The name Paran in the Bible:
The name Paran belongs to a region to the south of Edom, occupying the north-east corner of the Sinai peninsula, in the same general area as the Negev and the Arabah. Somewhere there was a town or otherwise geographic feature called El-paran, which marked the southernmost extent of Horite territory by the time of the War of Four Against Five Kings (Genesis 14:6). Para
n also contained an eponymous mountain, Mount Paran, which appears to have played a generally underestimated part in Israel's redemptive history. In his great blessing, Moses declared that YHWH came from Sinai and dawned on Israel from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran. In similar plauditory terms, the prophet Habakkuk exclaimed, "God comes from Teman [the capital of Edom], and the Holy One from Mount Paran" (Habakkuk 3:3). We hear first of Paran as the area where Ishmael and presumably Hagar dwelled after they were expelled from Abraham's camp (Genesis 21:21), and like Israel, Ishmael became the patriarch of twelve tribes (Genesis 25:16). Centuries later, Israel was on the move in the wilderness, and after they had constructed the tabernacle, the Shekinah guided them from the Sinai to the wilderness of Paran (Numbers 10:12), and, after more journeying, returned there (Numbers 12:16). Moses sent the twelve spies to scout out Canaan from there (Numbers 13:3, 13:26). Much later again, David wisely left for Paran after Samuel had passed away (1 Samuel 25:1). The adversary of David's son Solomon, namely Hadad the Edomite, fled to Egypt via Paran (1 Kings 11:8). Etymology of the name Paran:
The name Paran appears to derive from the root-verb ืคืืจ (pa'ar), meaning "to glorify":
Source:
http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Paran.html #.Vzrxhtx97IU
