Rephidim or Refidim () is one of the places visited by the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

in the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt.

Biblical account

This episode is described in the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

. The Israelites under

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

have come from the Wilderness of Sin. At Rephidim, they can find no water to drink, and angrily demand that Moses give them water. Moses, fearing they will stone him, calls on

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Romanization, Latinization of the Hebrew language, Hebrew , one Tiberian vocalization, vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God in Judaism, God of Israel in the Hebrew BibleOld Testament. The Tetr ...

for help and is told to strike a certain "rock in Horeb," in God's name which causes a stream to flow from it, providing ample water for the people. He names the place Massah and Meribah (meaning "testing" and "quarreling"). In the

Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...

a similar event is described as taking place near Kadesh. Afterwards, the Amalekites attack the Israelites encamped at Rephidim, but are defeated. The Israelites are led in the battle by

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

, while Moses,

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

and Hur watch from a nearby hill. Moses notices that when his arms are raised the Israelites gained the upper hand, but when they are down the Amalekites prevail. He sits with his hands held up by Aaron and Hur until sunset, securing the Israelite victory. The image of Moses raising his arms in battle against Amalek has been seen by allegorical Christian commenters as a prefiguration of Jesus's arms extended on the cross battling sin.

Location

One proposal places Rephidim in the Wadi Feiran, near its junction with the Wadi esh-Sheikh. James K. Hoffmeier, ''Ancient Israel in Sinai'' (Oxford University Press, 2005) page 169. When they leave Rephidim, the Israelites advance into the Sinai Wilderness, possibly marching through the passes of the Wadi Solaf and the Wadi esh-Sheikh, which converge at the entrance to the er-Rahah plain (which would then be identified with the "Sinai Wilderness"), which is three kilometers long and about eight hundred metres wide. Wadi Feiran was an oasis, which would explain the battle with the Amalekites in terms of a struggle for control of water sources. Another proposed location for Rephidim is in northwestern Saudi Arabia north of the town of al-Bad, the ancient city of Midian. Some researchers suggest that Mount Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula, but in Midian, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia, and subsequently place Rephidim here as well. Jabal Maqla has been the subject of several explorations since the early 1980s. To the northwest of this mountain is a large plain and a massive split rock that shows signs of water erosion (Rephidim is also where Moses is recorded as striking a rock and water coming from it for the parched Hebrews). The plain, or wadi runs from this split rock all the way to Jabal Maqla. The name "Rephidim" () means ''place of rest''. More recent scholarship identifies Rephidim with Wadi Refayid in the southwest Sinai.

References

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