AKRABBIM

(A·krabʹbim) [Scorpions].

An upward slope or ascent on the SE frontier of Judah that constituted a boundary division when Canaan was apportioned to Israel. (Nu 34:4; Jg 1:36) It was situated about 29 km (18 mi) SW of the southern end of the Dead Sea and near the Wilderness of Zin. The area has been identified with present-day Naqb es-Safa (Maʽale ʽAqrabbim), where the road from Beer-sheba to the Arabah descends abruptly into the Wadi Murra (Nahal Zin). The name may have been derived from the abundance of scorpions in this desert country or perhaps from the way the road repeatedly curves back on itself like the tail of a scorpion. It was evidently an ancient route used to go down to Edom and S to ʽAqaba on the Gulf of ʽAqaba.