Place Old Testament
El-paran
Also known as El-paran =ESV, KJV; El Paran =NIV
El-paran, a wilderness region where Chedorlaomer and his allies defeated the Horites during their campaign. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Genesis 14:6.
Why it matters. Wilderness area where the Horites were defeated by Chedorlaomer
- Primary passages
- Location
- 29.152, 33.542 (approximate, within about 2 km)
Coordinates from STEPBible TIPNR (palopenmaps.org link). Approximate; not independently verified.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About El-paran
El-paran is mentioned in Genesis 14:6 as the wilderness region where Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and his allied kings pursued and defeated the Horites during their military campaign. The Horites were a people who inhabited the hill country of Seir, later known as Edom.
The name El-paran means "oak of Paran" or "terebinth of Paran," suggesting it was a significant tree or grove located in the wilderness of Paran. This wilderness area is believed to be located in the northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula, east of the Wilderness of Shur.
El-paran is mentioned only once in the Bible, in the context of the battle between Chedorlaomer's forces and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. After defeating the Horites in El-paran, Chedorlaomer's army turned back and advanced toward the cities of the plain, where they engaged in battle with the local kings.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Genesis (1 verse)