THE SEA OF EDOM THEORY

Edom image-01

One theory regarding the location of the Red Sea crossing site that we feel is worth consideration proposes that early Bible translations’ use of the term “Red Sea” was actually meant to identify the “Edom Sea,” as the word “Edom” and members of that Hebrew word family carry a meaning of “red."

If true, this would mean that the Exodus account could only be referring to the Gulf of Aqaba when describing the sea crossing event.

This because Edom, in addition to Midian, was one of the lands on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba.

The original Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint, was the first to implement the terminology Red Sea by substituting the Hebrew phrase, Yam Suph, with the Greek phrase, Erythra Thalassa, meaning "Red Sea.”

It is known though that the scholars who created the Septuagint translation were, in fact, Jewish Rabbis who knew how to read and write both Hebrew and Greek. With this in mind could there actually be a Hebrew meaning underlying this Greek terminology?

Dr. Miles Jones, an expert in the development of languages, the alphabet, and its Hebrew connection suggests that the Hebraic meaning behind the Greek Erythra Thalassa could be rendered as “Edom Sea." He writes:

"The word edom meant red in ancient Semitic (Gen. 25:30). Therefore, the 'Sea of Edom' or 'Edom Sea' is clearly a contender for the origin of the name 'Red Sea.' It might explain why the Greeks translated it as Eurthra Thalassa, the Red Sea." 

(Dr. Miles Jones, 2018: The Writing of God - New Chronology Edition, pg. 94)

Jones points out that this word for “red” is used repeatedly in the Bible to describe the land of Edom. Derivatives of the word are also used to describe Jacob’s brother, Esau, as he is said to have looked reddish and hairy upon birth. The book of Genesis states that Esau and his descendants founded the ancient kingdom of Edom, meaning the “Red Lands” (Genesis 36:1) that bordered against the Gulf of Aqaba in antiquity.

This theory is considered credible by Dr. Nehemia Gordon, a Jewish scholar/expert on Hebrew manuscripts who has done work on the Dead Sea Scrolls in addition to several other manuscripts. On his podcast, Hebrew Voices, Gordon interviewed Tim Mahoney, director of the Patterns of Evidence film series, about Mahoney’s newest film (at the time) on the Red Sea crossing, The Red Sea Miracle. During their discussion, Gordon brought up the potential connection between the phrase Erythra Thalassa and the land of Edom. 

“So I have a hypothesis here that I’m just throwing out and it requires further investigation. I read you that verse from 1 Kings 9:26 and it referred to the Yam Suph in the land of Edom. Edom means red - so it’s very possible that when they said ‘Red Sea,’ the translators of the Septuagint - who were these Jewish Rabbis in Alexandria - were saying, ‘Oh, the Edomean Sea.’ That is, the Sea of the Land of Red.” 

(Nehemia Gordon, 2020: Hebrew Voices #112 - The Red Sea Miracle)

 

It is very possible that the Jewish scribes’ terminology would be misunderstood because of the deficiency in knowledge about the Gulf of Aqaba at the time.

As Dr. Glen Fritz and other experts have documented, maps often combined the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas and left out the Gulf of Aqaba or minimized its size. The Gulf of Aqaba did not begin to be fully understood until the 18-19th century AD, when surveys brought to light its extent, showing that it was a full-fledged gulf.

Someone reading the term Erythra Thalassa would therefore have to interpret it to broadly mean the “Red Sea,” rather than the more specific “Edom Sea.”

For more conclusive evidence on the Gulf of Aqaba being the authentic Red Sea crossing site, please check out our other articles on the subject.