because of his local knowledge, but Hobab preferred to return to his homeland. A number of scholars have proposed that the biblical description of devouring fire on Mount Sinai refers to an erupting volcano in the land of biblical Midian identified as Hala-'l Badr in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

During the Baal-Peor episode, when Moabite women seduced Israelite men, Zimri, the son of a Simeonite