Elim (Bible)

Elim ( _he. אֵילִם, transl|he|’êlim) was one of the places where the Israelites camped following their Exodus from Egypt. It is referenced in Exodus 15.27 and Numbers 33.9 as a place where "there were twelve wells of water, and seventy date palms," and that the Israelites "camped there near the water".

From the information that can be gleaned from Exodus 15.23, 16.1 and Numbers 33.9-11, Elim is described as being between Marah and the Wilderness of Sin, near the eastern shore of the Red Sea. It was possibly south of the Israelites' crossing point, and west of the Sin Wilderness. Thus, Elim is generally thought to have been located in Wadi Gharandel, an oasis 100 km southeast of Suez.

The Book of Exodus also records that after leaving Elim, on the forty-fifth day since leaving Egypt, the Israelites headed to Mount Sinai through the Sin Wilderness. There is a possibility that the name 'Elim' is dervied from a Semitic root meaning 'gods', but this cannot be further substantiated (see El (god)).

Several ministries of mercy, Christian and otherwise, have adopted the name Elim, most prominently the Elim Pentecostal Church.

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( _he. אֵילִם, transl|he|’êlim)