The desert region east of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Arabian peninsula, named for Midian son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:1-2). Midian becomes Moses' refuge after he killed the Egyptian and fled Pharaoh's court (Ex 2:15). At a well in Midian he met Reuel/Jethro and married his daughter Zipporah, beginning the forty years of wilderness shepherding that prepared him for the burning bush and the exodus. Jethro himself became a wise counselor to Moses, suggesting the administrative structure of Israel's leadership (Ex 18). The Midianites later turn hostile: they seduce Israel into idolatry at Baal-Peor (Num 25) through the counsel of Balaam, leading to a war of judgment (Num 31). In the period of the judges, Midianite raiders oppressed Israel for seven years until Gideon delivered them with three hundred men by the LORD's hand (Judg 6-8). Midian therefore plays a dual biblical role: refuge in one generation, oppressor in another, redemption-instructor (Jethro) and idolatry-tempter (Balaam) sequentially.