Sin, Wilderness Of (מִדְבָּר סִין, midbar sin). A wilderness area located between Elim and Mount Sinai (Exod 16:1; 17:1; Num 33:11, 12). This region was one of the desert areas that the Israelites traveled through during their wilderness wanderings. Yahweh first provided manna for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness of Sin, after they complained about their lack of food (Exod 16:2–35).

In Hebrew, the name of the wilderness is “Sin” (סִין, sin), distinguishing the area from another wilderness called “Zin” (צִן, tsin) located on the southern end of Canaan. However, the Septuagint represents both names in Greek with Σιν (Sin). The meaning of the Hebrew name, סִין (sin), is uncertain, but it is similar to the name “Sinai” (סִינַי, sinay). While Exodus and Numbers name many locations related to Israel’s time in the wilderness, most of these locations can only be approximately identified, and identifications are dependent on one another and on options for the route of the exodus. The wilderness of Sin is one of several desert regions located between Egypt and Canaan that are named in the account of Israel’s wanderings—Shur (Exod 15:22), Sin (Exod 16:1), Sinai (Exod 19:1), Paran (Num 10:12), Zin (Num 13:21), and Etham (Num 33:8).

The wilderness of Sin and the wilderness of Sinai are likely regions in the Sinai peninsula (Num 33:11–15), though the debate over the site of Mount Sinai affects the location of the Sinai wilderness. For more information, see these articles: Wilderness Wanderings; Exodus; Mount Sinai.