Shur (2)
Shur Dr. Trumbull labors at great length (Kadesh-barnea, page 44 sq.) to prove that Shur was the name of a line of fortifications extending from Suez to the Mediterranean; but in that case the word must have taken the article (the Wall), which, on the contrary, it never has. His. etymologies connecting it in this sense with Etham are very forced. That there may have existed some such defences, in the way of forts, Migdol (q.v.) being the principal one, may very well be granted, without supposing a continuous or wall-like series, of which there is no evidence. Nor is the word itself ever used in any such relation. The phrase דֶּרֶך שׁוּר (Ge 16:7), can only mean, in Hebrew idiom, "the way to Shur," like בּוֹאֲךָ שׁוּר (1Sa 15:7), or, more exactly, בּוֹאֲךָ שׁוּרָה (1Sa 27:8) not "the Wall Road."
