Kadesh-Barnea The town of Kadesh-barnea (or Kadesh) was the main settlement in the far south of Palestine. It was an oasis town between the Wilderness of Zin to the north, the Wilderness of Paran to the south, the Wilderness of Shur to the west, and the Arabah to the east (Genesis 16:7,14; Genesis 20:1; Numbers 13:26; Numbers 20:1; See Palestine).
Kadesh appears to have been the Israelites’ main base during their forty years in the wilderness. It was the place where the twelve spies reported to the people after their fact-finding mission to Canaan, and where Moses planned the final journey to Canaan about forty years later (Numbers 1:13-26; Numbers 14:32-34; Numbers 20:14-21). Little is known of events at Kadesh during the intervening years. Two recorded incidents were Miriam’s death and Moses’ striking of the rock in search of water (Numbers 1:20-14; Numbers 27:14).
Moses intended that after the conquest of Canaan, Israel’s southern border would run from the Dead Sea through Kadesh-barnea to the Brook of Egypt, which it would follow to the Mediterranean Sea (Numbers 1:34-5). Though Israel’s conquest reached Kadesh, the town that later generations usually recognized as marking Israel’s southern border was Beersheba, almost fifty kilometres to the north. The wilderness of Zin lay between the two towns (Joshua 1:10-41; Joshua 15:1-3; 2 Samuel 17:11; 2 Samuel 24:2).