Numbers 33

These are the stages of the journey the people of Israel took when they came out of the land of Egypt, group by group, led by Moses and Aaron.

1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Note"Group by group" translates a Hebrew word for organized units, the same word used of an army on the march; the picture is of ordered ranks rather than a crowd of escapees. What follows is an itinerary, a formal list of stopping places, a kind of record also kept for Egyptian and Assyrian military campaigns.

2At the LORD's command, Moses wrote down each place they set out from, stage by stage. Here are their journeys, listed by their starting points.

2And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

3They left Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of that month, the day after the Passover. The people of Israel marched out boldly, in full view of all the Egyptians,

3And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

NoteRameses was a city in the eastern Nile delta; Exodus names it as one of the storage cities built by Israelite forced labor. The "first month" is the month later called Abib or Nisan, falling in our March–April. The Passover was the meal eaten on the night before the departure from Egypt. Behind "marched out boldly" is the Hebrew idiom "with a high hand", openly and defiantly, in plain sight, rather than slipping away unnoticed.

4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn sons, whom the LORD had struck down among them. The LORD had also passed sentence on their gods.

4For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

NoteThe deaths of the firstborn were the last of the ten plagues on Egypt. Egypt's gods were closely identified with the forces the plagues struck (the Nile, the sun, livestock, human fertility) and the phrase "passed sentence" is courtroom language, presenting the plagues as a verdict handed down against those gods.

5The people of Israel left Rameses and camped at Succoth.

5And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

6They left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.

6And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

Note"Desert" here translates a word meaning open, uncultivated country used for grazing, scrubland, not necessarily sand dunes.

7They left Etham and turned back to Pihahiroth, which faces Baalzephon, and they camped near Migdol.

7And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

NoteBaalzephon means "Baal of the north," naming the site after a Canaanite storm god worshiped by sailors along that coast. Migdol is the Hebrew form of an Egyptian word for a watchtower or frontier fort; Egypt maintained a line of them along its eastern border.

8They left Pihahiroth and passed through the middle of the sea into the desert. They traveled three days into the desert of Etham and camped at Marah.

8And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

Note"The sea" is the crossing told at length in Exodus 14. Marah means "bitter," a name given because the water found there could not be drunk.

9They left Marah and came to Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

9And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

NoteElim was an oasis; twelve springs and seventy palm trees mark it as an unusually good water source in that country, worth recording.

10They left Elim and camped beside the Red Sea.

10And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

NoteThe Hebrew name, yam suph, means literally "sea of reeds." It is used in the Bible of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba as well as of marshy lakes, so exactly which water is meant in any given verse is disputed.

11They left the Red Sea and camped in the desert of Sin.

11And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

NoteThe desert of Sin has no connection with the English word "sin"; it is simply a place name. It is also a different region from the desert of Zin mentioned in verse 36, despite the similar spelling in English.

12They left the desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

12And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

13They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

13And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

14They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

14And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

NoteRephidim is where the people quarreled bitterly with Moses over the lack of water, the incident told in Exodus 17.

15They left Rephidim and camped in the desert of Sinai.

15And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.

16They left the desert of Sinai and camped at Kibrothhattaavah.

16And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah.

NoteKibrothhattaavah means "the graves of craving." The place was named for the burials made there after the people demanded meat instead of manna (Numbers 11).

17They left Kibrothhattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

17And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.

18They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

18And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

19They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmonparez.

19And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez.

20They left Rimmonparez and camped at Libnah.

20And they departed from Rimmonparez, and pitched in Libnah.

21They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

21And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.

22They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

22And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.

23They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shapher.

23And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.

24They left Mount Shapher and camped at Haradah.

24And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.

25They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

25And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.

26They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

26And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.

27They left Tahath and camped at Tarah.

27And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

28They left Tarah and camped at Mithcah.

28And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

29They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

29And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

30They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

30And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.

31They left Moseroth and camped at Benejaakan.

31And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan.

NoteBenejaakan means "sons of Jaakan", a clan name used as the name of the place where that clan lived.

32They left Benejaakan and camped at Horhagidgad.

32And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad.

33They left Horhagidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

33And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.

34They left Jotbathah and camped at Ebronah.

34And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.

35They left Ebronah and camped at Eziongaber.

35And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Eziongaber.

36They left Eziongaber and camped in the desert of Zin, at the place called Kadesh.

36And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

NoteKadesh, also called Kadesh-barnea, was a large oasis on the southern edge of Canaan. It served as Israel's base for most of the thirty-eight years between leaving Sinai and moving toward Moab, which is why the long list of camps in verses 18–35 covers so much time.

37They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

37And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

NoteEdom was the territory south and east of the Dead Sea, held by people reckoned as descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, so a neighboring nation counted as kin.

38Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor at the LORD's command and died there. This was in the fortieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.

38And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.

NoteAaron was Moses' elder brother and the first of Israel's priests. The fifth month falls in our July–August. The dating here is unusually precise: it is one of only a handful of exact dates given in the whole wilderness account.

39Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

39And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

40The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the dry southern part of the land of Canaan, heard that the people of Israel were coming.

40And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

Note"Canaanite" is a general term for the settled peoples living in the land before Israel. Arad was a town in the Negev, the dry country south of Canaan proper. This verse interrupts the list of camps; the encounter with Arad's king is told in Numbers 21:1–3.

41They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

41And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.

42They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

42And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.

43They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

43And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.

44They left Oboth and camped at Ijeabarim, on the border of Moab.

44And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab.

NoteIjeabarim means "ruins of Abarim." Verse 45 calls the same place by its short form, Iim, the two names are one place, not two.

45They left Iim and camped at Dibongad.

45And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibongad.

46They left Dibongad and camped at Almondiblathaim.

46And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim.

47They left Almondiblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, facing Nebo.

47And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

NoteAbarim is the ridge of high ground east of the Dead Sea, overlooking the Jordan valley. Nebo is one of its peaks, the point from which Moses later looked out over the land he would not enter (Deuteronomy 34).

48They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the flat land of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

48And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

NoteThe "flat land of Moab" is the level ground in the Jordan valley just north of the Dead Sea, on the eastern bank. Moab was a kingdom east of the Dead Sea whose people, like Edom's, were reckoned as distant relatives of Israel.

49There beside the Jordan they camped, stretching from Bethjesimoth all the way to Abelshittim, on the flat land of Moab.

49And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.

NoteThe two places named mark the ends of the camp, several miles apart along the river; the detail is a way of indicating how large the encampment was. Abelshittim means "meadow of the acacias."

50On the flat land of Moab, beside the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,

50And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

51"Speak to the people of Israel and tell them: When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

51Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52then you must drive out all the people living in the land ahead of you. Destroy all their carved images and all their metal idols, and tear down every one of their worship sites on the hills.

52Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

Note"Carved images" translates a word for figured or engraved stones, either stone idols or carved cult markers. Metal idols were cast in a mold, an expensive process. A "high place" was an open-air worship site, usually on a hilltop or a built-up platform, with an altar and upright standing stones; such sites were the ordinary form of local worship throughout Canaan.

53You are to take the land from the people living there and settle in it, because I have given you the land to own.

53And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

54You are to divide the land by lot as a lasting possession for your family groups. Give a larger share to a larger group and a smaller share to a smaller one. Whatever the lot gives a man is his. You will receive your shares by the tribes of your ancestors.

54And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

NoteCasting lots meant assigning shares by chance, much like drawing straws, a standard ancient method of dividing property without favoritism or dispute. "Inheritance" here does not mean money left at death but a permanent family holding of land, passed down the generations and not meant to be sold away for good.

55But if you do not drive out the people living in the land ahead of you, then those you allow to stay will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will trouble you in the land where you settle.

55But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

Note"Splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides" is a proverbial expression, not a prediction of any specific injury: it describes a small irritation that cannot be got rid of and never stops hurting.

56And then I will do to you what I had planned to do to them."

56Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.