Numbers 33
The Voice
In this next chapter, Moses outlines the Israelites’ journey to this point, and in doing so reminds them of the events that have brought them to this place. In that walk down memory lane, it can be difficult to place the locations within a linear reference of time. The entire book moves through a few months in the first 14 chapters, and suddenly it is 38 years later. After that, time seems to stand still as the people are prepared to go into the promised land. It is hard to determine when things happened in those 38 years.
33 1-2 Based on the meticulous records of departure points Moses kept, at the direction of the Eternal One, he reported that the Israelites’ wilderness journey from Egypt led by Moses and Aaron followed this itinerary: 3 They started out from Rameses in Egypt on Month 1, day 15 (the day after observing the Passover), and were exalted before the Egyptians’ eyes 4 (who were burying their firstborn dead, struck down by God, and whose gods the Eternal was punishing). 5 The Israelites’ first camp after Rameses was Succoth. 6 The next, Etham, was right where the wilderness begins. 7 From Etham, they went toward Pi-hahiroth, facing Baal-zephon, and camped in front of Migdol. 8 From Pi-hahiroth, they crossed the sea and entered the wilderness proper. For three days, they crossed that Etham Wilderness, stopping over at Marah 9 and then Elim. That was a good spot to camp. Elim was an oasis with 12 springs and 70 palm trees. 10 After Elim, their next stop was at the coast of the Red Sea;[a] 11 then they camped in the Sin Wilderness. 12 After leaving Sin, they traveled to Dophkah, 13 then Alush, 14 and then Rephidim. At that point, the people were getting desperate for water and ornery on account of their discomfort and thirst. There, God told Moses to produce water for them from out of a rock.[b] 15 After that, the Sinai Wilderness. 16-17 Their stopping places after Sinai were first Kibroth-hattaavah, then Hazeroth. 18-23 They camped as they moved from place to place through Rithmah, Rimmon-perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, and Mount Shepher. 24-27 From there they moved through Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, and Terah. 28-33 Continuing their journey from place to place, they went through Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-jaakan, Hor-haggidgad, and Jotbathah. 34-37 They camped in Abronah, Ezion-geber, Kadesh (in the Zin Wilderness), and then Mount Hor (on the Edomite border). 38 It was at Mount Hor that Aaron the priest went up the mountain and died as the Eternal said he would. That was in the 40th year after the Israelites had left Egypt, and it happened on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 That was also when the Canaanite king of Arad, from the Negev region, caught wind of the Israelites’ arrival and attacked them.
One battle between the Amorites (a people of Canaan) and the Israelites seems to be mentioned in four different passages (14:45; 21:1; 33:40; Deuteronomy 1:44). In this chapter, Moses is looking back at what has brought them to this place, ready to enter the land. He rehearses the death of Aaron (20:27–29) and the battle that followed. Initially, the Amorites overcome the Israelites at Hormah (14:45; 33:40; Deuteronomy 1:44) and take prisoners (21:1). Then with the Lord’s help, the Israelites rebound to defeat the king of Arad and rescue the people who have been captured (21:2–4). For some reason, this battle is mentioned in different contexts three times and with two different outcomes.
41-47 After Mount Hor, their next camp site was Zalmonah, then Punon, Oboth, Iye-abarim (on Moab’s border), Dibon-gad, Almon-diblathaim, and Nebo’s foothills of Abarim. 48 From Abarim, they set up camp on the flatlands of Moab, on the western banks of the Jordan River, east of Jericho. 49 Their camp stretched from Beth-jeshimoth on the riverbank to Abel-shittim in the flatlands.
50 In that Moabite flatland, next to the Jordan, east of Jericho, the Eternal One told Moses to speak to the people.
Moses is instructed to remind the people of their mission to take the land and utterly decimate the peoples who are presently living there.
Eternal One: 51 Tell this new generation of Israelites that as soon as they cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 they must make its inhabitants flee. They must obliterate any carved or molded images of other gods and goddesses and the high places where they’re worshiped. 53 Tell them they must take that land. I promised it to them and have determined they should live in it as their own. 54 Divide it up among the people by clan, and make decisions about who gets what partly based on the size of the groups. But once you’ve made that rough distinction, draw lots for the specific territories. Whatever you draw, that’s how the land shall be allotted. Each of the tribes from Jacob’s extended families shall have their own land. 55 If they do not fully conquer and take the land from its native inhabitants, those remaining people will be a constant irritation, causing trouble and annoyance like thorns in their eyes and barbs in their sides 56 because if they don’t fully dispossess the present occupants, I will do to the Israelites what I would have done to the Canaanites.
Footnotes
- 33:10 Literally, Sea of Reeds
- 33:14 Exodus 17:1
Numbers 33
New English Translation
Wanderings from Egypt to Sinai
33 [a] These are the journeys of the Israelites, who went out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the authority[b] of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses recorded their departures[c] according to their journeys, by the commandment[d] of the Lord; now these are their journeys according to their departures. 3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after[e] the Passover the Israelites went out defiantly[f] in plain sight[g] of all the Egyptians. 4 Now the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them; the Lord also executed judgments on their gods.
5 The Israelites traveled from Rameses and camped in Sukkoth.
6 They traveled from Sukkoth, and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the desert. 7 They traveled from Etham, and turned again to Pi Hahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon; and they camped before Migdal. 8 They traveled from Pi Hahiroth,[h] and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped in Marah. 9 They traveled from Marah and came to Elim; in Elim there are twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees, so they camped there.
10 They traveled from Elim, and camped by the Red Sea. 11 They traveled from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 They traveled from the wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 And they traveled from Dophkah, and camped in Alush.
14 They traveled from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 They traveled from Rephidim and camped in the desert of Sinai.
Wanderings in the Wilderness
16 They traveled from the desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 They traveled from Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 They traveled from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. 20 They traveled from Rimmon Perez and camped in Libnah. 21 They traveled from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They traveled from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. 23 They traveled from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They traveled from Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 They traveled from Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 They traveled from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They traveled from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They traveled from Terah and camped in Mithcah. 29 They traveled from Mithcah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 They traveled from Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 They traveled from Moseroth and camped in Bene Jaakan. 32 They traveled from Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad. 33 They traveled from Hor Haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 They traveled from Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 They traveled from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. 36 They traveled from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh.
Wanderings from Kadesh to Moab
37 They traveled from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor at the edge of the land of Edom. 38 Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command[i] of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 The king of Arad, the Canaanite king who lived in the south of the land of Canaan, heard about the approach of the Israelites.
41 They traveled from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They traveled from Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They traveled from Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They traveled from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab. 45 They traveled from Iim[j] and camped in Dibon Gad. 46 They traveled from Dibon Gad and camped in Almon Diblathaim. 47 They traveled from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo. 48 They traveled from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the rift valley plains[k] by Moab along the Jordan River[l] across from Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth as far as Abel Shittim in the rift valley plains of Moab.
At the Border of Canaan
50 The Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab along the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said: 51 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images, all their molten images,[m] and demolish their high places. 53 You must dispossess the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess it. 54 You must divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families. To a larger group you must give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you must give a smaller inheritance. Everyone’s inheritance must be in the place where his lot falls. You must inherit according to your ancestral[n] tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living. 56 And what I intended to do to them I will do to you.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 33:1 sn This material can be arranged into four sections: from Egypt to Sinai (vv. 1-15), the wilderness wanderings (vv. 16-36), from Kadesh to Moab (vv. 37-49), and final orders for Canaan (vv. 50-56).
- Numbers 33:1 tn Heb “hand.”
- Numbers 33:2 tn Heb “their goings out.”
- Numbers 33:2 tn Heb “mouth.”
- Numbers 33:3 tn Heb “morrow.”
- Numbers 33:3 tn Heb “with a high hand”; the expression means “defiantly; boldly” or “with confidence.” The phrase is usually used for arrogant sin and pride, the defiant fist, as it were. The image of the high hand can also mean the hand raised to deliver the blow (Job 38:15).
- Numbers 33:3 tn Heb “in the eyes.”
- Numbers 33:8 tc So many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate. Other witnesses have “from before Hahiroth.”
- Numbers 33:38 tn Heb “mouth.”
- Numbers 33:45 tn Iim is a shortened form of the name Iye-abarim mentioned in v. 44.
- Numbers 33:48 sn This is the area of the rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. See the note at Num 21:1.
- Numbers 33:48 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 33:52 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “you will destroy.”
- Numbers 33:54 tn Heb “of your fathers.”
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