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Numbers 33:1–49 — Forty-Two Journeys of the Israelites. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The list of the encampments is expressly said to have been written by Moses, and it served as a permanent memorial, on the one hand, of the sin and rebellion of the nation, and, on the other hand, of the faithfulness and long-suffering of God in leading and sustaining His people throughout their sojourn in the wilderness.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

In their travels towards Canaan they were continually on the remove. Such is our state in this world; we have here no continuing city, and all our removes in this world are but from one part a desert to another. They were led to and fro, forward and backward, yet were all the while under the direction of the pillar of cloud and fire. God led them about, yet led them the right way.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The march of the people is not described by the stations, or places of encampment, but by the particular spots from which they set out. Hence the constant repetition of the word ויּסעוּ, "and they broke up."

Keil's grammatical point grounds the unit's title-word; quoted to anchor the literal.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

under the hand of Moses and Aaron: who were sent to the king of Egypt to require their dismission, and who were the instruments under God of their deliverance, and were the leaders of them

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These are the journeys of the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’êl·leh mas·‘ê ḇə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl ’ă·šer yā·ṣə·’ū mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim lə·ṣiḇ·’ō·ṯām bə·yaḏ- mō·šeh wə·’a·hă·rōn

Word by word12 · parsed

אֵ֜לֶּה’êl·lehTheseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

מַסְעֵ֣יmas·‘ê[are] the journeysH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iNounmasculine plural construct

מַסְעֵי (mas·‘ê, construct plural of maççaʻ, H4550) — a rare noun (only 11 verses in the canon) governing the entire chapter. The Pulpit Commentary notes the Septuagint rendered it σταθμοί, "stages" or "stations," but defends "journeys" because "it is the act of setting out and marching from such a place to such another which the word properly denotes."

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-vvvH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לyiś·rā·’êlof the IsraelitesH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerwhenH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יָצְא֛וּyā·ṣə·’ūthey came outH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

yā·ṣə·’ū (yâtsâʼ, H3318), "came out" — the verb of the Exodus itself; the itinerary is framed as one long going-out.

מֵאֶ֥רֶץmê·’e·reṣof the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-mNounfeminine singular construct

מִצְרַ֖יִםmiṣ·ra·yimof EgyptH4714

√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iNounproperfeminine singular

לְצִבְאֹתָ֑םlə·ṣiḇ·’ō·ṯāmby their divisionsH6635

√ tsâbâʼ — a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially regPreposition-lNouncommon plural constructthird person masculine plural

לְצִבְאֹתָם (tsâbâʼ, H6635) — "hosts." The same word stands behind the divine title "LORD of hosts"; here it marks Israel as an ordered army on the march.

בְּיַד־bə·yaḏ-under the leadershipH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

בְּיַד (yâd, H3027) — "by the hand of." Mediated leadership: Moses and Aaron are the instruments, but the directing power is God's, as the chapter's repeated "at the LORD's command" will make explicit.

מֹשֶׁ֖הmō·šehof MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃wə·’a·hă·rōnand AaronH175

√ ʼAhărôwn — Aharon, the brother of MosesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

These [are] the breakings-of-camp of-the-sons-of-Israel, who came-out from-the-land of-Egypt by-their-hosts, by-the-hand of-Moses and-Aaron.

Where the English smooths the original

מַסְעֵ֣י BSB "the journeys" smooths a sharper noun. mas·‘ê (maççaʻ, H4550) is built from nâçaʻ, "to pull up the tent-pins" — it names not the travelling but the striking of the camp, the act of breaking up and setting out. Keil renders it "marches," insisting "maççaʻ does not mean a station, but the breaking up of a camp." The whole chapter is thus titled by departure, not arrival.
לְצִבְאֹתָ֑ם "by their divisions" renders lə·ṣiḇ·’ō·ṯām (tsâbâʼ, H6635) — a word for a marshalled host / army. The older versions read "with their armies." Israel comes out of Egypt not as a fleeing rabble but as ordered military companies (cf. Exodus 12:51).
בְּיַד־ "under the leadership" flattens the idiom bə·yaḏ (yâd, H3027), literally "by the hand of Moses and Aaron." Keil glosses it "under the guidance," but the Hebrew keeps the concrete image of a directing hand — the same hand-language used of God's "high hand" two verses later.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

we have a direct assertion that Moses wrote this list of marches himself by command of God, doubtless as a memorial not only of historical interest, but of deep religious significance, as showing how Israel had been led by him who is faithful and true faithful in keeping his promise, true in fulfilling his word for good or for evil.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Moses would have this done, partly to evince the truth of the history, partly to preserve the remembrance of God’s glorious and miraculous works both of judgment and mercy towards his people, and thereby to confirm their faith in their present difficult undertaking.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

when the cloud abode on the tabernacle they rested, and had their stations, and continued as long as the cloud tarried on it, and when that was taken up, then they marched; and thus at the commandment of the Lord they rested, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed, see Numbers 9:17

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It does not clearly appear whether these words should be understood of the record of the journeys of the Israelites as being made by Moses in obedience to a Divine command, or whether they should be understood of the journeys themselves as being taken in obedience to the Divine command.

Ellicott names the very ambiguity the Hebrew ‘al-pî leaves open.

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At the LORD’s command, Moses recorded the stages of their journey. These are the stages listed by their starting points:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘al- Yah·weh pî mō·šeh ’eṯ- way·yiḵ·tōḇ mō·w·ṣā·’ê·hem lə·mas·‘ê·hem wə·’êl·leh mas·‘ê·hem lə·mō·w·ṣā·’ê·hem

Word by word11 · parsed

עַל־‘al-AtH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

יְהוָ֑הYah·wehthe LORD’sH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

עַל־פִּי יְהוָה (peh, H6310) — "by the mouth of the LORD." The decisive theological frame of the chapter: the itinerary is God-commanded, whether of the marches, the writing, or both.

פִּ֣יpîcommandH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Nounmasculine singular construct

מֹשֶׁ֜הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

וַיִּכְתֹּ֨בway·yiḵ·tōḇrecordedH3789

√ kâthab — to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

וַיִּכְתֹּב (kâthab, H3789) — Mosaic authorship asserted in the text itself. The Pulpit Commentary observes that even "the most destructive critics" have accepted this verse as substantially true.

מוֹצָאֵיהֶ֛םmō·w·ṣā·’ê·hemthe stagesH4161

√ môwtsâʼ — a going forth, iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

מוֹצָאֵיהֶם (môwtsâʼ, H4161), "their goings-out" — paired chiastically with maççaʻ across the verse: goings-out / breakings-of-camp, then breakings-of-camp / goings-out.

לְמַסְעֵיהֶ֖םlə·mas·‘ê·hemof their journeyH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וְאֵ֥לֶּהwə·’êl·lehTheseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseConjunctive wawPronouncommon plural

מַסְעֵיהֶ֖םmas·‘ê·hemare the stagesH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶֽם׃lə·mō·w·ṣā·’ê·hemlisted by their starting pointsH4161

√ môwtsâʼ — a going forth, iPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-wrote, Moses, their-goings-out according-to-their-breakings-of-camp by-the-mouth of-the-LORD; and-these [are] their-breakings-of-camp according-to-their-goings-out.

Where the English smooths the original

עַל־פִּ֣י BSB "At the LORD's command" renders ‘al-pî YHWH (peh, H6310), literally "at / upon the mouth of the LORD." The Hebrew idiom locates the command in God's spoken breath. The Pulpit Commentary notes the clause may qualify either the marches ("made under the orders of God himself") or the writing — "It is more natural to read it with the verb 'wrote.'"
וַיִּכְתֹּ֨ב "recorded" smooths way·yik·tōḇ (kâthab, H3789), "and he wrote / engraved." The same verb covers graving and inscribing; the list is a deliberately authored, permanent document, not a casual memorandum.
מוֹצָאֵיהֶ֛ם "the stages" obscures the precise word-pair. mō·w·ṣā·’ê·hem (môwtsâʼ, H4161) is "their goings-out / places of departure," set against maççaʻ ("breakings-of-camp"). Keil: the two clauses are "really equivalent" — the march is told by its departure-points, not its arrivals.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians; openly and publicly, with great courage and boldness, without any fear of their enemies; who seeing them march out, had no power to stop them, or to move their lips at them, nay, were willing to be rid of them

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

They departed from Rameses — Whither they repaired, by order of Moses, from all parts of the land.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The brief description here given of the departure from Egypt touches upon every material circumstance as related at large in Exodus 11:41. In the sight of all the Egyptians. The journey was begun by night ( Exodus 12:42 ), but was of course con-tinned on the following day.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

the departure from Rameses, at which place the Israelites seem to have been gathered together previously to the exodus, is related as in Exodus 12:37 .

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On the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, the Israelites set out from Rameses. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ba·ḥă·miš·šāh ‘ā·śār yō·wm la·ḥō·ḏeš hā·ri·šō·wn ba·ḥō·ḏeš hā·ri·šō·wn mim·mā·ḥo·raṯ hap·pe·saḥ way·yis·‘ū mê·ra‘·mə·sês ḇə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl yā·ṣə·’ū bə·yāḏ rā·māh lə·‘ê·nê kāl- miṣ·rā·yim

Word by word19 · parsed

בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥הba·ḥă·miš·šāhOn the fifteenthH2568

√ châmêsh — fivePreposition-b, ArticleNumbermasculine singular

עָשָׂ֛ר‘ā·śār. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular

י֖וֹםyō·wmdayH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Nounmasculine singular

לַחֹ֣דֶשׁla·ḥō·ḏešH2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular

הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹןhā·ri·šō·wnof the firstH7223

√ riʼshôwn — first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁba·ḥō·ḏešmonthH2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

הָרִאשׁ֑וֹןhā·ri·šō·wnonH7223

√ riʼshôwn — first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

מִֽמָּחֳרַ֣תmim·mā·ḥo·raṯthe day afterH4283

√ mochŏrâth — the morrow or (adverbially) tomorrowPreposition-mNounfeminine singular construct

הַפֶּ֗סַחhap·pe·saḥthe PassoverH6453

√ peçach — a pretermission, iArticleNounmasculine singular

וַיִּסְע֤וּway·yis·‘ū[the Israelites] set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

וַיִּסְעוּ (nâçaʻ, H5265) — first sounding of the march-refrain. From here the verb recurs at nearly every station, binding forty-two encampments into one cadence.

מֵֽרַעְמְסֵס֙mê·ra‘·mə·sêsfrom RamesesH7486

√ Raʻmᵉçêç — Rameses or Raamses, a place in EgyptPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

מֵרַעְמְסֵס (Raʻmᵉçêç, H7486) — Rameses, the rendezvous-city, named in only 5 verses canon-wide. Gill: "where the children of Israel, a little before their departure, seem to have been gathered together in a body, in order to march out all together." This rare lexeme links the verse verbally to Exodus 12:37.

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-[They]H1121

יִשְׂרָאֵל֙yiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

יָצְא֤וּyā·ṣə·’ūmarched outH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

בְּיָ֣דbə·yāḏdefiantlyH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular

בְּיָד רָמָה (yâd H3027 + rûwm H7311) — "with a high hand." The classic phrase for open, triumphant defiance (cf. Exodus 14:8).

רָמָ֔הrā·māh. . .H7311

√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbQalParticiplefeminine singular

לְעֵינֵ֖יlə·‘ê·nêin full viewH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lNouncdc

כָּל־kāl-of allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

מִצְרָֽיִם׃miṣ·rā·yimthe EgyptiansH4713

√ Mitsrîy — a Mitsrite, or inhabitant of MitsrajimNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Rameses in-the-month the-first, on-the-fifteenth day of-the-month the-first; on-the-morrow-of-the-Passover the-sons-of-Israel went-out with-a-hand raised-high, before-the-eyes of-all-the-Egyptians.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּיָ֣ד רָמָ֔ה BSB "defiantly" renders the famous idiom bə·yāḏ rā·māh (yâd H3027 + rûwm H7311), literally "with a high / raised hand." It is the gesture of bold, public triumph — Israel marches out openly, not as fugitives. Note that the same "hand" word governed v.1's "hand of Moses": now the raised hand is the people's confidence under that leadership.
מִֽמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַפֶּ֗סַח "the day after the Passover" renders mim·mā·ḥo·raṯ hap·pe·saḥ (mochŏrâth H4283 + peçach H6453). The dating is liturgical: departure is fixed not by a calendar abstraction but by its place in the festal week — the morning after the lamb was eaten and the destroyer passed over.
וַיִּסְע֤וּ "set out" is the chapter's signature verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp." This is the first of more than forty occurrences — the drum-beat that carries the whole itinerary forward.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The false deities of Egypt, having no existence except in the imaginations of men, could only be affected within the sphere of those imaginations, i.e. , by being made contemptible in the eyes of those who feared them.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

upon their {b} gods also the LORD executed judgments. (b) Either meaning their idols, or their men of authority.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Their false gods, to wit, those beasts which the brutish Egyptians worshipped as gods, which were killed with the rest, for the first-born both of men and beasts were then killed

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments; they were moved at the presence, and by the power of God, and fell and were dashed to pieces, as the idols of the same land were in later times, see Isaiah 19:1

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who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·miṣ·ra·yim mə·qab·bə·rîm ’êṯ ’ă·šer kāl- bə·ḵō·wr Yah·weh hik·kāh bā·hem Yah·weh ‘ā·śāh šə·p̄ā·ṭîm ū·ḇê·lō·hê·hem

Word by word13 · parsed

וּמִצְרַ֣יִםū·miṣ·ra·yim[who]H4713

√ Mitsrîy — a Mitsrite, or inhabitant of MitsrajimConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

מְקַבְּרִ֗יםmə·qab·bə·rîmwere buryingH6912

√ qâbar — to interVerbPielParticiplemasculine plural

מְקַבְּרִים (qâbar, H6912) — "burying." The participle paints Egypt mid-funeral; Gill notes this "contributed much to the more easy and safe deliverance of the children of Israel; for their hearts were heavy with sorrow, and their hands were full."

אֵת֩’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

בְּכ֑וֹרbə·ḵō·wr[their] firstbornH1060

√ bᵉkôwr — firstbornNounmasculine singular

יְהוָ֛הYah·wehwhom the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

הִכָּ֧הhik·kāhhad struck downH5221

√ nâkâh — to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular

בָּהֶ֖םbā·hemamong them

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehfor the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

עָשָׂ֥ה‘ā·śāhhad executedH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

שְׁפָטִֽים׃šə·p̄ā·ṭîmjudgmentH8201

√ shepheṭ — a sentence, iNounmasculine plural

שְׁפָטִים (shepheṭ, H8201) — "judgments," the language of a passed sentence (cf. Exodus 12:12). The defeat of Egypt's gods is the first thing the itinerary remembers.

וּבֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔םū·ḇê·lō·hê·hemagainst their godsH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וּבֵאלֹהֵיהֶם (ʼĕlôhîym, H430) — "and on their gods." The Pulpit Commentary: the false deities, "having no existence except in the imaginations of men, could only be affected within the sphere of those imaginations, i.e., by being made contemptible in the eyes of those who feared them."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-the-Egyptians [were] burying those-whom the-LORD had-struck among-them, every firstborn; and-against-their-gods the-LORD executed judgments.

Where the English smooths the original

מְקַבְּרִ֗ים BSB "who were burying" rightly catches a participle, mə·qab·bə·rîm (qâbar Piel, H6912) — durative, "were [in the act of] burying." The Pulpit Commentary stresses the tense: "were burying (Septuagint, ἔθαπτον) those whom the Lord had smitten" — Egypt is occupied with its dead while Israel walks free.
וּבֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם ... שְׁפָטִֽים "against their gods the LORD executed judgment" renders ’ĕlōhê·hem (ʼĕlôhîym, H430) + šə·p̄ā·ṭîm (shepheṭ, H8201). The plague is read as a verdict in a divine lawsuit: God passes judgments on the so-called gods. Geneva flags the ambiguity — "Either meaning their idols, or their men of authority."
הִכָּ֧ה "had struck down" is hik·kāh (nâkâh Hifil, H5221), the verb of the smiting-plagues throughout Exodus. The itinerary opens over fresh graves: the going-out is built on the night the firstborn fell.

The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḇə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl way·yis·‘ū mê·ra‘·mə·sês way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·suk·kōṯ

Word by word6 · parsed

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-The IsraelitesH1121

וַיִּסְעוּ … וַיַּחֲנוּ (nâçaʻ H5265 / chânâh H2583) — the recurring couplet "they broke camp … and pitched." The repetition is the literary engine of the chapter, not a defect of style.

יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּסְע֥וּway·yis·‘ūset outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵרַעְמְסֵ֑סmê·ra‘·mə·sêsfrom RamesesH7486

√ Raʻmᵉçêç — Rameses or Raamses, a place in EgyptPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

סֻּכֹּת (Çukkôwth, H5523) — "booths," the rare place-name (16 vv) shared verbally with Exodus 13:20. Gill says the name came "because of the booths or tents the Israelites erected, pitched, and dwelt in, during their abode there."

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּסֻכֹּֽת׃bə·suk·kōṯat SuccothH5523

√ Çukkôwth — Succoth, the name of a place in Egypt and of three in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Rameses, and-they-camped at-Succoth.

Where the English smooths the original

סֻּכֹּֽת "Succoth" (Çukkôwth, H5523, in only 16 verses) is left untranslated, but the name means "booths / shelters." JFB: "Succoth — that is, 'booths.'" The first stage out of Egypt is named for temporary dwellings — fitting for a people now permanently un-housed.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mis·suk·kōṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū ḇə·’ê·ṯām ’ă·šer biq·ṣêh ham·miḏ·bār

Word by word7 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִסֻּכֹּ֑תmis·suk·kōṯfrom SuccothH5523

√ Çukkôwth — Succoth, the name of a place in Egypt and of three in PalestinePreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַיַּחֲנ֣וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְאֵתָ֔םḇə·’ê·ṯāmat EthamH864

√ ʼÊthâm — Etham, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁ֖ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בִּקְצֵ֥הbiq·ṣêhon the edgeH7097

√ qâtseh — an extremityPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מִדְבָּר (midbâr, H4057) — "wilderness," properly open pasture-land; the word for the whole arena of the forty years. Its first appearance here, at Etham, marks the boundary-crossing.

הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃ham·miḏ·bārof the wildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iArticleNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Succoth, and-they-camped at-Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

Where the English smooths the original

בִּקְצֵ֥ה הַמִּדְבָּֽר "on the edge of the wilderness" renders bi·qṣêh ham·miḏ·bār (qâtseh + midbâr, H4057). Etham stands at the very lip of the desert — the threshold between settled land and the trackless waste into which Israel is about to be led. JFB: "Etham — edge, or border."
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon, and they camped near Migdol.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·’ê·ṯām way·yā·šāḇ ‘al- pî ha·ḥî·rōṯ ’ă·šer ‘al- pə·nê ba·‘al ṣə·p̄ō·wn way·ya·ḥă·nū lip̄·nê miḡ·dōl

Word by word14 · parsed

וַיִּסְעוּ֙way·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵֽאֵתָ֔םmê·’ê·ṯāmfrom EthamH864

√ ʼÊthâm — Etham, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙way·yā·šāḇand turned backH7725

√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

פִּי הַחִירֹת (Pîy ha-Chîyrôth, H6367, 4 vv) — Pi-hahiroth. Barnes notes the Hebrew sometimes drops the "Pi-": "the omitted 'pi' is only a common Egyptian prefix."

עַל־‘al-toH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

פִּ֣יpîvvvH6367

√ Pîy ha-Chîyrôth — Pi-ha-Chiroth, a place in Egypt

בַּעַל צְפֹן (Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn, H1189) and מִגְדֹּל (Migdôwl, H4024) — both rare (3 and 6 verses). The cluster of rare toponyms makes this verse a strong verbal link to the Exodus 14 sea-narrative.

הַחִירֹ֔תha·ḥî·rōṯPi-hahirothH6367

√ Pîy ha-Chîyrôth — Pi-ha-Chiroth, a place in EgyptNounproperfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

עַל־‘al-oppositeH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

פְּנֵ֖יpə·nê. . .H6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nouncommon plural construct

בַּ֣עַלba·‘alvvvH1189

√ Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn — Baal-Tsephon, a place in EqyptPreposition

צְפ֑וֹןṣə·p̄ō·wnBaal-zephonH1189

√ Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn — Baal-Tsephon, a place in EqyptNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand they campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nênearH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

מִגְדֹּֽל׃miḡ·dōlMigdolH4024

√ Migdôwl — Migdol, a place in EgyptNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Etham and-turned-back upon Pi-hahiroth, which [is] before Baal-zephon; and-they-camped before Migdol.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיָּ֜שָׁב BSB "turned back" renders way·yā·šāḇ (shûwb, H7725), "and he/it returned." This is the only retrograde step in the early itinerary — Israel is divinely ordered to double back toward the sea (Exodus 14:2), apparently trapping themselves. The march is not a straight line; God's leading folds back on itself.
פִּי הַחִירֹ֔ת ... בַּ֖עַל צְפֹֽן "Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon" preserves two place-names that are themselves witnesses. Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn (H1189, in only 3 verses) is "Baal of the north," a Canaanite/Egyptian deity-site; Israel camps in the shadow of a pagan shrine on the eve of the sea-crossing. These rare names tie the verse verbally to Exodus 14:2, 9.
מִגְדֹּֽל "near Migdol" — Miḡ·dōl (H4024, in only 6 verses) means "tower / watch-post." The encampment is named for an Egyptian frontier-fortress; the trap looks complete, with the sea ahead and Egypt's towers behind.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and passed through the midst of the sea; from shore to shore, as on dry laud: into the wilderness: that part of it which lay on the other side, for still it was the wilderness of Etham they went into, as follows: and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah; so called from the bitterness of the waters there

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

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.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

We do not, however, know what physical changes have taken place since that time, and it is quite possible that at Etham there may have been a ford, or some other easy means of communication, so that the strip of desert along the opposite shore came to be known as the wilderness of Etham.

source ↗

They set out from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mip·pə·nê ha·ḥî·rōṯ way·ya·‘aḇ·rū ḇə·ṯō·wḵ- hay·yām ham·miḏ·bā·rāh šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm way·yê·lə·ḵū de·reḵ bə·miḏ·bar ’ê·ṯām way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·mā·rāh

Word by word15 · parsed

וַיִּסְעוּ֙way·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִפְּנֵ֣יmip·pə·nêfromH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-mNouncommon plural construct

הַֽחִירֹ֔תha·ḥî·rōṯPi-hahirothH6367

√ Pîy ha-Chîyrôth — Pi-ha-Chiroth, a place in EgyptArticleNounproperfeminine singular

וַיַּֽעַבְר֥וּway·ya·‘aḇ·rūand crossedH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

וַיַּעַבְרוּ (ʻâbar, H5674) — "they passed over / through." The Hebrew root behind "Hebrew" itself; here it names the passage through the sea. The Verifier links this verse structurally to Exodus 15:22 by the shared cluster nâçaʻ / midbâr / yâm / shâlôwsh.

בְתוֹךְ־ḇə·ṯō·wḵ-throughH8432

√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

הַיָּ֖םhay·yāmthe seaH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterArticleNounmasculine singular

הַמִּדְבָּ֑רָהham·miḏ·bā·rāhinto the wildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular

שְׁלֹ֤שֶׁתšə·lō·šeṯand they journeyed three daysH7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumbermasculine singular construct

יָמִים֙yā·mîm. . .H3117

וַיֵּ֨לְכ֜וּway·yê·lə·ḵū. . .H1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

דֶּ֣רֶךְde·reḵ. . .H1870

√ derek — a road (as trodden)Nouncommon singular construct

בְּמִדְבַּ֣רbə·miḏ·barinto the WildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

אֵתָ֔ם’ê·ṯāmof EthamH864

√ ʼÊthâm — Etham, a place in the DesertNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּמָרָה — "camped at Marah" ("bitter"). The itinerary's bare prose presses the irony: from the song at the sea (Exodus 15) to bitter water within three days.

בְּמָרָֽה׃bə·mā·rāhat MarahH4785

√ Mârâh — Marah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-before Pi-hahiroth and-passed-through the-midst-of the-sea into-the-wilderness; and-they-went a-journey-of-three days in-the-wilderness-of-Etham, and-they-camped at-Marah.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיַּֽעַבְר֥וּ בְתוֹךְ־הַיָּ֖ם BSB "crossed through the sea" renders way·ya·‘aḇ·rū ḇə·ṯō·wḵ ham·yām (ʻâbar H5674 + tâvek H8432) — "and they passed through the very midst of the sea." The single greatest miracle of the Exodus is folded, here, into one verb of the itinerary: between two campsites lies the parted sea, recorded as soberly as any other stage.
שְׁלֹ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ "three days" is šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm (shâlôwsh H7969). The three waterless days after the sea (Exodus 15:22) are the first testing of the redeemed people — deliverance is immediately followed by thirst.
בְּמָרָֽה "at Marah" — bə·mā·rāh (Mârâh, H4785) — the name means "bitter." Gill: "so called from the bitterness of the waters there." The first stop past the sea is a place of bitter water, where the redeemed first murmur.

They set out from Marah and came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·mā·rāh way·yā·ḇō·’ū ’ê·li·māh ū·ḇə·’ê·lim šə·têm ‘eś·rêh ‘ê·nōṯ ma·yim wə·šiḇ·‘îm tə·mā·rîm way·ya·ḥă·nū- šām

Word by word13 · parsed

וַיִּסְעוּ֙way·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמָּרָ֔הmim·mā·rāhfrom MarahH4785

√ Mârâh — Marah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַיָּבֹ֖אוּway·yā·ḇō·’ūand cameH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

אֵילִ֑מָה’ê·li·māhto ElimH362

√ ʼÊylim — Elim, a place in the DesertNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

אֵילִם (ʼÊylim, H362) — Elim, in only 4 verses; with tâmâr ("palm") this is a strong verbal tie to Exodus 15:27. The oasis is the relief that immediately answers bitter Marah.

וּ֠בְאֵילִםū·ḇə·’ê·lim. . .H362

√ ʼÊylim — Elim, a place in the DesertConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

שְׁתֵּ֣יםšə·têmwhere there were twelveH8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoNumberfd

שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה ... שִׁבְעִים — twelve and seventy. The numbers carry covenantal weight (twelve tribes, seventy elders), which is why expositors from Jerome onward read Elim figurally.

עֶשְׂרֵ֞ה‘eś·rêh. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumberfeminine singular construct

עֵינֹ֥ת‘ê·nōṯspringsH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Nouncommon plural construct

מַ֛יִםma·yim. . .H4325

√ mayim — waterNounmasculine plural

וְשִׁבְעִ֥יםwə·šiḇ·‘îmand seventyH7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

תְּמָרִ֖יםtə·mā·rîmpalm treesH8558

√ tâmâr — a palm treeNounmasculine plural

וַיַּחֲנוּ־way·ya·ḥă·nū-and they campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

שָֽׁם׃šāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Marah and-came to-Elim; and-in-Elim [were] twelve springs-of water and-seventy palm-trees, and-they-camped there.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ BSB "came to" renders way·yā·ḇō·’ū (bôwʼ, H935) — the gentler verb of arrival, replacing the usual "camped" of the formula. After bitter Marah, the text lingers: they did not merely pitch, they came to a place of abundance.
שְׁתֵּ֥ים עֶשְׂרֵ֛ה עֵינֹ֥ת ... שִׁבְעִ֖ים תְּמָרִ֑ים "twelve springs and seventy palm trees" — the exact numbers 12 (tribes) and 70 (elders, the symbolic fullness of Israel; cf. the 70 souls of Jacob's house, the 70 elders) are preserved. The rare proper name Êylim (H362, 4 vv) plus the palm-count make this a verbal echo of Exodus 15:27. The numbers themselves invite the typological reading the older expositors gave them.

They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·’ê·lim way·ya·ḥă·nū ‘al- sūp̄ yam-

Word by word6 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵאֵילִ֑םmê·’ê·limfrom ElimH362

√ ʼÊylim — Elim, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עַל־‘al-byH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

סֽוּף׃sūp̄the RedH5488

√ çûwph — a reed, especially the papyrusNounmasculine singular

יַם־yam-SeaH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterNounmasculine singular construct

יַם־סוּף (yâm, H3220) — the "Sea of Reeds." An encampment here is among the stations the Exodus narrative passes over; the itinerary preserves what the story omits.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Elim, and-they-camped at-by the Red Sea.

Where the English smooths the original

עַל־יַם־סֽוּף "by the Red Sea" renders ‘al-yam-sûf (yâm H3220 + çûwph), literally "at the Sea of Reeds." This encampment is recorded only here, not in Exodus. Benson notes it was "not by that part of it where they had lately passed over, but more southerly" — a second, quieter meeting with the same sea that had drowned Pharaoh.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū sūp̄ mî·yam- way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·miḏ·bar- sîn

Word by word6 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

ס֑וּףsūp̄from the RedH5488

√ çûwph — a reed, especially the papyrusNounmasculine singular

מִיַּם־mî·yam-SeaH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּמִדְבַּר־bə·miḏ·bar-in the DesertH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

סִֽין׃sînof SinH5512

√ Çîyn — Sin the name of an Egyptian town and (probably) desert adjoiningNounproperfeminine singular

מִדְבַּר־סִין (midbâr, H4057) — the Wilderness of Sin, scene of the manna (Exodus 16:1). The Verifier ties Numbers 33's dating-language to Exodus 16:1 through the shared month/number lexemes.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-the Red Sea, and-they-camped at-in the Wilderness of Sin.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּמִדְבַּר־סִֽין "in the Desert of Sin" — bə·miḏ·bar-sîn (midbâr H4057 + Çîyn). This is the wilderness where the manna first fell (Exodus 16). Benson: "The wilderness of Sin — Where the manna first began to fall." The bare campsite name hides the daily miracle of bread from heaven.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·miḏ·bar- sîn way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ḏā·p̄ə·qāh

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמִּדְבַּר־mim·miḏ·bar-from the DesertH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

סִ֑יןsînof SinH5512

√ Çîyn — Sin the name of an Egyptian town and (probably) desert adjoiningNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּדָפְקָה (Dophqâh) — Dophkah, a station recorded only here and absent from Exodus. JFB reckons Dophkah, Alush and Rephidim together "equivalent to four days' journey for such a host."

בְּדָפְקָֽה׃bə·ḏā·p̄ə·qāhat DophkahH1850

√ Dophqâh — Dophkah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mid·dā·p̄ə·qāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·’ā·lūš

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִדָּפְקָ֑הmid·dā·p̄ə·qāhfrom DophkahH1850

√ Dophqâh — Dophkah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּאָלֽוּשׁ׃bə·’ā·lūšat AlushH442

√ ʼÂlûwsh — Alush, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּאָלוּשׁ (ʼÂlûwsh) — Alush, again unique to this list. With Dophkah and the Red-Sea camp, it is one of the stations the Exodus narrative silently passes.

They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·’ā·lūš way·ya·ḥă·nū bir·p̄î·ḏim šām hā·yāh wə·lō- ma·yim lā·‘ām liš·tō·wṯ

Word by word10 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵאָל֑וּשׁmê·’ā·lūšfrom AlushH442

√ ʼÂlûwsh — Alush, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙way·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בִּרְפִידִ֔םbir·p̄î·ḏimat RephidimH7508

√ Rᵉphîydîym — Rephidim, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

רְפִידִם (Rᵉphîydîym) — Rephidim, the place of the water from the rock and of the battle with Amalek (Exodus 17). The Verifier ties this stretch to Exodus 17:1 by the rare noun maççaʻ.

שָׁ֥םšāmwhereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

הָ֨יָהhā·yāhthere wasH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

וְלֹא־wə·lō-noH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

מַ֛יִםma·yimwaterH4325

√ mayim — waterNounmasculine plural

לָעָ֖םlā·‘āmfor the peopleH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Preposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular

לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃liš·tō·wṯto drinkH8354

√ shâthâh — to imbibe (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Alush, and-they-camped at-Rephidim; and-there-was no water there for-the-people to-drink.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וְלֹא־הָ֨יָה שָׁ֥ם מַ֛יִם BSB "where there was no water" renders the flat clause wə·lō-hā·yāh šām ma·yim — "and there was no water there." This is the only station in the whole list given an editorial reason: Rephidim is remembered for its thirst and the rock that Moses struck (Exodus 17). The bare itinerary breaks its silence only at the place of testing.
לִשְׁתֹּ֥ת הָעָֽם "for the people to drink" — lištōṯ hā·‘ām (shâthâh + ʻam). Gill recalls the sequel: "a rock here was smitten by Moses at the command of God, and waters gushed out sufficient for them and their flocks." The lack becomes the occasion of the gift.

They set out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·rə·p̄î·ḏim way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·miḏ·bar sî·nāy

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵרְפִידִ֑םmê·rə·p̄î·ḏimfrom RephidimH7508

√ Rᵉphîydîym — Rephidim, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּמִדְבַּ֥רbə·miḏ·barin the WildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

סִינָֽי׃sî·nāyof SinaiH5514

√ Çîynay — Sinai, mountain of ArabiaNounproperfeminine singular

מִדְבַּר סִינָי (midbâr, H4057) — the Wilderness of Sinai, the covenant-mountain. The Verifier links the encampment-language here to Exodus 19:2 by shared nâçaʻ / chânâh.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Rephidim, and-they-camped at-in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי "in the Wilderness of Sinai" — bə·miḏ·bar sî·nāy (midbâr H4057 + Çîynay). The itinerary names, in one half-line, the mountain of the covenant. Everything that fills Exodus 19 through Numbers 10 — law, tabernacle, priesthood — happened at this single station, recorded here as a place merely arrived at and left.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·miḏ·bar sî·nāy way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·qiḇ·rōṯ hat·ta·’ă·wāh

Word by word6 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמִּדְבַּ֣רmim·miḏ·barfrom the WildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

סִינָ֑יsî·nāyof SinaiH5514

√ Çîynay — Sinai, mountain of ArabiaNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

קִבְרֹת הַתַּאֲוָה — "graves of craving." Keil notes that this and Hazeroth "agree with those named in the historical account in Numbers 11:34 and Numbers 11:35," anchoring the post-Sinai stretch to the narrative.

בְּקִבְרֹ֥תbə·qiḇ·rōṯvvvH6914

√ Qibrôwth hat-Taʼă-vâh — Kibroth-hat-Taavh, a place in the DesertPreposition

הַֽתַּאֲוָֽה׃hat·ta·’ă·wāhat Kibroth-hattaavahH6914

√ Qibrôwth hat-Taʼă-vâh — Kibroth-hat-Taavh, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-the Wilderness of Sinai, and-they-camped at-Kibroth-hattaavah.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּקִבְרֹ֖ת הַֽתַּאֲוָֽה "Kibroth-hattaavah" (left untranslated) means "the graves of craving / lust." Gill: "here the people lusted after flesh, and murmured... a pestilence came and destroyed many of them, and here they were buried, whence the place was so called." The first stop after Sinai is named for a burial-ground of appetite (Numbers 11).
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū miq·qiḇ·rōṯ hat·ta·’ă·wāh way·ya·ḥă·nū ba·ḥă·ṣê·rōṯ

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִקִּבְרֹ֣תmiq·qiḇ·rōṯfromH6914

√ Qibrôwth hat-Taʼă-vâh — Kibroth-hat-Taavh, a place in the DesertPreposition

הַֽתַּאֲוָ֑הhat·ta·’ă·wāhKibroth-hattaavahH6914

√ Qibrôwth hat-Taʼă-vâh — Kibroth-hat-Taavh, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בַּחֲצֵרֹת (Chătsêrôwth) — Hazeroth, "enclosures." JFB identifies it with Ain-Hadera. It is the place of Miriam and Aaron's sedition against Moses (Numbers 12), the last named station before the spies.

בַּחֲצֵרֹֽת׃ba·ḥă·ṣê·rōṯat HazerothH2698

√ Chătsêrôwth — Chatseroth, a place in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Rithmah - The name of this station is derived from retem, the broom-plant, the "juniper" of the King James Version. This must be the same encampment as that which is said in Numbers 13:26 to have been at Kadesh.

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

They pitched in Rithmah — A place not mentioned in Exodus, but which appears, from Numbers 12:16 , to have been in the wilderness of Paran, not far from Kadesh-barnea.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Rithmah, therefore, may well have been the official name (so to speak) originally given to the encampment, but subsequently superseded by the more famous name of Kadesh; this would explain both its non-appearance in the narrative of Numbers, and its appearance in the Itinerary here.

source ↗

They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·ḥă·ṣê·rōṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·riṯ·māh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵחֲצֵרֹ֑תmê·ḥă·ṣê·rōṯfrom HazerothH2698

√ Chătsêrôwth — Chatseroth, a place in PalestinePreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּרִתְמָֽה׃bə·riṯ·māhat RithmahH7575

√ Rithmâh — Rithmah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

רִתְמָה (Rithmâh) — "place of broom." The expositors widely (Barnes, Benson, Poole, Keil, Pulpit) identify Rithmah with the first Kadesh, from which the spies were sent (Numbers 12:16; 13:26). The list names the place; the narrative supplies the sin.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Hazeroth, and-they-camped at-Rithmah.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּרִתְמָֽה "Rithmah" (Rithmâh) is from rethem, the broom-shrub (the "juniper" of older Bibles). Barnes: "The name of this station is derived from retem, the broom-plant... This must be the same encampment as that which is said in Numbers 13:26 to have been at Kadesh." If so, this single name hides the catastrophe of the spies — the turning-point of the whole forty years.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·riṯ·māh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·rim·mōn pā·reṣ

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵרִתְמָ֑הmê·riṯ·māhfrom RithmahH7575

√ Rithmâh — Rithmah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּרִמֹּ֥ןbə·rim·mōnvvvH7428

√ Rimmôn Perets — Rimmon-Perets, a place in the DesertPreposition

רִמֹּן פָּרֶץ — Rimmon-perez, first of seventeen stations (vv.19-35) which Keil and others assign to the thirty-seven years of wandering. Keil bluntly notes: "Of all the seventeen places not a single one is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

פָּֽרֶץ׃pā·reṣat Rimmon-perezH7428

√ Rimmôn Perets — Rimmon-Perets, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Rithmah, and-they-camped at-Rimmon-perez.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּרִמֹּ֥ן פָּֽרֶץ "Rimmon-perez" (untranslated) joins rimmôn ("pomegranate") to perets ("breach"). JFB connects it to "Rimmon—a city of Judah and Simeon (Jos 15:32)." From here begins the long list of stations the older commentators frankly admit cannot be located.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·rim·mōn pā·reṣ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·liḇ·nāh

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵרִמֹּ֣ןmê·rim·mōnfromH7428

√ Rimmôn Perets — Rimmon-Perets, a place in the DesertPreposition

פָּ֑רֶץpā·reṣRimmon-perezH7428

√ Rimmôn Perets — Rimmon-Perets, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

לִבְנָֽה — Libnah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

בְּלִבְנָֽה׃bə·liḇ·nāhat LibnahH3841

√ Libnâh — Libnah, a place in the Desert and one in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mil·liḇ·nāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ris·sāh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִלִּבְנָ֑הmil·liḇ·nāhfrom LibnahH3841

√ Libnâh — Libnah, a place in the Desert and one in PalestinePreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּרִסָּֽה׃bə·ris·sāhat RissahH7446

√ Riççâh — Rissah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּרִסָּֽה — Rissah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·ris·sāh way·ya·ḥă·nū biq·hê·lā·ṯāh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵרִסָּ֑הmê·ris·sāhfrom RissahH7446

√ Riççâh — Rissah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בִּקְהֵלָֽתָה׃biq·hê·lā·ṯāhat KehelathahH6954

√ Qᵉhêlâthâh — Kehelathah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בִּקְהֵלָֽתָה — Kehelathah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū miq·qə·hê·lā·ṯāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·har- šā·p̄er

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִקְּהֵלָ֑תָהmiq·qə·hê·lā·ṯāhfrom KehelathahH6954

√ Qᵉhêlâthâh — Kehelathah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּהַר־bə·har-at MountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

בְּהַר־שָֽׁפֶר — Mount Shepher, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

שָֽׁפֶר׃šā·p̄erShepherH8234

√ Shepher — Shepher, a place in the DesertNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·har- šā·p̄er way·ya·ḥă·nū ba·ḥă·rā·ḏāh

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵֽהַר־mê·har-from MountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

שָׁ֑פֶרšā·p̄erShepherH8234

√ Shepher — Shepher, a place in the DesertNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בַּחֲרָדָֽה — Haradah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

בַּחֲרָדָֽה׃ba·ḥă·rā·ḏāhat HaradahH2732

√ Chărâdâh — Charadah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·ḥă·rā·ḏāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·maq·hê·lōṯ

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵחֲרָדָ֑הmê·ḥă·rā·ḏāhfrom HaradahH2732

√ Chărâdâh — Charadah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּמַקְהֵלֹֽת׃bə·maq·hê·lōṯat MakhelothH4722

√ Maqhêlôth — Makheloth, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּמַקְהֵלֹֽת — Makheloth, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·maq·hê·lōṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ṯā·ḥaṯ

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמַּקְהֵלֹ֑תmim·maq·hê·lōṯfrom MakhelothH4722

√ Maqhêlôth — Makheloth, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּתָֽחַת׃bə·ṯā·ḥaṯat TahathH8480

√ Tachath — Tachath, the name of a place in the Desert, also of three IsraelitesPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּתָֽחַת — Tahath, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mit·tā·ḥaṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ṯā·raḥ

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִתָּ֑חַתmit·tā·ḥaṯfrom TahathH8480

√ Tachath — Tachath, the name of a place in the Desert, also of three IsraelitesPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּתָֽרַח׃bə·ṯā·raḥat TerahH8646

√ Terach — Terach, the father of AbrahamPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּתָֽרַח — Terah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mit·tā·raḥ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·miṯ·qāh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִתָּ֑רַחmit·tā·raḥfrom TerahH8646

√ Terach — Terach, the father of AbrahamPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּמִתְקָֽה׃bə·miṯ·qāhat MithkahH4989

√ Mithqâh — Mithkah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּמִתְקָֽה — Mithkah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·miṯ·qāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ḥaš·mō·nāh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמִּתְקָ֑הmim·miṯ·qāhfrom MithkahH4989

√ Mithqâh — Mithkah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּחַשְׁמֹנָֽה׃bə·ḥaš·mō·nāhat HashmonahH2832

√ Chashmônâh — Chasmonah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בְּחַשְׁמֹנָֽה — Hashmonah, one of the unidentified wandering-stations of vv.19-35. Keil: not one of these "is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·ḥaš·mō·nāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·mō·sê·rō·wṯ

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵֽחַשְׁמֹנָ֑הmê·ḥaš·mō·nāhfrom HashmonahH2832

√ Chashmônâh — Chasmonah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּמֹסֵרֽוֹת׃bə·mō·sê·rō·wṯat MoserothH4149

√ Môwçêrâh — Moserah or Moseroth, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

מֹסֵרֹת (Môçêrôwth) — Moseroth/Mosera. Deuteronomy 10:6 names Mosera as the place of Aaron's death and burial, where this list and Numbers 20/33:38 name Mount Hor. JFB: "Moseroth, adjacent to mount Hor, in Wady Mousa."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Hashmonah, and-they-camped at-Moseroth.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּמֹסֵרֹֽת "Moseroth" (Môçêrôwth, plural of Môçêrâh) means "bonds / chastisements." Keil identifies it as adjacent to Mount Hor and notes the famous tension with Deuteronomy 10:6, which places Aaron's death here at "Mosera" — a discrepancy the apparatus must weigh.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mim·mō·sê·rō·wṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū biḇ·nê ya·‘ă·qān

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִמֹּסֵר֑וֹתmim·mō·sê·rō·wṯfrom MoserothH4149

√ Môwçêrâh — Moserah or Moseroth, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בִּבְנֵ֥יbiḇ·nêvvvH1142

√ Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân — Bene-Jaakan, a place in the DesertPreposition

בְּנֵי יַעֲקָן — Bene-jaakan, "wells of the sons of Jaakan" (cf. the Horite Jaakan, Genesis 36:27). The reversed sequence here vs. Deuteronomy 10:6 is the apparatus's chief honesty-problem in this unit.

יַעֲקָֽן׃ya·‘ă·qānat Bene-jaakanH1142

√ Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân — Bene-Jaakan, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Moseroth, and-they-camped at-Bene-jaakan.

Where the English smooths the original

בִּבְנֵ֥י יַעֲקָֽן "Bene-jaakan" means "the sons of Jaakan" — an abbreviation, Keil argues, of "Beeroth-bene-Jaakan, wells of the children of Jaakan." In Deuteronomy 10:6 the order of Moseroth and Bene-jaakan is reversed, the crux of the two-itinerary problem.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mib·bə·nê ya·‘ă·qān way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ḥōr hag·giḏ·gāḏ

Word by word6 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִבְּנֵ֣יmib·bə·nêfromH1142

√ Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân — Bene-Jaakan, a place in the DesertPreposition

יַעֲקָ֑ןya·‘ă·qānBene-jaakanH1142

√ Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân — Bene-Jaakan, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

חֹר הַגִּדְגָּד — Hor-haggidgad, "the cave of Gidgad"; the "Gudgodah" of Deuteronomy 10:7. Keil: "Gudgodah is only a slightly altered and abbreviated form of Hor-hagidgad."

בְּחֹ֥רbə·ḥōrvvvH2735

√ Chôr hag-Gidgâd — Chor-hag-Gidgad, a place in the DesertPreposition

הַגִּדְגָּֽד׃hag·giḏ·gāḏat Hor-haggidgadH2735

√ Chôr hag-Gidgâd — Chor-hag-Gidgad, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·ḥōr hag·giḏ·gāḏ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·yā·ṭə·ḇā·ṯāh

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵחֹ֣רmê·ḥōrfromH2735

√ Chôr hag-Gidgâd — Chor-hag-Gidgad, a place in the DesertPreposition

הַגִּדְגָּ֑דhag·giḏ·gāḏHor-haggidgadH2735

√ Chôr hag-Gidgâd — Chor-hag-Gidgad, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

יָטְבָתָה (Yoṭbâthâh) — Jotbathah, called in Deuteronomy 10:7 "a land of water-brooks." A green oasis in the arid Arabah.

בְּיָטְבָֽתָה׃bə·yā·ṭə·ḇā·ṯāhat JotbathahH3193

√ Yoṭbâthâh — Jotbathah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mî·yā·ṭə·ḇā·ṯāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·‘aḇ·rō·nāh

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִיָּטְבָ֑תָהmî·yā·ṭə·ḇā·ṯāhfrom JotbathahH3193

√ Yoṭbâthâh — Jotbathah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּעַבְרֹנָֽה׃bə·‘aḇ·rō·nāhat AbronahH5684

√ ʻEbrônâh — Ebronah, place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

עַבְרֹנָה (ʻAḇrônâh) — Abronah, a station on the approach to Ezion-geber on the gulf; unattested elsewhere.

They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·‘aḇ·rō·nāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·‘eṣ·yō·wn gā·ḇer

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵֽעַבְרֹנָ֑הmê·‘aḇ·rō·nāhfrom AbronahH5684

√ ʻEbrônâh — Ebronah, place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּעֶצְי֥וֹןbə·‘eṣ·yō·wnvvvH6100

√ ʻEtsyôwn Geber — Etsjon-Geber, a place on the Red SeaPreposition

עֶצְיֹן גָּבֶר — Ezion-geber, the gulf-head port (1 Kings 9:26; 22:49). The southernmost point of the wandering and the one fixed coordinate in vv.19-35.

גָּֽבֶר׃gā·ḇerat Ezion-geberH6100

√ ʻEtsyôwn Geber — Etsjon-Geber, a place on the Red SeaPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Abronah, and-they-camped at-Ezion-geber.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּעֶצְיֹ֥ן גָּֽבֶר "Ezion-geber" — Barnes glosses the name "Giant's backbone." This is the one identifiable station in the whole obscure stretch: the seaport at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba where Solomon would later build his navy (1 Kings 9:26). Keil calls its identification beyond doubt.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Ezion-geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·‘eṣ·yō·wn gā·ḇer way·ya·ḥă·nū hî qā·ḏêš ḇə·miḏ·bar- ṣin

Word by word8 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵעֶצְי֣וֹןmê·‘eṣ·yō·wnfromH6100

√ ʻEtsyôwn Geber — Etsjon-Geber, a place on the Red SeaPreposition

גָּ֑בֶרgā·ḇerEzion-geberH6100

√ ʻEtsyôwn Geber — Etsjon-Geber, a place on the Red SeaPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַיַּחֲנ֥וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הִ֥ואhîH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person feminine singular

קָדֵֽשׁ׃qā·ḏêšat KadeshH6946

√ Qâdêsh — Kadesh, a place in the DesertNounproperfeminine singular

מִדְבַּר־צִן ... קָדֵשׁ — the Wilderness of Zin, identified as Kadesh. The Pulpit Commentary: "it is absolutely necessary... to assume that there were two encampments at Kadesh, separated by an interval of more than thirty-eight years." Rithmah (v.18) was the first; this is the second.

בְמִדְבַּר־ḇə·miḏ·bar-in the WildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

צִ֖ןṣinof ZinH6790

√ Tsin — Tsin, a part of the DesertNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Ezion-geber, and-they-camped in-the-wilderness-of Zin — that [is] Kadesh.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
בְמִדְבַּר־צִ֖ן הִ֥וא קָדֵֽשׁ "at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin" renders the apposition bə·miḏ·bar-ṣin hî qā·ḏêš — "in the wilderness of Zin; that is Kadesh." Keil notes this clause "agrees almost word for word with Numbers 20:1," marking the second arrival at Kadesh — the end of the thirty-eight years, where Miriam dies and Moses strikes the rock.
הִ֥וא קָדֵֽשׁ The identifying gloss "that is Kadesh" (hî Qâḏêš) is the editorial hinge of the chapter. No intermediate stations are listed between Ezion-geber and Kadesh; the silence, Keil argues, signals that "the time of penal wandering came to an end" and the congregation re-gathered to begin the final march.

They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the outskirts of the land of Edom.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū miq·qā·ḏêš way·ya·ḥă·nū hā·hār bə·hōr biq·ṣêh ’e·reṣ ’ĕ·ḏō·wm

Word by word8 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִקָּדֵ֑שׁmiq·qā·ḏêšfrom KadeshH6946

√ Qâdêsh — Kadesh, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙way·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הָהָ֔רhā·hārat MountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine singular

הֹר הָהָר — Mount Hor (Hôr, H2023, in only 12 verses). The site of Aaron's death; verbally tied to Numbers 20:22 by the rare name Hôr.

בְּהֹ֣רbə·hōrHorH2023

√ Hôr — Hor, the name of a peak in Idumaea and of one in SyriaPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

בִּקְצֵ֖הbiq·ṣêhon the outskirtsH7097

√ qâtseh — an extremityPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

אֶ֥רֶץ’e·reṣof the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular construct

אֱדֽוֹם׃’ĕ·ḏō·wmof EdomH123

√ ʼĔdôm — Edom, the elder twin-brother of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Kadesh, and-they-camped at-Mount Hor, on the outskirts of the land of Edom.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּהֹ֣ר הָהָ֑ר "at Mount Hor" — bə·hōr hā·hār, literally "at Hor the mountain." The mountain on the edge of Edom where Aaron will die (v.38). JFB places it "on the outskirts of the land of Edom," the frontier the unredeemed generation may not cross directly.
בִּקְצֵ֖ה אֶ֥רֶץ אֱדֽוֹם "on the outskirts of the land of Edom" — bi·qṣêh ’e·reṣ ’ĕḏōwm (qâtseh + ʼErets ʼEdôm). The same "edge" word that put Etham (v.6) at the lip of the wilderness now puts Mount Hor at the lip of Edom; the journey is bracketed by thresholds.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Aaron went up at the commandment of the Lord, and died — Good men’s goings are ordered of the Lord, and a peculiar providence, watching over all their concerns, appoints the time and place of their death. Let us go on in the way of duty, and leave it to him to call us hence, when, and where, and how he pleases.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

This is the only place where the date of Aaron's death is given. It is in strict accordance with the Divine intimation that Israel was to wander forty years in the wilderness ( Numbers 14:33, 34 )

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of Egypt; not being suffered to go with them into the land of Canaan, because of his sin of unbelief at Kadesh, the last place from whence they came

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

in the first day of the {d} fifth month. (d) Which the Hebrews call Ab, and contains part of July and part of August.

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At the LORD’s command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘al- Yah·weh pî ’a·hă·rōn hak·kō·hên ’el- way·ya·‘al hā·hār hōr way·yā·māṯ šām bə·’e·ḥāḏ la·ḥō·ḏeš ha·ḥă·mî·šî ba·ḥō·ḏeš hā·’ar·bā·‘îm biš·naṯ bə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl lə·ṣêṯ mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim

Word by word22 · parsed

עַל־‘al-AtH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

עַל־פִּי יְהוָה (peh, H6310) — "by the mouth of the LORD," the inclusio with v.2. The record opened and now turns on the divine word.

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORD’sH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

פִּ֥יpîcommandH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Nounmasculine singular construct

אַהֲרֹ֨ן’a·hă·rōnAaronH175

√ ʼAhărôwn — Aharon, the brother of MosesNounpropermasculine singular

הַכֹּהֵ֜ןhak·kō·hênthe priestH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

וַיַּעַל֩way·ya·‘alclimbedH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

וַיַּעַל (ʻâlâh, H5927) — "went up." Aaron's last act is an ascent in obedience; the priest who could not enter Canaan is taken up the mountain to die.

הָהָ֛רhā·hārMountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine singular

הֹ֥רhōrHorH2023

√ Hôr — Hor, the name of a peak in Idumaea and of one in SyriaNounproperfeminine singular

הֹר (Hôr, H2023, 12 vv) — Mount Hor, the rare name binding this verse verbally to Numbers 20:22, where the death is narrated at length.

וַיָּ֣מָתway·yā·māṯand diedH4191

√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שָׁ֑םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

בְּאֶחָ֥דbə·’e·ḥāḏon the firstH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-bNumbermasculine singular

לַחֹֽדֶשׁ׃la·ḥō·ḏeš. . .H2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular

הַחֲמִישִׁ֖יha·ḥă·mî·šî[day] of the fifthH2549

√ chămîyshîy — fifthArticleNumberordinal masculine singular

בַּחֹ֥דֶשׁba·ḥō·ḏešmonthH2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

הָֽאַרְבָּעִ֗יםhā·’ar·bā·‘îmin the fortiethH705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyArticleNumbercommon plural

הָאַרְבָּעִים (ʼarbâʻîm, H705) — "the fortieth [year]." The dated fulfilment of the forty-year sentence; Cambridge and Pulpit both reckon it by adding forty to Aaron's age at the Exodus.

בִּשְׁנַ֣תbiš·naṯyearH8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-after the IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵל֙yiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

לְצֵ֤אתlə·ṣêṯhad come outH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

מֵאֶ֣רֶץmê·’e·reṣof the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-mNounfeminine singular construct

מִצְרַ֔יִםmiṣ·ra·yimof EgyptH4714

√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-went-up, Aaron the-priest, to Mount Hor by-the-mouth of-the-LORD, and-he-died 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.

Where the English smooths the original

עַל־פִּ֣י יְהוָה֩ BSB "At the LORD's command" renders ‘al-pî YHWH (peh, H6310), "by the mouth of the LORD" — the very phrase that opened the whole record in v.2. The itinerary that began "by the mouth of the LORD" now reaches its great death "by the mouth of the LORD": Aaron's ascent to die is as commanded as the marches themselves.
וַיַּ֤עַל ... וַיָּ֣מָת "climbed... and died" couples way·ya·‘al (ʻâlâh, H5927, "went up / ascended") with way·yā·māṯ (mûwth, H4191, "died"). The high priest ascends a mountain in obedience and does not come down. Benson: "Good men's goings are ordered of the Lord, and a peculiar providence... appoints the time and place of their death."
בִּשְׁנַ֣ת הָֽאַרְבָּעִ֗ים "in the fortieth year" — biš·naṯ hā·’ar·bā·‘îm (shâneh + ʼarbâʻîm, H705). The Pulpit Commentary notes this is the only place Aaron's death is precisely dated; it falls "in strict accordance with the Divine intimation that Israel was to wander forty years" (Numbers 14:33-34). The clock of judgment runs out exactly here.

Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’a·hă·rōn šā·lōš wə·‘eś·rîm ū·mə·’aṯ ben- šā·nāh bə·mō·ṯōw hā·hār bə·hōr

Word by word9 · parsed

וְאַהֲרֹ֔ןwə·’a·hă·rōnAaronH175

√ ʼAhărôwn — Aharon, the brother of MosesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

בֶּן ... שָׁנָה — "son of [so many] years," the Hebrew age-idiom. The precise total (123) lets the chronology of Exodus 7:7 be checked against the fortieth year of v.38.

שָׁלֹ֧שׁšā·lōšwas 123H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular

וְעֶשְׂרִ֛יםwə·‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

וּמְאַ֖תū·mə·’aṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular construct

בֶּן־ben-years oldH1121

שָׁנָ֑הšā·nāh. . .H8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Nounfeminine singular

בְּמֹת֖וֹbə·mō·ṯōwwhen he diedH4191

√ mûwth — to die (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular

הָהָֽר׃סhā·hāron MountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine singular

בְּמֹתֹו (mûwth, H4191) — "in his dying," echoing v.38. Gill notes Aaron "lived but four months after his sister Miriam" (Numbers 20:1).

בְּהֹ֥רbə·hōrHorH2023

√ Hôr — Hor, the name of a peak in Idumaea and of one in SyriaPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Aaron [was] a-son-of a-hundred and-twenty and-three years at-his-dying on Mount Hor.

Where the English smooths the original

בֶּן־שָׁלֹ֧שׁ וְעֶשְׂרִ֛ים וּמְאַ֖ת שָׁנָ֑ה BSB "was 123 years old" renders the idiom ben ... šānāh — literally "a son of a hundred and twenty-three years." Hebrew reckons age as sonship-to-years. Gill does the arithmetic: "He was eighty three when he stood before Pharaoh... and forty years he had been with Israel since, which make this number; he was three years older than Moses."
בְּמֹתֹ֖ו "when he died" — bə·mō·ṯōw (mûwth, H4191), "in his dying." The verse exists only to fix the figure; the itinerary pauses, uniquely, to record a man's exact lifespan — the only death-age given for any of the wilderness generation in this chapter.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The introduction of this notice, for which there seems no motive, and which has no assignable connection with the context, is extremely perplexing. It is not simply a fragment which has slipped in by what we call accident

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

A fragmentary statement strangely inserted, perhaps originally as a marginal note by a scribe. See on Numbers 21:1-3 .

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

he heard of the coming of the children of Israel; towards the land of Canaan, in order to possess it, and he came out and fought with them, and was vanquished; see Numbers 21:1

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

And King Arad . . . — See Numbers 21:1 , and Note.

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Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hak·kə·na·‘ă·nî me·leḵ ‘ă·rāḏ wə·hū- yō·šêḇ ban·ne·ḡeḇ bə·’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an way·yiš·ma‘ bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl bə·ḇō

Word by word12 · parsed

הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙hak·kə·na·‘ă·nîNow the CanaaniteH3669

√ Kᵉnaʻanîy — a Kenaanite or inhabitant of KenaanArticleNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּשְׁמַע (shâmaʻ, H8085) — "and he heard." Cambridge judges the verse "A fragmentary statement strangely inserted, perhaps originally as a marginal note by a scribe." An honest crux the apparatus must flag, not paper over.

מֶ֣לֶךְme·leḵkingH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct

עֲרָ֔ד‘ă·rāḏof AradH6166

√ ʻĂrâd — Arad, the name of a place near Palestine, also of a Canaanite and an IsraeliteNounproperfeminine singular

וְהֽוּא־wə·hū-. . .H1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Conjunctive wawPronounthird person masculine singular

יֹשֵׁ֥בyō·šêḇwho livedH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

בַּנֶּ֖גֶבban·ne·ḡeḇin the NegevH5045

√ negeb — the south (from its drought)Preposition-b, ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

הַנֶּגֶב (negeb, H5045) — the Negev / South. Arad's location anchors the link to Numbers 21:1, where the same king attacks and is defeated.

בְּאֶ֣רֶץbə·’e·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

כְּנָ֑עַןkə·nā·‘anof CanaanH3667

√ Kᵉnaʻan — Kenaan, a son a HamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּשְׁמַ֗עway·yiš·ma‘heardH8085

√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthat the IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

בְּבֹ֖אbə·ḇōwere comingH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Preposition-bVerbQalInfinitive construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-heard the-Canaanite, king-of-Arad — and-he [was] dwelling in-the-Negeb in-the-land of-Canaan — of-the-coming of-the-sons-of-Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע BSB "heard that the Israelites were coming" renders way·yiš·ma‘ (shâmaʻ, H8085), "and he heard." The verse is a single, dangling notice — the only enemy-action recorded in the chapter. The Pulpit Commentary finds it "extremely perplexing": "there seems no motive, and... no assignable connection with the context."
בַּנֶּ֖גֶב "in the Negev" — ban·ne·ḡeḇ (negeb, H5045), the "South" / the dry country. Older versions read "in the south." King Arad watches from the parched southland as Israel, now turning to skirt Edom, draws near Canaan from below (cf. Numbers 21:1).

And the Israelites set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū hā·hār mê·hōr way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ṣal·mō·nāh

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūAnd [the Israelites] set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הָהָ֑רhā·hārfrom MountH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine singular

מֵהֹ֣רmê·hōrHorH2023

√ Hôr — Hor, the name of a peak in Idumaea and of one in SyriaPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

צַלְמֹנָה (Tsalmônâh) — Zalmonah, a fortieth-year station. Candidate site of the bronze serpent episode (Numbers 21:4-9), which the chapter, characteristically, does not narrate.

בְּצַלְמֹנָֽה׃bə·ṣal·mō·nāhat ZalmonahH6758

√ Tsalmônâh — Tsalmonah, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Mount Hor, and-they-camped at-Zalmonah.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּצַלְמֹנָֽה "Zalmonah" (Tsalmônâh) may derive from tselem, "image," and is otherwise unmentioned. The Pulpit Commentary observes: "Either this or Punon may be the encampment where the brazen serpent was set up" (Numbers 21:9) — the place where the lifted bronze image healed the snake-bitten.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū miṣ·ṣal·mō·nāh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·p̄ū·nōn

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִצַּלְמֹנָ֑הmiṣ·ṣal·mō·nāhfrom ZalmonahH6758

√ Tsalmônâh — Tsalmonah, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּפוּנֹֽן׃bə·p̄ū·nōnat PunonH6325

√ Pûwnôn — Punon, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

פוּנֹן (Pûwnôn) — Punon, an Edomite copper-mining district; per the Targum of Palestine, the place of the bronze serpent.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Zalmonah, and-they-camped at-Punon.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּפוּנֹֽן "Punon" (Pûwnôn) — JFB: "Punon, in the rocky ravines of mount Hor and famous for the mines and quarries in its vicinity... now Tafyle, on the border of Edom." By tradition the second candidate for the site of the lifted serpent.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mip·pū·nōn way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·’ō·ḇōṯ

Word by word4 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִפּוּנֹ֑ןmip·pū·nōnfrom PunonH6325

√ Pûwnôn — Punon, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּאֹבֹֽת׃bə·’ō·ḇōṯat ObothH88

√ ʼôbôth — Oboth, a place in the DesertPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

אֹבֹת (ʼÔbôth) — Oboth, a station of the fortieth-year march around Edom (cf. Numbers 21:10-11), which the Verifier links here through shared nâçaʻ / chânâh.

They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·’ō·ḇōṯ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·‘î·yê hā·‘ă·ḇā·rîm biḡ·ḇūl mō·w·’āḇ

Word by word7 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵאֹבֹ֑תmê·’ō·ḇōṯfrom ObothH88

√ ʼôbôth — Oboth, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּעִיֵּ֥יbə·‘î·yêvvvH5863

√ ʻÎyêy hâ-ʻĂbârîym — Ije-ha-Abarim, a place near PalestinePreposition

עִיֵּי הָעֲבָרִים — Iye-abarim, on the Moabite border. The same station as Numbers 21:11, to which the Verifier links this stretch by the rare itinerary-verb.

הָעֲבָרִ֖יםhā·‘ă·ḇā·rîmat Iye-abarimH5863

√ ʻÎyêy hâ-ʻĂbârîym — Ije-ha-Abarim, a place near PalestinePrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

בִּגְב֥וּלbiḡ·ḇūlon the borderH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מוֹאָֽב׃mō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Oboth, and-they-camped at-Iye-abarim, on the border of Moab.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּעִיֵּ֥י הָעֲבָרִ֖ים "Iye-abarim" means "ruins / heaps of the Abarim" (the "region beyond"). With "on the border of Moab" (bi·ḡḇûl mô·ʼāḇ) the itinerary signals that Israel has at last reached the marches of the Promised Land's eastern approach (cf. Numbers 21:11).
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·‘î·yîm way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·ḏî·ḇōn gāḏ

Word by word5 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵעִיִּ֑יםmê·‘î·yîmfrom IyimH5864

√ ʻÎyîym — Ijim, a place in the DesertPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּדִיבֹ֥ןbə·ḏî·ḇōnat Dibon-gadH1769

√ Dîybôwn — Dibon, the name of three places in PalestinePreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

דִּיבֹן גָּד — Dibon-gad, later a Gadite town in the conquered Transjordan (Numbers 32:34). "Iyim" is the shortened form of Iye-abarim (v.44).

גָּֽד׃gāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

They set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mid·dî·ḇōn gāḏ way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·‘al·mōn diḇ·lā·ṯā·yə·māh

Word by word6 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מִדִּיבֹ֣ןmid·dî·ḇōnfrom Dibon-gadH1769

√ Dîybôwn — Dibon, the name of three places in PalestinePreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

גָּ֑דgāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עַלְמֹן דִּבְלָתָיְמָה — Almon-diblathaim, "hiding-place of the two fig-cakes," a Moabite-plateau station near Nebo.

בְּעַלְמֹ֥ןbə·‘al·mōnvvvH5963

√ ʻAlmôn Diblâthâyᵉmâh — Almon-Diblathajemah, a place in MoabPreposition

דִּבְלָתָֽיְמָה׃diḇ·lā·ṯā·yə·māhat Almon-diblathaimH5963

√ ʻAlmôn Diblâthâyᵉmâh — Almon-Diblathajemah, a place in MoabPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim facing Nebo.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·‘al·mōn diḇ·lā·ṯā·yə·māh way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·hā·rê hā·‘ă·ḇā·rîm lip̄·nê nə·ḇōw

Word by word8 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵעַלְמֹ֣ןmê·‘al·mōnfromH5963

√ ʻAlmôn Diblâthâyᵉmâh — Almon-Diblathajemah, a place in MoabPreposition

דִּבְלָתָ֑יְמָהdiḇ·lā·ṯā·yə·māhAlmon-diblathaimH5963

√ ʻAlmôn Diblâthâyᵉmâh — Almon-Diblathajemah, a place in MoabPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּway·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הָרֵי הָעֲבָרִים ... נְבוֹ — the heights of Abarim before Nebo. The Pulpit Commentary: "The same locality is called 'the top of Pisgah'... in Numbers 21:20." The penultimate station, in sight of the goal Moses may not enter.

בְּהָרֵ֥יbə·hā·rêin the mountainsH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-bNounmasculine plural construct

הָעֲבָרִ֖יםhā·‘ă·ḇā·rîmof AbarimH5682

√ ʻĂbârîym — Abarim, a place in PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nêfacingH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

נְבֽוֹ׃nə·ḇōwNeboH5015

√ Nᵉbôw — Nebo, the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-Almon-diblathaim, and-they-camped at-in the mountains of Abarim, facing Nebo.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּהָרֵ֥י הָעֲבָרִ֖ים לִפְנֵ֥י נְבֽוֹ "in the mountains of Abarim facing Nebo" — the ridge from whose peak (Pisgah/Nebo) Moses will view the land and die (Numbers 27:12; Deuteronomy 34:1). Gill: "Nebo; one of those mountains, whither Moses went up and died." The itinerary brings Israel to the very mountain of its lawgiver's grave.
וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ "camped" is way·ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, H2583), "and they pitched / inclined down." Each itinerary verse is a single Hebrew couplet — break-up (nâçaʻ) then pitch-down (chânâh) — and it is these two alternating verbs that carry the entire forty-two-stage list.

They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yis·‘ū mê·hā·rê hā·‘ă·ḇā·rîm way·ya·ḥă·nū bə·‘ar·ḇōṯ mō·w·’āḇ ‘al yar·dên yə·rê·ḥōw

Word by word9 · parsed

וַיִּסְע֖וּway·yis·‘ūThey set outH5265

√ nâçaʻ — properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

מֵהָרֵ֣יmê·hā·rêfrom the mountainsH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-mNounmasculine plural construct

הָעֲבָרִ֑יםhā·‘ă·ḇā·rîmof AbarimH5682

√ ʻĂbârîym — Abarim, a place in PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙way·ya·ḥă·nūand campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּעַֽרְבֹ֣תbə·‘ar·ḇōṯon the plainsH6160

√ ʻărâbâh — a desertPreposition-bNounfeminine plural construct

מוֹאָ֔בmō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

עַרְבֹת מוֹאָב (ʻărâbâh) — the plains of Moab, the staging-ground for everything that follows (the second census, the conquest commands of 33:50ff, Deuteronomy). The journey of departures ends at a place of waiting.

עַ֖ל‘albyH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

יַרְדֵּ֥ןyar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

יְרֵחֽוֹ׃yə·rê·ḥōwacross from JerichoH3405

√ Yᵉrîychôw — Jericho or Jerecho, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-broke-camp from-the-mountains-of Abarim, and-they-camped in-the-plains-of Moab by the-Jordan [of] Jericho.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּסְעוּ֙ BSB "They set out" renders the refrain-verb way·yis·‘ū (nâçaʻ, H5265), "and they pulled up [the tent-pins] / broke camp" — the very word that titles the whole chapter (maççaʻ, v.1). The smooth English "set out" loses the picture of striking the tents and lifting the stakes.
בְּעַֽרְבֹ֣ת מוֹאָ֑ב "on the plains of Moab" — bə·‘ar·ḇōṯ mô·’āḇ (ʻărâbâh + Môʼâb). The forty-two-stage march ends not in Canaan but at its threshold: the broad steppe-plains east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. Gill: "where the Israelites now were by Jordan near Jericho; not on that side Jordan where Jericho stood, but on the other."
עַ֖ל יַרְדֵּ֥ן יְרֵחֽוֹ "by the Jordan across from Jericho" — ‘al yardên yərêḥōw, literally "upon the Jordan of Jericho." The river is named for the city it fronts; the people stand at the water that bars the land, the next crossing reserved for Joshua, not Moses.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Abel-shittim — The place where the people sinned in the matter of Peor, called simply Shittim, Numbers 25:1 ; but here Abel-shittim, for the grievous mourning ( Abel signifying mourning) which was there, both for the heinous crimes committed, and the severe judgments inflicted. This was their forty-second and last station, before their entrance into Canaan

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Beth-jesimoth, "house of the wastes," must have been very near the point where Jordan empties itself into the Dead Sea, on the verge of the salt desert which bounds that sea on the east. It formed the boundary of Sihon's kingdom at the south-west corner. Abel-shittim, "meadow of acacias," is better known by the abbreviated name "Shittim"

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Their camp reached twelve miles, as the Jews commonly say, which we may suppose was the distance of these two places, which were both in the plains of Moab

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Abel-shittim; called Shittim , Numbers 25:1 , and here Abel-shittim , for the grievous mourning which there was both for the heinous crimes committed, and horrible judgments there inflicted.

source ↗

And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·‘ar·ḇōṯ mō·w·’āḇ way·ya·ḥă·nū ‘al- hay·yar·dên mib·bêṯ hay·ši·mōṯ ‘aḏ ’ā·ḇêl haš·šiṭ·ṭîm

Word by word10 · parsed

בְּעַֽרְבֹ֖תbə·‘ar·ḇōṯAnd there on the plainsH6160

√ ʻărâbâh — a desertPreposition-bNounfeminine plural construct

וַיַּחֲנוּ (chânâh, H2583) — the chapter's last "and they camped." The verb of pitching has the final word: forty-two breakings-up resolve into one long encampment by the river.

מוֹאָֽב׃סmō·w·’āḇof MoabH4124

√ Môwʼâb — Moab, an incestuous son of LotNounproperfeminine singular

אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים — Abel-shittim. Benson and Gill both read Abel ("mourning") into the name, recalling the plague of Numbers 25. The itinerary closes on a name that remembers both acacias and grief.

וַיַּחֲנ֤וּway·ya·ḥă·nūthey campedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עַל־‘al-byH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הַיַּרְדֵּן֙hay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

מִבֵּ֣יתmib·bêṯvvvH1020

√ Bêyth ha-Yshîy-môwth — Beth-ha-Jeshimoth, a town East of the JordanPreposition

הַיְשִׁמֹ֔תhay·ši·mōṯfrom Beth-jeshimothH1020

√ Bêyth ha-Yshîy-môwth — Beth-ha-Jeshimoth, a town East of the JordanPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

עַ֖ד‘aḏtoH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

אָבֵ֣ל’ā·ḇêlvvvH63

√ ʼÂbêl hash-Shiṭṭîym — Abel hash-Shittim, a place in Palestine

הַשִּׁטִּ֑יםhaš·šiṭ·ṭîmAbel-shittimH63

√ ʼÂbêl hash-Shiṭṭîym — Abel hash-Shittim, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-camped by the-Jordan from-Beth-jeshimoth as-far-as Abel-shittim, in-the-plains-of Moab.

Where the English smooths the original

מִבֵּ֣ית הַיְשִׁמֹ֔ת עַ֖ד אָבֵ֣ל הַשִּׁטִּ֑ים "from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim" measures the camp's extent. The Pulpit Commentary glosses the names: Beth-jeshimoth, "house of the wastes"; Abel-shittim, "meadow of acacias." Gill notes the Jewish tradition that the camp "reached twelve miles" between them — the whole nation spread along the river.
אָבֵ֣ל הַשִּׁטִּ֑ים "Abel-shittim" — Benson hears a sober pun: the place is "called simply Shittim, Numbers 25:1; but here Abel-shittim, for the grievous mourning (Abel signifying mourning) which was there." The final campsite is shadowed by the coming sin of Peor and the plague that killed twenty-four thousand — the journey ends within sight of one more rebellion.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A book of departures — the title-word and the commanded record — 33:1-2

The chapter names itself by a rare noun. Keil & Delitzsch insist that maççaʻ (H4550, the word behind "journeys," in only 11 verses of the canon) "does not mean a station, but the breaking up of a camp"; hence, they say, "the constant repetition of the word ויּסעוּ, 'and they broke up.'" The list is told not by where Israel arrived but by where it tore up its tent-pins and left. And the whole record stands ‘al-pî YHWH, "by the mouth of the LORD" (v.2). The Pulpit Commentary reads this as "a direct assertion that Moses wrote this list of marches himself by command of God, doubtless as a memorial... of deep religious significance, as showing how Israel had been led by him who is faithful and true." Matthew Poole agrees the intent was "partly to evince the truth of the history, partly to preserve the remembrance of God's glorious and miraculous works both of judgment and mercy." The genre is memorial, and the author is named in the text.

ii. Out of Egypt with a high hand — over the graves of the gods — 33:3-4

Israel marches out bə·yāḏ rā·māh, "with a high hand" (v.3) — openly, triumphantly. John Gill: "openly and publicly, with great courage and boldness, without any fear of their enemies; who seeing them march out, had no power to stop them." Beneath that bold exit lies a scene of burial. The Egyptians "were burying" (a durative participle, The Pulpit Commentary notes the Septuagint's ἔθαπτον) their firstborn, occupied with their dead while Israel walks free. And "upon their gods... the LORD executed judgments" (shepheṭ, H8201) — the language of a verdict in a lawsuit. The Pulpit Commentary reasons that the false gods, "having no existence except in the imaginations of men, could only be affected... by being made contemptible in the eyes of those who feared them." The itinerary opens over a defeated pantheon and fresh graves.

iii. The cadence of the wilderness — break camp, pitch, repeat — 33:5-37, 41-47

For most of the chapter the prose narrows to a couplet: nâçaʻ ("they broke camp," H5265) and chânâh ("they pitched," H2583), station after station. The bareness is the point. Behind "Succoth" (booths), "Marah" (bitter water, where they first murmured), "Rephidim" (no water — the only station given a reason, v.14), "the wilderness of Sinai" (the whole covenant in one half-line, v.15), and "Kibroth-hattaavah" ("the graves of lust," v.16, where, says Gill, "the people lusted after flesh, and murmured... and here they were buried") lie the great events that Exodus and the rest of Numbers narrate at length. Matthew Henry draws the devotional sense: "In their travels towards Canaan they were continually on the remove. Such is our state in this world; we have here no continuing city, and all our removes in this world are but from one part a desert to another... yet were all the while under the direction of the pillar of cloud and fire. God led them about, yet led them the right way." Of the seventeen unnamed-by-history stations in vv.19-35 Keil admits plainly: "not a single one is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber."

iv. The death of the high priest — and the clock that ran out — 33:38-40

The cadence breaks for a death. Aaron "went up... by the mouth of the LORD" (v.38) — the same phrase that opened the record (v.2) now frames its great loss. Joseph Benson: "Good men's goings are ordered of the Lord, and a peculiar providence... appoints the time and place of their death." Gill notes the reason he died outside Canaan: "not being suffered to go with them into the land of Canaan, because of his sin of unbelief at Kadesh." And the date is exact — the fortieth year, fifth month, first day — which The Pulpit Commentary calls "in strict accordance with the Divine intimation that Israel was to wander forty years." Then comes the chapter's strangest line: King Arad "heard" (v.40). Cambridge judges it "A fragmentary statement strangely inserted, perhaps originally as a marginal note by a scribe"; The Pulpit Commentary finds "no motive, and... no assignable connection with the context." The synthesis lets the crux stand: an itinerary honest enough to carry an unexplained fragment.

v. The plains of Moab — the march ends at the threshold — 33:48-49

The forty-two departures resolve into one long encampment "in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho" — and there the chapter's last verb is chânâh, "they camped." The people who never had a continuing city stop at last, but at the threshold, not in the land. The camp stretches "from Beth-jeshimoth... to Abel-shittim" — "twelve miles," says Gill, citing Jewish tradition. Joseph Benson hears the final name as a warning: it is "called simply Shittim... but here Abel-shittim, for the grievous mourning (Abel signifying mourning) which was there" — the Peor apostasy and its plague of twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25). "This was their forty-second and last station, before their entrance into Canaan." The book of departures ends in sight of both the Promised Land and one more grave.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read whole, Numbers 33 is a sober, God-commanded ledger of a redeemed people who were always leaving. The verb that drives it is not "arrived" but nâçaʻ — "they pulled up the tent-pins." Forty-two times the camp is struck; forty-two times it is pitched again; and the only events the bare list pauses to name are a thirst (Rephidim), a craving turned to graves (Kibroth-hattaavah), the death of the high priest who could not enter, and a final encampment named for mourning. Yet the same hand that wrote it (v.2) had led every step "by the mouth of the LORD," and the chapter's framing voices — Henry, Benson, the Pulpit Commentary — all hear in it not a record of failure but of faithfulness: God led them about, yet led them the right way. The honest reading holds both. This is a wilderness, not a paradise; the dominant note is exile and removal, with grace running underneath as the cloud that never left. The believer's own life, Henry says, is read here: "we have here no continuing city." The synthesis claims no more than the text gives — a people on the move toward a rest they have not yet entered, kept by a God who writes down every place they leave. This paragraph is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the Word, not above it.

Forty-two times they struck the tents; the only verb that never failed was the LORD's leading. (a reader's line, not Scripture)

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Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The departure from Rameses — verbal anchor to the Exodus account verbal / quotation — confirmed

Numbers 33:3 records the going-out "from Rameses" in the same terms as Exodus 12:37, the primary narrative of the departure. Charles Ellicott notes the parallel directly: the departure "is related as in Exodus 12:37." The Verifier confirms a genuinely verbal link: the place-name Raʻmᵉçêç (H7486) occurs in only 5 verses of the entire canon, and it is shared by both passages, together with the march-verb nâçaʻ (H5265). A rare proper name shared between two accounts of the same event is exactly the kind of low-frequency lexeme that warrants the strongest tier.

Numbers 33:3 · Exodus 12:37

basis: shared lexeme(s): H7486 Raʻmᵉçêç (in 5 vv, rare) + H5265 nâçaʻ (in 140 vv) — Verifier-computed; the rarity of Raʻmᵉçêç grounds the verbal tier

Pi-hahiroth, Migdol, Baal-zephon — the sea-crossing toponyms verbal / quotation — confirmed

Numbers 33:7 names the cluster of places that frame the Red Sea crossing in Exodus 14:2, 9: Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon, near Migdol. These are not common nouns but tightly localized names. The Verifier finds three rare lexemes shared with Exodus 14:2 — Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn (H1189, in only 3 verses), Pîy ha-Chîyrôth (H6367, 4 verses), and Migdôwl (H4024, 6 verses) — plus the camp-verb chânâh (H2583). When a verse re-uses three different rare toponyms from a single source passage, the verbal dependence is beyond reasonable doubt.

Numbers 33:7 · Exodus 14:2 · Exodus 14:9

basis: shared lexeme(s): H1189 Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn (3 vv), H6367 Pîy ha-Chîyrôth (4 vv), H4024 Migdôwl (6 vv) — three rare toponyms, Verifier-computed

Elim — twelve springs and seventy palms, echoed verbatim verbal / quotation — confirmed

Numbers 33:9 reports Elim with its "twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees," the identical detail of Exodus 15:27. The Verifier records the shared rare name ʼÊylim (H362, in only 4 verses) together with tâmâr ("palm," H8558, 12 verses), shibʻîym ("seventy," H7657), and chânâh (H2583). The reproduction of both the place-name and its exact numerical description marks a verbal quotation of the Exodus source. The numbers (twelve, seventy) are also the seedbed of the figural readings the older expositors gave to Elim.

Numbers 33:9 · Exodus 15:27

basis: shared lexeme(s): H362 ʼÊylim (4 vv, rare) + H8558 tâmâr (12 vv) + H7657 shibʻîym — Verifier-computed; place-name and its numbers reproduced

Mount Hor and the fortieth-year march — the formula and the rare-name bond to Numbers 20-21 structural / thematic — confirmed

The stations of the fortieth year (Mount Hor, Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-abarim) re-use the wording of Numbers 21:10-11, where the same march around Edom is narrated. The Verifier confirms a structural link by the itinerary-couplet nâçaʻ (H5265) + chânâh (H2583), the recurring pattern-pair of the whole chapter; and Mount Hor itself (v.37-38) shares the rare name Hôr (H2023, in only 12 verses) with the death-account of Numbers 20:22. Keil & Delitzsch tie the whole stretch to "Numbers 20 and 21." Because the shared lexemes here are the common pattern-words (not a quotation claim), this is tiered structural rather than verbal — except the Hôr link to 20:22, which is genuinely rare.

Numbers 33:41 · Numbers 21:10 · Numbers 21:11 · Numbers 20:22

basis: shared pattern-pair H5265 nâçaʻ + H2583 chânâh (Verifier-computed); plus rare H2023 Hôr (12 vv) binds 33:37-38 to Numbers 20:22

Mosera vs. Mount Hor — Aaron's burial-place, and the two-itinerary discrepancy flagged — verify source

Deuteronomy 10:6-7 names "Mosera" as the place where "Aaron died... and was buried," and lists Bene-jaakan, Moseroth, Gudgodah and Jotbathah in an order that partly reverses Numbers 33:30-33 — where the same four names appear (Moseroth, Bene-jaakan, Hor-haggidgad, Jotbathah) and where Aaron instead dies at Mount Hor (v.38). The verbal contact is real and even rare: the Verifier finds the toponyms Môwçêrâh (H4149, in only 3 verses) shared between Numbers 33:30 and Deuteronomy 10:6, and both Môwçêrâh (H4149, 3 vv) and Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân (H1142, 3 vv) shared between 33:31 and 10:6. What is contested is not the lexical link but the harmonization: the order of the stations is reversed and the place of Aaron's death differs. The Pulpit Commentary states flatly that the Deuteronomy passage "is a fragment which has come into its present position... by some accident of transcription," while granting "there is an appearance of error either in the fragment or in the Itinerary." Because the provenance and reconciliation of the two lists are genuinely disputed by the sources themselves, this link is flagged rather than asserted as a settled parallel.

Numbers 33:30 · Numbers 33:31 · Deuteronomy 10:6 · Deuteronomy 10:7

basis: Verifier-computed: rare toponyms H4149 Môwçêrâh (3 vv) shared 33:30↔Deut 10:6, and H4149 Môwçêrâh + H1142 Bᵉnêy Yaʻăqân (both 3 vv) shared 33:31↔Deut 10:6 — so the verbal contact is genuine; flagged because the station-order is reversed and Aaron's death-place differs (Mosera vs. Mount Hor), a harmonization the Pulpit Commentary itself calls a misplaced fragment

From Egypt to Sinai — the early stations track Exodus stage by stage structural / thematic — confirmed

Numbers 33:5-15 reproduces, in order, the camp-sequence of the Exodus narrative: Succoth (Exodus 13:20), Etham (13:20), the wilderness and Marah (15:22-23), Elim (15:27), the wilderness of Sin (16:1), Rephidim (17:1), the wilderness of Sinai (19:2). Charles Ellicott catalogues the parallels exactly, noting that the stations "agree with those which are recorded in Exodus 13:20 (Succoth and Etham), 14:2 (Pi-hahiroth and Migdol), 15:22 (the wilderness, i.e., of Shur), 15:23-27 (Marah and Elim), 16:1 (wilderness of Sin), 17:1 (Rephidim)." The Verifier confirms the structural agreement (e.g. 33:5↔Exodus 13:20 on the rare name Çukkôwth, H5523, 16 vv, plus nâçaʻ/chânâh). The chapter is, in this stretch, a deliberate recapitulation of the Exodus itinerary.

Numbers 33:5 · Exodus 13:20 · Numbers 33:11 · Exodus 16:1 · Numbers 33:15 · Exodus 19:2

basis: shared lexeme(s): H5523 Çukkôwth (16 vv) + pattern-pair H5265 nâçaʻ / H2583 chânâh; ordered station-sequence matches Exodus 13-19 (Verifier-computed)

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

A people who had here no continuing city — the pilgrim type ancient/widely-held

The relentless nâçaʻ of Numbers 33 — break camp, pitch, break camp — is read by the New Testament as a figure of the faith-pilgrimage. Matthew Henry, on this very chapter, draws the line: "Such is our state in this world; we have here no continuing city," echoing Hebrews 13:14 ("For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come") and Hebrews 11:13-16, where the patriarchs "admitted that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." Hebrews makes the wilderness generation the explicit warning-type for the church (Hebrews 3:7-4:11), and Henry applies the itinerary directly: "Happy are those whom the Lord now guides with his counsel, and will at length receive to his glory. To this happiness the gospel calls us." The forty-two departures become the shape of the Christian's life between redemption and rest. This typological reading is ancient and widely held.

Numbers 33:1 · Numbers 33:48 · Hebrews 13:14 · Hebrews 3:7-4:11

The high priest who could not bring them in — Aaron and the better priesthood ancient/widely-held

Aaron ascends Mount Hor "by the mouth of the LORD" and dies there, outside the land (v.38); Gill notes he was "not being suffered to go with them into the land of Canaan, because of his sin of unbelief." The book of Hebrews builds its argument on precisely this limitation: the Aaronic priests "were prevented by death from continuing in office" (Hebrews 7:23), and the law's priesthood could not bring the people to perfection or into the true rest (Hebrews 7:11; 4:8 — "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day"). The high priest who dies on the mountain at the border points beyond himself to the one "who, because He lives forever, has a permanent priesthood" (Hebrews 7:24) and who alone leads His people into the rest that Joshua's generation only approached. The figure of the mortal high priest stopped at the frontier is drawn out in Hebrews and is widely held in the tradition.

Numbers 33:38 · Numbers 33:39 · Hebrews 7:23-25 · Hebrews 4:8

Marah's bitter water and Elim's springs — the road of testing and provision ancient/widely-held

Within three days of the sea, the redeemed reach Marah's bitter water (v.8), then Elim's twelve springs and seventy palms (v.9). The early church read Israel's wilderness provision Christologically — Paul says "they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4), and frames the whole wilderness sequence as written "as examples... for our instruction" (1 Corinthians 10:11). The pattern of bitterness sweetened and thirst answered, stage by stage, was taken by Jerome and others as a figure of the soul's progress; Gill reports that "some of the ancients, as Jerom" had "allegorized these journeys of the children of Israel," while frankly cautioning that "the particulars will never hold good of individual saints." The reading that the wilderness road of testing-and-provision prefigures Christ's sustaining of His people is apostolic in root, though the verse-by-verse allegory of the station-names is a novel and contested extension that the synthesis does not endorse.

Numbers 33:8 · Numbers 33:9 · 1 Corinthians 10:4 · 1 Corinthians 10:11

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

This is a Hebrew-only unit, the longest itinerary in the Torah (forty-two stations across forty years). Every thread basis rests on shared Strong's lexemes computed by the Verifier; the frequencies cited as grounds for the "verbal" tier — Raʻmᵉçêç (5 vv), Baʻal Tsᵉphôwn (3 vv), Pîy ha-Chîyrôth (4 vv), Migdôwl (6 vv), ʼÊylim (4 vv), maççaʻ (11 vv), Hôr (12 vv) — are the recorded ground for those claims, not impressions.

Three honesty-points specific to this chapter. (1) The two-itinerary problem. The list of stations here only partially agrees with the narrative of Exodus and Numbers, and four names in vv.30-33 reappear in Deuteronomy 10:6-7 in a partly reversed order, with Aaron's death assigned to "Mosera" rather than "Mount Hor." The synthesis does not harmonize these by force; The Pulpit Commentary's extended note (attached to v.49 in the sources) lays out the difficulty candidly and concludes that the Deuteronomy passage is "a fragment which has come into its present position... by some accident of transcription," while admitting "there is an appearance of error either in the fragment or in the Itinerary." That link is therefore tiered flagged — verify source. (2) The seventeen unknown stations of vv.19-35: Keil & Delitzsch state that "not a single one is known, or can be pointed out with certainty, except Eziongeber." Our notes for those verses claim no geography the sources do not. (3) The Arad fragment (v.40): Cambridge and The Pulpit Commentary both regard it as an inexplicable, possibly displaced insertion; the synthesis flags rather than smooths it.

The repetitive nâçaʻ … chânâh couplet is treated as deliberate literary structure, not filler: the same two divergence-notes recur across the formulaic verses because the Hebrew itself recurs, and pointing that out is more honest than manufacturing false variety. Christ-section links are typological/figural and lean on explicit New Testament uses of the wilderness (Hebrews 3-4, 7; 1 Corinthians 10); the verse-by-verse allegory of the station-names (Jerome) is named but explicitly not endorsed, following Gill's own caution.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)