See ZERED.

ZARED or ZERED (more accurately), VALLEY OF; or brook or watercourse of (Nu 21:12; De 2:13-14). Running into the Dead Sea at the S.E. corner: the boundary between the districts of Jebal and Kerek: now wady el Ahsy, between Moab and Edom (Robinson Bib. Res., 2:157), containing a hot spring called by the Arabs "the bath of Solomon." The limit of Israel's wandering; marking the time of the wilderness sojourn on one side as Kadesh did on the other.

The Speaker's Commentary identifies it with wady Ain Franjy, the main upper branch of wady Kerak; the first western brook that crossed Israel's line of march. So the name marked an era in their progress; and the summons to cross it is noted in De 2:13-14. Zered means "osier"; and wady Safsaf, "Willows Brook", is given to the tributary joining wady ain Franjy below Kerak. (See WILLOWS BROOK.) All the generation of the men of war had passed away by the time they reached Zared, fulfilling Nu 14:23, that none of them should see the land. From the high ground on the other side of Zared (if wady Kerak) a distant view of the promised land and even of Jerusalem might be obtained.

Za'red Zered. Ze'red

Valley in which the Israelites encamped at nearly the end of their wanderings. Nu 21:12; De 2:13-14. Identified with the Wady el Hessi, which runs into the Salt Sea at its extreme south, and bears other names in its long course.