Atlas Biblica

    place

    Atharim

    אֲתָרִים

    Atharim, a place near the Negev where the Canaanite king of Arad attacked the Israelites during their journey.

    Where the story of Atharim happensWhere the gazetteer locates Atharim, framed to them: Atharim. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.Atharim
    Where the gazetteer locates Atharim
    verses
    1
    first named
    Numbers 21:1
    last named
    Numbers 21:1
    feature
    road
    coordinates
    30.88°N · 34.78°E
    road30.88°N · 34.78°E

    road between Kadesh-barnea and Arad (OpenBible)

    Scholarship offers 2 identifications for this place. The leading one is shown; the others are recorded in the gazetteer.

    Description

    Atharim in the text

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Atharim is mentioned in Numbers 21:1 as the place where the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were coming along the road to Atharim. Upon hearing this news, the king attacked Israel and took some of them captive.

    The exact location of Atharim is uncertain, but it was likely situated in the northern part of the Negev desert, south of Canaan. The name Atharim may refer to a specific road or route that the Israelites were traveling on during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

    The incident at Atharim occurred after the Israelites had left Mount Hor and were continuing their journey around the land of Edom. The attack by the Canaanite king of Arad was a significant challenge for the Israelites, as it threatened their progress and security in the region.

    In response to this attack, the Israelites made a vow to the Lord, promising to utterly destroy the Canaanite cities if God would deliver them into their hands. God heard their plea and gave them victory over the Canaanites, leading to the destruction of their cities and the renaming of the place as Hormah, meaning "destruction" (Numbers 21:2-3).

    The event at Atharim highlights the ongoing challenges and conflicts the Israelites faced during their wilderness journey, as well as their dependence on God's protection and intervention in the face of enemy attacks. It also foreshadows the future conquest of Canaan under Joshua's leadership.

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    Stands in the same events as

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — one, across 1 book.

    1. Numbers1 verse

      21:1

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Nothing in the graph stands one hop from this entity yet. These are the best-connected entities of the same type, so the page still ends somewhere. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    ElsewhereJerusalemThe capital of Israel, a holy city for three religionsElsewhereEgyptAncient nation; Israelites enslaved there; plagues and ExodusElsewhereJordanA river and region, significant in Israel's history

    Where they appear

    What happened here

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this place appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on