Genesis 14:6 mentions Ayl Pa'ran as one of the regions which Kedar-la-Omer and the other Elamite kings ravaged in the War of the Kings. Located in Beney Chor territory, in the vicinity of Mount Se'ir, the Edomite capital.
Ayl means "a strong and robust tree", probably an oak, and is linked to the more common word Elon (אלון).
Pa'ran usually describes a region of caves and foliage, such as are found in the desert in the vicinity of oases, and are therefore often treated as holy places; indeed, in the ancient Middle East, where desert was plentiful but water scarce, virtually every watering hole with a shade-providing tree was guarded by a protecting water-deity, invariably female, through the priestesses of the shrine. This is demonstrated especially in stories of Rivkah (Rebecca), Rachel, Tsiporah and Mir-Yam (Miriam), the first three of whom all meet their husbands at the side of a well, the last of whom is also connected with water through Mosheh's journey through the bulrushes, her song at the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 15:20), and the many oases in the desert which are the stations of the epic journey.
Numbers 10:12, 13:3 and 13:26; Deuteronomy 1:1; 1 Samuel 25:1, 1 Kings 11:18 all refer to a region called Pa'ran; while Habakuk 3:3 has Har Pa'ran for the Mountain of Pa'ran, as does Deuteronomy 33:2, both as a synonym for Mount Chorev/Sinai. That latter is particularly significant, because most scholars place Chorev and Sinai together, and in the wilderness between Mitsrayim (Egypt) and Kena'an, whereas this - see the link to Par'an - would place it on the east of the river Yarden, closer to Midyan.
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