1 These `are' journeys of the sons of Israel who have come out of the land of Egypt, by their hosts, by the hand of Moses and Aaron;
2 and Moses writeth their outgoings, by their journeys, by the command of Jehovah; and these `are' their journeys, by their outgoings:
3 And they journey from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morrow of the passover have the sons of Israel gone out with a high hand, before the eyes of all the Egyptians --
4 and the Egyptians are burying those whom Jehovah hath smitten among them, every first-born, and on their gods hath Jehovah done judgments --
5 and the sons of Israel journey from Rameses, and encamp in Succoth.
6 And they journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham, which `is' in the extremity of the wilderness;
7 and they journey from Etham, and turn back on Pi-Hahiroth, which `is' on the front of Baal-Zephon, and they encamp before Migdol.
8 And they journey from Pi-Hahiroth, and pass over through the midst of the sea, into the wilderness, and go a journey of three days in the wilderness of Etham, and encamp in Marah.
9 And they journey from Marah, and come in to Elim, and in Elim `are' twelve fountains of waters, and seventy palm trees, and they encamp there;
10 and they journey from Elim, and encamp by the Red Sea.
11 And they journey from the Red Sea, and encamp in the wilderness of Sin;
12 and they journey from the wilderness of Sin, and encamp in Dophkah.
13 And they journey from Dophkah, and encamp in Alush;
14 and they journey from Alush, and encamp in Rephidim; and there was there no water for the people to drink.
15 And they journey from Rephidim, and encamp in the wilderness of Sinai;
16 and they journey from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in Kibroth-Hattaavah.
17 And they journey from Kibroth-Hattaavah, and encamp in Hazeroth;
18 and they journey from Hazeroth, and encamp in Rithmah.
19 And they journey from Rithmah, and encamp in Rimmon-Parez;
20 and they journey from Rimmon-Parez, and encamp in Libnah.
21 And they journey from Libnah, and encamp in Rissah;
22 and they journey from Rissah, and encamp in Kehelathah.
23 And they journey from Kehelathah, and encamp in mount Shapher;
24 and they journey from mount Shapher, and encamp in Haradah.
25 And they journey from Haradah, and encamp in Makheloth;
26 and they journey from Makheloth, and encamp in Tahath.
27 And they journey from Tahath, and encamp in Tarah;
28 and they journey from Tarah, and encamp in Mithcah.
29 And they journey from Mithcah, and encamp in Hashmonah;
30 and they journey from Hashmonah, and encamp in Moseroth.
31 And they journey from Moseroth, and encamp in Bene-Jaakan;
32 and they journey from Bene-Jaakan, and encamp at Hor-Hagidgad.
33 And they journey from Hor-Hagidgad, and encamp in Jotbathah;
34 and they journey from Jotbathah, and encamp in Ebronah.
35 And they journey from Ebronah, and encamp in Ezion-Gaber;
36 and they journey from Ezion-Gaber, and encamp in the wilderness of Zin, which `is' Kadesh.
37 And they journey from Kadesh, and encamp in mount Hor, in the extremity of the land of Edom.
38 And Aaron the priest goeth up unto mount Hor, by the command of Jehovah, and dieth there, in the fortieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month;
39 and Aaron `is' a son of a hundred and twenty and three years in his dying in mount Hor.
40 And the Canaanite -- king Arad -- who is dwelling in the south, in the land of Canaan, heareth of the coming of the sons of Israel.
41 And they journey from mount Hor, and encamp in Zalmonah;
42 and they journey from Zalmonah, and encamp in Punon.
43 And they journey from Punon, and encamp in Oboth;
44 and they journey from Oboth, and encamp in Ije-Abarim, in the border of Moab.
45 And they journey from Iim, and encamp in Dibon-Gad;
46 and they journey from Dibon-Gad, and encamp in Almon-Diblathaim.
47 And they journey from Almon-Diblathaim, and encamp in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo;
48 and they journey from the mountains of Abarim, and encamp in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, `near' Jericho.
49 And they encamp by the Jordan from Beth-Jeshimoth, unto Abel-Shittim, in the plains of Moab.
50 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, `near' Jericho, saying,
51 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye are passing over the Jordan unto the land of Canaan,
52 then ye have dispossessed all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and have destroyed all their imagery, yea, all their molten images ye destroy, and all their high places ye lay waste,
53 and ye have possessed the land, and dwelt in it, for to you I have given the land -- to possess it.
54 `And ye have inherited the land by lot, by your families; to the many ye increase their inheritance, and to the few ye diminish their inheritance; whither the lot goeth out to him, it is his; by the tribes of your fathers ye inherit.
55 `And if ye do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it hath been, those whom ye let remain of them, `are' for pricks in your eyes, and for thorns in your sides, and they have distressed you on the land in which ye are dwelling,
56 and it hath come to pass, as I thought to do to them -- I do to you.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 33
Commentary on Numbers 33 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 33
Nu 33:1-15. Two and Forty Journeys of the Israelites—from Egypt to Sinai.
1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel—This chapter may be said to form the winding up of the history of the travels of the Israelites through the wilderness; for the three following chapters relate to matters connected with the occupation and division of the promised land. As several apparent discrepancies will be discovered on comparing the records here given of the journeyings from Sinai with the detailed accounts of the events narrated in the Book of Exodus and the occasional notices of places that are found in that of Deuteronomy, it is probable that this itinerary comprises a list of only the most important stations in their journeys—those where they formed prolonged encampments, and whence they dispersed their flocks and herds to pasture on the adjacent plains till the surrounding herbage was exhausted. The catalogue extends from their departure out of Egypt to their arrival on the plains of Moab.
went forth … with their armies—that is, a vast multitude marshalled in separate companies, but regular order.
2. Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord—The wisdom of this divine order is seen in the importance of the end to which it was subservient—namely, partly to establish the truth of the history, partly to preserve a memorial of God's marvellous interpositions on behalf of Israel, and partly to confirm their faith in the prospect of the difficult enterprise on which they were entering, the invasion of Canaan.
3. Rameses—generally identified with Heroopoils, now the modern Abu-Keisheid (see on Ex 12:37), which was probably the capital of Goshen, and, by direction of Moses, the place of general rendezvous previous to their departure.
4. upon their gods—used either according to Scripture phraseology to denote their rulers (the first-born of the king and his princes) or the idolatrous objects of Egyptian worship.
5. pitched in Succoth—that is, "booths"—a place of no note except as a temporary halting place, at Birketel-Hadji, the Pilgrim's Pool [Calmet].
6. Etham—edge, or border of all that part of Arabia-Petræa which lay contiguous to Egypt and was known by the general name of Shur.
7. Pi-hahiroth, Baal-zephon … Migdol—(See on Ex 14:2).
8. Marah—thought to be Ain Howarah, both from its position and the time (three days) it would take them with their children and flocks to march from the water of Ayun Musa to that spot.
9. Elim—supposed to be Wady Ghurundel (see on Ex 15:27).
10. encamped by the Red Sea—The road from Wady Ghurundel leads into the interior, in consequence of a high continuous ridge which excludes all view of the sea. At the mouth of Wady-et-Tayibeh, after about three days' march, it opens again on a plain along the margin of the Red Sea. The minute accuracy of the Scripture narrative, in corresponding so exactly with the geographical features of this region, is remarkably shown in describing the Israelites as proceeding by the only practicable route that could be taken. This plain, where they encamped, was the Desert of Sin (see on Ex 16:1).
12-14. Dophkah … Alush … Rephidim—These three stations, in the great valleys of El Sheikh and Feiran, would be equivalent to four days' journey for such a host. Rephidim (Ex 17:6) was in Horeb, the burnt region—a generic name for a hot, mountainous country. [See on Ex 17:1.]
15. wilderness of Sinai—the Wady Er-Raheh.
Nu 33:16-56. From Sinai to Kadesh and Plains of Moab.
16-37. Kibroth-Hattaavah ("the graves of lust," see on Nu 11:34)—The route, on breaking up the encampment at Sinai, led down Wady Sheikh; then crossing Jebel-et-Tih, which intersected the peninsula, they descended into Wady Zalaka, pitching successively at two brief, though memorable, stations (De 9:22); then they encamped at Hazeroth ("unwalled villages"), supposed to be at Ain-Hadera (see on Nu 11:35). Kadesh, or Kadesh-barnea, is supposed to be the great valley of the Ghor, and the city Kadesh to have been situated on the border of this valley [Burckhardt; Robinson]. But as there are no less than eighteen stations inserted between Hazeroth and Kadesh, and only eleven days were spent in performing that journey (De 1:2), it is evident that the intermediate stations here recorded belong to another and totally different visit to Kadesh. The first was when they left Sinai in the second month (Nu 1:11; 13:20), and were in Kadesh in August (De 1:45), and "abode many days" in it. Then, murmuring at the report of the spies, they were commanded to return into the desert "by the way of the Red Sea." The arrival at Kadesh, mentioned in this catalogue, corresponds to the second sojourn at that place, being the first month, or April (Nu 20:1). Between the two visits there intervened a period of thirty-eight years, during which they wandered hither and thither through all the region of El-Tih ("wanderings"), often returning to the same spots as the pastoral necessities of their flocks required; and there is the strongest reason for believing that the stations named between Hazeroth (Nu 33:8) and Kadesh (Nu 33:36) belong to the long interval of wandering. No certainty has yet been attained in ascertaining the locale of many of these stations. There must have been more than are recorded; for it is probable that those only are noted where they remained some time, where the tabernacle was pitched, and where Moses and the elders encamped, the people being scattered for pasture in various directions. From Ezion-geber, for instance, which stood at the head of the gulf of Akaba, to Kadesh, could not be much less than the whole length of the great valley of the Ghor, a distance of not less than a hundred miles, whatever might be the exact situation of Kadesh; and, of course, there must have been several intervening stations, though none are mentioned. The incidents and stages of the rest of the journey to the plains of Moab are sufficiently explicit from the preceding chapters.
18. Rithmah ("the place of the broom")—a station possibly in some wady extending westward of the Ghor.
19. Rimmon-parez, or Rimmon—a city of Judah and Simeon (Jos 15:32); Libnah, so called from its white poplars (Jos 10:29), or, as some think, a white hill between Kadesh and Gaza (Jos 10:29); Rissah (El-arish); mount Shapher (Cassius); Moseroth, adjacent to mount Hor, in Wady Mousa. Ezion-geber, near Akaba, a seaport on the western shore of the Elanitic gulf; Wilderness of Zin, on the east side of the peninsula of Sinai; Punon, in the rocky ravines of mount Hor and famous for the mines and quarries in its vicinity as well as for its fruit trees, now Tafyle, on the border of Edom; Abarim, a ridge of rugged hills northwest of the Arnon—the part called Nebo was one of its highest peaks—opposite Jericho. (See on De 10:6).
50-53. ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you—not, however, by expulsion, but extermination (De 7:1).
and destroy all their pictures—obelisks for idolatrous worship (see on Le 26:1).
and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places—by metonymy for all their groves and altars, and materials of worship on the tops of hills.
54. ye shall divide the land by lot—The particular locality of each tribe was to be determined in this manner while a line was to be used in measuring the proportion (Jos 18:10; Ps 16:5, 6).
55. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you—No associations were to be formed with the inhabitants; otherwise, "if ye let remain, they will be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides"—that is, they would prove troublesome and dangerous neighbors, enticing to idolatry, and consequently depriving you of the divine favor and blessing. The neglect of the counsel against union with the idolatrous inhabitants became fatal to them. This earnest admonition given to the Israelites in their peculiar circumstances conveys a salutary lesson to us to allow no lurking habits of sin to remain in us. That spiritual enemy must be eradicated from our nature; otherwise it will be ruinous to our present peace and future salvation.