SHUR

[wall].

A place or a region described as “in front of Egypt,” that is, on or to the E of Egypt. The context locates Shur in the NW portion of the Sinai Peninsula. (Gen. 25:18) After Israel crossed the Red Sea, Moses led them from the shores of the sea into the “wilderness of Shur.”—Ex. 15:22.

Earlier, it was at a fountain “on the way to Shur” that Jehovah’s angel spoke to Abraham’s Egyptian slave girl Hagar (who was likely fleeing back to Egypt). (Gen. 16:7) Later, Abraham moved from the region of Hebron (Gen. 13:18) and took up dwelling between Kadesh (Kadesh-barnea, S of Beer-sheba in the Negeb region) and Shur, though also residing for a time at Gerar, a Philistine town considerably N of Kadesh. (Gen. 20:1) The rangings of the desert-dwelling Ishmaelites took them as far as “Havilah near Shur.” (Gen. 25:18) King Saul successfully waged war against the Amalekites as far as Shur, but in David’s time the Amalekites, along with the Geshurites and Girzites, were still inhabiting a similar area.—1 Sam. 15:7; 27:8.

Some of these texts seem to point more to a particular place than just a general region. If this is the case, then the expression “wilderness of Shur,” used only once, might mean the wilderness in the proximity of a city or site named Shur. (Ex. 15:22; compare the reference to the “wilderness of Damascus” at 1 Kings 19:15, or to that of Ziph, 1 Samuel 23:14.) Efforts at determining the exact location of the place (or region) named Shur have been based primarily on the meaning of the name: “wall.” Some have endeavored to connect Shur with the ancient defense wall along the Isthmus of Suez that Egyptian inscriptions indicate was built very early in that nation’s history. Others think the term applies to a series of Egyptian fortresses along Egypt’s eastern frontier facing the Sinai Peninsula. Exodus 15:22, however, points to a location on the E side of the Red Sea, hence, to a place outside Egypt rather than within its boundaries.

For this latter reason, the suggestion is also advanced that the name Shur (“wall”) identifies the mountain range called Jebel er-Rahah to the E of the Red Sea or Gulf of Suez. Running in a N and S direction it is a part of the great Jebel et-Tih mountain chain that covers a large portion of the Sinai Peninsula. Seen from the Egyptian side of the Gulf of Suez the white cliffs of this long range have the appearance of a wall or barrier. Some Sinai travelers in the past have claimed that the name Jebel es-Shur is still applied by the Arabs to this part of the range. If, indeed, there is some connection here, then there may have been a place or town called Shur on, or at the foot of, the range, perhaps the last Arabian town before crossing Egypt’s frontier. Definite identification, however, awaits further evidence.

The name Darb el Shur has been given to an ancient caravan route that crosses the Sinai Peninsula and enters Egypt near the Bitter Lakes region, considerably N of the Red Sea. This name, however, was applied to the route by modern explorers and so may not represent the ancient name. It is also possible that a southern branch of this ancient route led into Egypt near Suez at the northern end of the Red Sea.