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Wilderness of Sin

Sinai Peninsula

Wilderness in Sinai Peninsula · today South-western Sinai (between Elim and Sinai)

Meaning: “Unrelated to the English word "sin"

The desert between Elim and Sinai where God first gave manna and quail.

Location

Overview

The wilderness of Sin — a place-name unrelated to the English word "sin" — lay "between Elim and Sinai." It is where heaven first fed Israel with bread and meat.

Murmuring for bread

A month out of Egypt, the whole congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron, longing for "the flesh pots" of Egypt (Exodus 16:2–3).

Manna and quail

God answered: "at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread." Quails came up that evening, and in the morning lay "a small round thing" on the ground. "It is manna... the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat" (Exodus 16:13–15).

The bread from heaven

In this wilderness God established the daily gathering of manna and the rest of the seventh day — a daily lesson in dependence that would feed Israel for forty years (Exodus 16:35).

Events Here

1446 BC

God gives manna and quail in the wilderness of Sin

Exodus 16:14

Scripture References

62 verses
Exodus15 verses

Exodus 10:17

Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.

Exodus 16:1

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 17:1

And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

Exodus 20:20

And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

Exodus 23:33

They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Exodus 29:14

But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

Exodus 29:36

And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

Exodus 30:10

And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord.

Exodus 32:21

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

Exodus 32:30

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

Exodus 32:31

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

Exodus 32:32

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

Exodus 32:34

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

Exodus 34:7

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Exodus 34:9

And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

Numbers47 verses

Numbers 5:6

Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty;

Numbers 5:7

Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.

Numbers 6:11

And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

Numbers 6:14

And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

Numbers 6:16

And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

Numbers 7:16

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:22

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:28

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:34

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:40

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:46

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:52

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:58

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:64

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:70

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:76

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:82

One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

Numbers 7:87

All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.

Numbers 8:8

Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

Numbers 8:12

And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.

Numbers 9:13

But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

Numbers 12:11

And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

Numbers 15:24

Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

Numbers 15:25

And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance:

Numbers 15:27

And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.

Numbers 16:22

And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Numbers 18:9

This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

Numbers 18:22

Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

Numbers 18:32

And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

Numbers 19:9

And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

Numbers 19:17

And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

Numbers 27:3

Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.

Numbers 28:15

And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the Lord shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 28:22

And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.

Numbers 29:5

And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:

Numbers 29:11

One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.

Numbers 29:16

And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:19

And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings.

Numbers 29:22

And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:25

And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:28

And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:31

And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:34

And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 29:38

And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

Numbers 32:23

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Numbers 33:11

And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

Numbers 33:12

And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

Archaeology & History

The wilderness of Sin is placed "between Elim and Sinai" (Exodus 16:1) in the south-western Sinai; its name is thought to derive from a local term (possibly linked to the moon-god Sin) and has nothing to do with the English word. It is distinct from the wilderness of Zin near Kadesh, encountered later.

People who appear here

Korah1×

Objects mentioned here

The Tabernacle1×

Frequently asked about Wilderness of Sin

Where is Wilderness of Sin today?

Today, Wilderness of Sin corresponds to South-western Sinai (between Elim and Sinai).

What does the name Wilderness of Sin mean?

The name Wilderness of Sin means “Unrelated to the English word "sin"”.

What happened at Wilderness of Sin in the Bible?

Key biblical events at Wilderness of Sin include god gives manna and quail in the wilderness of sin.

Where is Wilderness of Sin first mentioned in the Bible?

Wilderness of Sin is first mentioned in Exodus 10:17.

How often is Wilderness of Sin mentioned in the Bible?

Wilderness of Sin is mentioned in 62 verses across 2 books: Exodus, Numbers.

Is the "wilderness of Sin" about sin?

No — the name is a place-name unrelated to the English word "sin." It is the desert between Elim and Mount Sinai.

What happened in the wilderness of Sin?

God first gave Israel manna ("bread from heaven") in the morning and quail in the evening there, establishing the daily provision that sustained them in the desert.