The Lord Reigneth: They journeyed from Marah and came to Elim

Elim (Hebrew: אֵילִם‎, ’êlim) was one of the places where the Israelites camped following their Exodus from Egypt. It is referred to 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 waters".

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 to the west of the Sin Wilderness. Thus, Elim is generally thought to have been located in Wadi Gharandel, an oasis 100km southeast of Suez.

Professor Menashe Har-El of Tel Aviv University (1968) has proposed Elim to be `Ayun Musa "the springs/wells of Moses." He noted that in 1907 the geologist Thomas Barron had observed that 12 springs existed at this site along with palm trees

"Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters." Exodus 15:27

"Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt." Exodus 16:1

"They journeyed from Marah and came to Elim; and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there." Numbers 33:9

"They journeyed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea." Numbers 33:10

Marah (Hebrew: מָרָה‎ meaning 'bitter') is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus

The narrative concerning Marah in the Book of Exodus states that the Israelites had been wandering in the desert for three days without water;[3] according to the narrative, Marah had water, but it was undrinkably bitter, hence the name, which means bitterness.[1] In the text, when the Israelites reach Marah they complain about the undrinkability,[4] so Moses complains to Yahweh, and Yahweh responds by showing Moses a certain piece of wood, which Moses then throws into the water, making it sweet and fit to drink

The oasis at Marah

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer."" Exodus 15:22-26