Editing Rephidim (section)

==Location==
One proposal places Rephidim in the [[Wadi Feiran]], near its junction with the [[Wadi esh-Sheikh]].<ref name=Hoffmeier>[[James K. Hoffmeier]], ''Ancient Israel in Sinai'' (Oxford University Press, 2005) page 169.</ref> When they leave Rephidim, the Israelites advance into the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] Wilderness,<ref>[[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 19:1-2; [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] 33:14-15</ref> 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.<ref name=Hoffmeier />

Another proposed location for Rephidim is in northwestern Saudi Arabia north of the town of [[Al-Bad', Saudi Arabia|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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jabalmaqla.com/split-rock-battlefield-rephidim/|title=The Split Rock And Battlefield At Rephidim|date=2019-05-22|website=Jabal Maqla|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref> The plain, or wadi runs from this split rock all the way to Jabal Maqla.
The name "Rephidim" ({{langx|he|רְפִידִם}}) means ''place of rest''.

More recent scholarship identifies Rephidim with Wadi Refayid in the southwest Sinai.<ref> [[Walter C. Kaiser]], ''History of Israel'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=acq2F4oW3DYC&pg=PA116 p. 116]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kotter |first=Wade R. |date=2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fq7qDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2268 |chapter=Rephidim |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=D. N. |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=William B. Eerdmans |isbn=978-1-4674-6046-0 |quote=Tradition has long identified Wadi Feiran near Jebul Musa as the location of Rephidim, although more recent scholarship prefers the nearby Wadi Refayid because of the similarity in name.}}</ref>