ‘Mount Paran’ or the mountains of Paran (Dt 332, Hab 3%). With these should be compared the opening verses of the Song of De- borah (Jg 5) and of Ps 68. The similarity of thought in these passages is evident. Although there is some variation in the use of proper names (e.g.

Paran occurs only in the first two, and Sinai is not found in Hab), yet one idea is peominent in all, that God comes forth from His holy habitation as a deliverer of His people when in distress. Around Him rages the thunderstorm, and at His resence the hills melt. Sinai, Seir, the Field of dom, Teman are mentioned as the region whence He ‘came’ or ‘shined forth,’ and the mountains of Paran form part of that region. If the emendation of Dt 33? noticed in art. MERIBAH be accepted, Mt.

Paran stands in parallelism with Kadesh, as well as in close connexion with Sinai and Seir. El-paran (? the terebinth of Paran) occurs in the description of Chedorlaomer’s campaign in Gn 14%. It appears to have been the southern limit of the expedition which ‘smote the Hivites in their mount Seir’ and returned to ‘ En-mishpat, which is Kadesh.’ Here the indications of position are similar to those in the poetical passages ; El- aran is in the neighbourhood of Seir and Kadesh.

t is ‘ by the wilderness,’ with which may be com- pared the expression ‘ wilderness of Paran’ occur- ring elsewhere. El-paran is by many identified with Elath at the head of the Gulf of Akabah. In Dt 11 the connexion between the names men- tioned and the context is so uncertain that no inference can be drawn. The LXX of 1 § 25! has Mady in B, Φαράν in A. The MT may be ques- tioned here; but if it be accepted, the wilderness of Paran extended into the southern part of Judah.

According to 1 K 1118 Hadad, with a company of his father’s servants, fled from Edom to Midvan, and then passed through Paran on their way to Egypt. The remaining passages all contain the expression ‘the wilderness of Paran.’ In Gn 217 10 is Ishmael’s place of abode when he and his mother Hagar are driven away at Sarah’s instiga- tion. From the context it seems to be on the way from Beersheba to Egypt.

In the narrative of Hagar’s flight, contained in Gn 16 (which is con- sidered by many as another version of the same tradition), the well where the angel of the Lord δῃροετϑα to her was between Kadesh and Bered. e connexion between Kadesh and Paran is most marked in the passages which have yet to be con- sidered. They are all in Nu, and given above.

According to 10, when the children of Israel moved out of the wilderness of Sinai the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran, so that the wilderness of Paran is regarded as adjoining that of Sinai. According to 12° the people pitched in the wilderness of Paran after the encampments at Taberah, Kibroth-hattaavah, and Hazeroth. Ac- cording to 13%% the spies were sent from the wilderness of Paran to search the land, and re- turned to the same place after completing their search.

The account in Dt 1 gives Kadesh as the lace whence the spies were sent (cf. Nu 13%). rom these notices it appears that the wilderness of Paran stretched from the wilderness of Sinai to the border of the Promised Land, and the inference from Nu 13% as well as from comparison of the accounts in Nu and Dt is that Kadesh was within its border.

The position is thus indicated as south of Palestine and west of Edom, a position which accords generally with the other passages in which Paran is mentioned. The positions of Sinai, Kadesh, and Hormah must be determined before anything more definite can be stated as to the boundaries of the wilderness of Paran, and the articles on these names may be consulted. Some remarks will be found in § iv. of art. Exopus (vol. i. p.

8040) on the connexion between Paran and Zin, and it is there stated that Paran does not occur in the itinerary of Nu 33. The attempt of the LXX to supply this deficiency (referred to above) adds to the difficulty by making Paran follow Zin. See ZIN. A. T. CHAPMAN.