region

Midian

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History

Midian was the land of the Midianites, a people of herdsmen, caravan traders and raiders east of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the north-west of Arabia, though their camps and trade reached across Sinai and the Negeb and up to Moab and Gilead. Genesis makes Midian a son of Abraham by Keturah, sent away "eastward, unto the east country". The painted pottery called Midianite or Qurayya ware, of the thirteenth to eleventh centuries BC, has been found from Qurayya in the Hejaz to Timna in the Arabah, where a Midianite shrine succeeded the Egyptian temple of Hathor. Ptolemy names Modiana and Madiama in north-western Arabia, and Eusebius places Madiam east of the Red Sea; the city is usually located at al-Bad' in Saudi Arabia.

Midianite merchants drew Joseph from the pit and sold him into Egypt. Moses, fleeing Pharaoh, "dwelt in the land of Midian", married Zipporah, daughter of "the priest of Midian", Reuel or Jethro, and was keeping his flock when he came to Horeb, "the mountain of God". After the exodus Jethro visited Israel at the mountain, offered sacrifice and advised Moses to appoint judges; Hobab the Midianite was asked to guide the people. Where Sinai lay in relation to Midian is disputed: most place it in the south of the Sinai peninsula, some in Midian itself, since Paul speaks of "mount Sinai in Arabia".

In Moab the elders of Midian joined Balak in hiring Balaam, and after the sin at Peor, where Cozbi, a Midianite princess, was slain, Moses made war on Midian and its five kings. In the days of the judges the Midianites, with the Amalekites and the children of the east, came up "as grasshoppers for multitude" with camels without number and stripped the land, until Gideon routed them with three hundred men and pursued them beyond the Jordan; the prophets remember "the day of Midian" and "the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb". Isaiah sees "the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah" bringing gold and incense to Zion.

After Gideon the Midianites fade from the record; Assyrian and later texts speak of Arab tribes in their place. Josephus still knew a city of Midian by the Red Sea, where Moses found refuge. The land of Midian is today the Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia, around Tabuk, Qurayya and al-Bad', where rock-cut tombs of the Nabataean age are locally linked with Jethro; since 2017 the coast has been the site of the NEOM development.

Scripture: Gen 25:1–6; Gen 37:28; Gen 37:36; Exod 2:15–21; Exod 3:1; Exod 18:1–12; Num 10:29; Num 22:4–7; Num 25:6–18; Num 31:1–8; Judg 6:1–6; Judg 7:12; Judg 7:25; Judg 8:22–28; 1 Kgs 11:18; Ps 83:9; Isa 9:4; Isa 10:26; Isa 60:6; Hab 3:7; Acts 7:29; Gal 4:25

Checked against its sources; not yet read by a historian.

Verses (51)

Gen 36:35

And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.

Exod 2:15

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

Exod 2:16

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Exod 3:1

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

Exod 4:19

And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

Exod 18:1

When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;

Num 22:4

And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

Num 22:7

And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

Num 25:15

And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

Num 25:18

For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

Num 31:3

And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.

Num 31:7

And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

Num 31:8

And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

Num 31:9

And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

Josh 13:21

And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.

Judg 6:1

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

Judg 6:2

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

Judg 6:3

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

Judg 6:6

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

Judg 6:7

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

Judg 6:13

And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

Judg 6:14

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

Judg 6:16

And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Judg 6:33

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

Judg 7:1

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

Judg 7:2

And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

Judg 7:7

And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

Judg 7:8

So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

Judg 7:12

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

Judg 7:13

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.

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