Numberschapter 33
56 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
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.
It stands in From Rameses out to the wilderness of Sinai, verses 1 to 15.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The itinerary of the forty-year journey. Forty-two stages recorded by Moses at the commandment of the LORD, from Rameses on the day after Passover to the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. Each camp named; occasionally a note (‘and they came to Elim, and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees’). The chapter closes with the command of conquest: ‘drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you … ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein’. The forty years are written down once for all; the book is almost at its end.
Context
Law · Moses · Numbers overview
The world behind this chapter
Numbers 33The history
Verse 2 names the writer and the reason in one line. At the LORD's command Moses recorded the stages of the march, which makes this the one place in the book where Moses is said to have written. It was set down in the fortieth year in the camp on the plains of Moab, and covers the whole span from the exodus to that camp. The occasion is the crossing now in front of them, and the chapter turns to it at verse 50, where the LORD gives the orders for taking the land. A first hearer knew what a list like this was for. Armies and caravans in Egypt and Mesopotamia kept itineraries of this form, a chain of set out from one place and camped at the next. He also knew most of these places by water, since a station in that country is a well or a spring. The chapter carries three dated notices inside the list. They are the departure from Rameses at verse 3, Aaron's death on Mount Hor at verses 38 and 39, and the report of the king of Arad at verse 40. Most stations between Sinai and Kadesh cannot be placed on the ground today, and the identifications scholars propose remain proposals held by name.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
What it meant to them
The list gave the second generation a record they could count through. It set the forty years out as a chain of places, with the one grave at Mount Hor marked in it. The cost of the refusal at Kadesh stood in the geography rather than in an argument. Verses 50 to 56 then turn the record forward and make the same land into the thing they were to enter, clear of its images and high places.
Sources cited
- Jacob Milgrom, Numbers , The JPS Torah Commentary, 1990
- Yohanan Aharoni, The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography , 1967
- Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments , 1832 to 1869, on Numbers 33
Where the chapter sits
Numbers 33 falls in Second census and preparations (chapters 26–36). A new generation numbered; inheritance laws; Joshua commissioned; cities of refuge and tribal boundaries.
Before it: Approach to Moab, chapters 21–25.
The whole shape of Numbers→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. From Rameses out to the wilderness of Sinai
1. (vv. 1-4)
Numbers 33:1
“Unrolling the book still further, [Fabiola] came to the passage in which is given the list of all the halting places by which the people after leaving Egypt made its way to the waters of Jordan. And when she asked me the meaning and reason of each of these, I spoke doubtfully about some, dealt with others in a tone of assurance and in several instances simply confessed my ignorance.”
Jerome· written before 420· LETTER 77.7patristic
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Numbers 33:1
“This list was written out by Moses at God’s command Num 33:2, doubtless as a memorial of God’s providential care for His people throughout this long and trying period. Num 33:3-6. For these places, see the marginal reference. Num 33:8 Pi-hahiroth - Hebrew “Hahiroth,” but perhaps only by an error of transcription. However, the omitted “pi” is only a common Egyptian prefix. Wilderness of Etham - i. e., that part of the great wilderness of Shur which adjoined Etham; compare Exo 15:22 note.”
Numbers 33:2
“He wrote them down, then, "by the word of the Lord" so that when we read them and see how many starting places lie ahead of us on the journey that leads to the kingdom, we may prepare ourselves for this way of life. [Thus,] considering the journey that lies ahead of us, [we] may not allow the time of our life to be ruined by sloth and neglect.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:7patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:2
“And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys - We may consider the whole book of Numbers as a diary, and indeed the first book of travels ever published. Dr. Shaw, Dr. Pococke, and several others, have endeavored to mark out the route of the Israelites, through this great, dreary, and trackless desert, and have ascertained many of the stages here described. Indeed there are sufficient evidences of this important journey still remaining, for the descriptions of many are so particular that the places are readily ascertained by them; but this is not the case with all.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:3
“And they departed from Rameses,.... A city in Egypt, 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, as they did. This place the Targum of Jonathan calls Pelusium.”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 33:3
“From Rameses - This appears to have been the metropolis of the land of Goshen, and the place of rendezvous whence the whole Israelitish nation set out on their journey to the promised land; and is supposed to be the same as Cairo. See the notes on Exo 12:37. Here Follow the Forty-Two Stations Station 1.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:3
“Rameses--generally identified with Heroopoils, now the modern Abu-Keisheid (see on Ex 12:37), which was probably the capital of Goshen, and, by direction of Moses, the place of general rendezvous previous to their departure.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 33:4
“On their gods - Their false gods, namely 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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The list opens with a statement about itself, that Moses wrote these stages by the commandment of the Lord, so the keeping of the record was commanded work rather than a private memorandum. Verse 4 supplies a line the Exodus account never gave, that upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments, reporting as done what Exodus 12:12 had said would be done. The departure is dated to the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morrow after the passover, and Israel goes out with an high hand while Egypt is burying its firstborn.
2. (vv. 5-11)
Numbers 33:5
“And pitched in Succoth - This name signifies booths or tents, and probably refers to no town or village, but simply designates the place where they pitched their tents for the first time after their departure from Rameses. Stat. 2.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:5
“Sochoth [Succoth] is interpreted "tents." Thus the first progress of the soul is to be taken away from earthly agitation and to learn that it must dwell in tents like a wanderer, so that it can be, as it were, ready for battle and meet those who lie in wait for it unhindered and free.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:9patristic
Numbers 33:6
“And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham,.... Which was eight miles from Succoth: which is in the edge of the wilderness; of the name, see Exo 13:20 but Dr. Shaw (c) makes this particular portion of the wilderness to be fifty miles from Cairo or Rameses. (c) Travels, p. 308.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:6
“Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness - This place is not well known; Dr. Shaw supposes it to have been one mile from Cairo. Calmet thinks it is the city of Buthum mentioned by Herodotus, which he places in Arabia, on the frontiers of Egypt. Stat. 3.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:7
“Pi-hahiroth - See on Exo 14:1 (note), and Exo 14:2 (note). Baal-zephon Calmet supposes to be the Clysma of the Greeks, and the Kolzum of the Arabians. Stat. 4.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:8
“And they departed from before Pihahiroth,.... Being forced by Pharaoh's army pressing upon them: 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, and which is computed to be forty miles from Pihahiroth.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:8
“And went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham - Called the wilderness of Shur, Exo 15:22. And pitched in Marah - Dr. Shaw supposes this place to be at Sedur, over against the valley of Baideah, on the opposite side of the Red Sea. Stat. 5.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:9
“And came unto Elim - A place on the skirts of the deserts of Sin, two leagues from Tor, and nearly thirty from Corondel, a large bay on the east side of the Red Sea. Dr. Shaw, when he visited this place, found but nine of the twelve wells mentioned in the text, and instead of 70 palm trees, he found upwards of 2,000. See on Exo 15:27 (note). Stat. 6.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:10
“And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. This encampment, is omitted in the book of Exodus, see Exo 16:1 this part or arm of the Red sea, whither they came, was six miles from Elim.”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 33:10
“Encamped by the Red Sea - It is difficult to assign the place of this encampment, as the Israelites were now on their way to Mount Sinai, which lay considerably to the east of Elim, and consequently farther from the sea than the former station. It might be called by the Red Sea, as the Israelites had it, as the principal object, still in view. This station however is mentioned nowhere else.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:10
“The minute accuracy of the Scripture narrative, in corresponding so exactly with the geographical features of this region, is remarkably shown in describing the Israelites as proceeding by the only practicable route that could be taken. This plain, where they encamped, was the Desert of Sin (see on Ex 16:1).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 33:11
“The wilderness of Sin - This lies between Elim and Mount Sinai. Dr. Shaw and his companions traversed these plains in nine hours. Stat. 8.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
These first stages track Exodus 12 to 16 name for name, Succoth, Etham, Pi-hahiroth before Migdol, the crossing of the sea, Marah and Elim with its twelve fountains and seventy palm trees. Verse 10, the camp by the Red sea, has no place in the Exodus narrative, which moves straight from Elim to the wilderness of Sin at Exodus 16:1. John Gill marks the omission where it falls. The list keeps camps the story had no occasion to mention.
3. (vv. 12-15)
Numbers 33:12
“And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin,.... According to the account in Exodus, this was after they had the manna given them, see Exo 17:1. and encamped at Dophkah; twelve miles from the wilderness of Sin; and of this, and the next encampment, no mention is made in Exodus.”
Numbers 33:13
“And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. The strong fort, as the Targum of Jonathan calls it; this was twelve miles from Dophkah: according to the Jewish chronology (d), this Alush is the wilderness of Sin, where the Israelites came on the fifteenth day of the seventh month from their going out of Egypt; and they say, that in Alush the sabbath was given them, and that there they kept the first sabbath, as it is said: and the people rested on the seventh day, Exo 16:30. (d) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 5. p. 17.”
Numbers 33:15
“And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai. Eight miles from Rephidim; and from a mount of this name here were given the decalogue, with all other statutes and ordinances, judicial and ceremonial, and orders and directions for building the tabernacle, and making all the vessels appertaining to it, and which were all made during their stay here.”
Dophkah and Alush are named here and nowhere else in Scripture, so two camps of the exodus survive in this list alone. Verse 14 breaks the pattern with a clause about the place rather than the move, where was no water for the people to drink, and Exodus 17:1-7 is the account standing behind it. The wilderness of Sinai at verse 15 is one line for everything from Exodus 19 to Numbers 10, close to a year of the story.
B. Stage by stage through forty years
1. (vv. 16-20)
Numbers 33:16
“Kibroth-hattaavah - No city, village, etc., but a place in the open desert, which had its name from the plague that fell upon the Israelites, through their murmuring against God, and their inordinate desire of flesh. See on Numbers 11 (note). But it appears that the Israelites had traveled three days’ journey in order to reach this place, Num 10:33, and commentators suppose there must have been other stations which are not laid down here, probably because the places were not remarkable. Stat. 13.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:16
“From there they come to the Tombs of Lust [Kibroth-hattavah]. What are the Tombs of Lust? Doubtless it is where lusts are buried and covered over, where all desire is quenched and the flesh no longer lusts against the spirit, since it has been put to death by the death of Christ.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:17
“And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. Eight miles from Kibrothhattaavah, where Miriam was smote with leprosy, Num 12:1.”
Numbers 33:18
“Rithmah - This place lay somewhere in the wilderness of Paran, through which the Israelites were now passing. See Num 13:1, Num 13:3. The name signifies the juniper tree; and the place probably had its name from the great number of those trees growing in that district. Stat. 15.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:19
“And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez.”
Numbers 33:20
“Libnah - The situation of this place is uncertain. A city of this name is mentioned Jos 10:29, as situated between Kadesh-barnea and Gaza. Stat. 17.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Two of these camps carry their own stories, the graves of the people that lusted at Kibroth-hattaavah in Numbers 11:34 and the seven days Miriam was shut out of the camp at Hazeroth in Numbers 12:14-15. The first of those names was given by the event itself. After Hazeroth the record goes quiet, and Rithmah, Rimmon-parez and Libnah are given with no word of what happened at them. Nothing in the list marks the sentence passed at Kadesh, which decided the rest of the book.
2. (vv. 21-29)
Numbers 33:21
“The next stage takes place in Ressa [Rissah], which could be put into our words as "visible or praiseworthy temptation." Why is it that however great the progress made by the soul nonetheless temptations are not taken away from it? Here it becomes clear that temptations are brought to it as a kind of protection and defense. For just as meat, if it is not sprinkled with salt, no matter how great and special it is, becomes rotten, so also the soul, unless it is somehow salted with constant temptations, immediately becomes feeble and soft.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:21
“Bissah - A place mentioned nowhere else in the sacred writings. Its situation utterly uncertain. Stat. 18.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:22
“Kehelathah - Utterly unknown; though some conjecture that it might have been the place called Keilah, 1Sa 23:1, etc., but this is unlikely. Stat. 19.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:23
“Shapher - Where this mountain lay cannot be determined. Stat. 20.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:24
“Haradah - Unknown, Calmet supposes that it may be the place called Bered, Gen 16:14, which was in the vicinity of Kadesh. Stat. 21.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:25
“Makheloth - A name found nowhere else in Scripture. Stat. 22.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:25
“From there a stage is made at Maceloth [Makheloth], which means "from the beginning." For the person who strives for contemplation contemplates the beginning of things, or rather he refers everything to him who was in the beginning, nor is there any time when he abandons that beginning.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:26
Next a stage is made at Cataath [Tahath], which is "encouragement" or "endurance." For it is necessary for someone who wants to be of use to others to suffer many things and to bear them all patiently, as it is said of Paul, "For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:28
“Next they come to Matheca [Mithkah], which means "new death." What is the new death? When we die with Christ so that we may live with him.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:28
“Mithcah - Calmet conjectures that this may be Mocha, a city in Arabia Petraea. Stat. 25.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:29
“Hashmonah - Supposed by some to be the same as Azmon, Num 34:4. Stat. 26.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:29
“From there they come to Asenna [Hashmonah], which is said to mean "bone" or "bones." By this it is doubtless strength and the firmness of endurance that is revealed.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Nine camps in nine verses with nothing but names attached. Most cannot be located now, and Adam Clarke marks Kehelathah utterly unknown while giving the distances the older writers assigned to the rest. These stations belong to the years under the sentence of chapter 14, which Deuteronomy 2:14 counts at thirty and eight from Kadesh-barnea to the brook Zered. The record keeps the movements of a generation whose story the narrative had stopped telling.
3. (vv. 30-35)
Numbers 33:30
“And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. Thirty two miles from Hashmonah. In Deu 10:6 it is called Mosera; and according to the account there, they came hither from the following place, Benejaakan; probably they went first thither from Hashmonah, and then from Mosera or Moserot, and so to Benejaakan again, going backwards and forwards, so Jarchi; the distance of the two places was twenty four miles; for the further reconciliation this; see Gill on Deu 10:6 and the Samaritan version there.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:30
“Moseroth - Situation unknown. In Deu 10:6 it is said that the Israelites took their journey from Beeroth, the wells of the children of Jaakan, to Mosera, and there Aaron died. If so, Mosera, Moseroth, and Hor, must be different names of the same place; or Moseroth, or Mosera, must have been some town or village near Mount Hor, for there Aaron died. See Num 33:38. Stat. 27.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:31
“Next they come to Banaim [Bene-jaakan], which means "springs" or "filterings," that is, where one draws water from the springs of divine words until one filters them by drinking.… Thus a person filters the word of God when he does not omit even the least commandment, indeed when he gains the understanding that not even one iota or one dot in the word of God is insignificant.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:32
“Hor-hagidgad - The hole or pit of Gidgad. Unknown. It was a place perhaps remarkable for some vast pit or cavern, from which it took its name. Stat. 29.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:33
“When you pass through them, you will camp at Tabatha [Jotbathah]. Tabatha means "good things." Thus they do not come to good things except after the trials of temptations.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:33
“Jotrathah - Situation unknown. It is said in Deu 10:7 to be a land of rivers of waters. Stat. 30.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:34
“From there, it says, they camped at Ebrona [Abronah], which is "passage." For everything must be passed through. Even if you have come to good things, you must pass through them to better things until you come to that good thing in which you should always remain.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:34
“Ebronah - Nowhere else mentioned. Stat. 31.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Deuteronomy 10:6-7 names these same camps in the other order, from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera, then Gudgodah and Jotbath, and it puts Aaron's death at Mosera while verse 38 here puts it at mount Hor. Both accounts stand in the canon. Keil and Delitzsch read Moserah as the district in which mount Hor stands, and others take the two lists to record the same ground crossed twice. The chapter gives its own order and explains nothing about the other.
4. (vv. 36-37)
Numbers 33:36
“Zin, which is Kadesh - A place remarkable for the death of Miriam the prophetess, and bringing water out of the rock. As this place was on the borders of Edom, the Israelites, being denied permission to pass through their land, which lay on the direct road to the promised land, were obliged to turn to the right to Mount Hor, now called Accaba by the Arabs. Stat. 33.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:37
“Hor - Famous for the death of Aaron. See on Numbers 20 (note). Perhaps Moseroth or Mosera, Num 33:30 (note), was a village near this mountain. Stat. 34.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:36-40
in the Wilderness of Zin: The second and last date in the chapter is a death, the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year, and Aaron at a hundred and twenty and three years is the only man whose dying this list records. Numbers 20:22-29 gives the account, the garments taken off Aaron and put on Eleazar on the mountain in sight of the congregation. Verse 40 breaks in with a Canaanite king who hears of their coming and then says nothing further, and Numbers 21:1-3 finishes that matter with the vow and the name Hormah. The fortieth year named here fixes the near end of the forty years passed in chapter 14.
C. Aaron's death, and camp on the plains of Moab
1. (vv. 38-40)
Numbers 33:38
“And Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor, at the commandment of the Lord,....”
Numbers 33:39
“And Aaron was one hundred and twenty three years old when he died in Mount Hor. He was eighty three when he stood before Pharaoh, Exo 7:7, and forty years he had been with Israel since, which make this number; he was three years older than Moses.”
Numbers 33:40
“And King Arad the Canaanite,....”
2. (vv. 41-49)
Numbers 33:41
“Zalmonah - Probably in the neighborhood of the land of Edom. As צלם tselem signifies an image, this place probably had its name from the brazen serpent set up by Moses. See Num 21:9 (note), etc. From the same root the word telesm, corruptly called talisman, which signifies a consecrated image, is derived. Stat. 35.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:42
“Wilderness of Zin, on the east side of the peninsula of Sinai; Punon, in the rocky ravines of mount Hor and famous for the mines and quarries in its vicinity as well as for its fruit trees, now Tafyle, on the border of Edom; Abarim, a ridge of rugged hills northwest of the Arnon--the part called Nebo was one of its highest peaks--opposite Jericho.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 33:43
“Oboth - Mentioned before, Num 21:10. Stat. 37.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:43
“Next they come to Oboth. Although we have not found an interpretation of this name, nonetheless we do not doubt that in this name as in all the others the logic of the progresses is preserved.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:44
“Ije-abarim - The heaps of Abarim. See Num 21:11. Situation uncertain. It is called Iim in the following verse. As the word signifies heaps or protuberances, it probably means tumuil or small hills near some of the fords of Jordan. Stat. 38.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:45
“And they departed from Ijim, and pitched in Dibongad. Sixteen miles from Ijim; the remove from whence is said to be to the valley of Zared, Num 21:12 in which Dibongad was, so called perhaps because rebuilt by Gad afterwards.”
Numbers 33:46
“Almon-diblathaim - Situation not known. It belonged to the Moabites in the time of the prophet Jeremiah. Jer 48:22. Stat. 40.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:46
“And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim. Sixteen miles from Dibon, perhaps the same with Diblath, Eze 6:14, according to the account in Num 21:16, &c. they went from hence to Beer, a place where they found a well, which gave it this name; and several other removes are mentioned there, which are not here, and which, perhaps, were small removes, and not properly stations.”
Numbers 33:47
“And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim,.... Sixteen miles from Almondiblathaim; these were so called from passages near them over the river Jordan: and this station was pitched before Nebo; one of those mountains, whither Moses went up and died.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:47
There follows next the stage at Abarim opposite Nabau [Nebo], which is "passage." But Nabau means "separation." For when the soul has made its journey through all these virtues and has climbed to the height of perfection, it then "passes" from the world and "separates" from it, as it is written of Enoch, "And he was not found, because God had taken him across."
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12patristic
Numbers 33:48
“And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab,.... Sixteen miles from Abarim, where all those things were transacted, which make the history of Balak and Balaam, Num 22:1 and where the Israelites now were by Jordan near Jericho; not on that side Jordan where Jericho stood, but on the other; Jericho, according to Eusebius, was ten miles from Bethjesimoth, where Israel now were, as follows.”
Numbers 33:49
“From Beth-jesimoth even unto Abel-shittim - The former of these places fell to the Reubenites, Jos 13:15-20. The Israelites were now come to the edge of Jordan, over against Jericho, where they afterwards passed. For further information on the subject of these different encampments, the reader is requested to refer to the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of the book of Exodus.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:49
“Shittim - The place where the people sinned in the matter of Peor, is here called Abel-Shittim - Abel signifies mourning; and probably this place was so called, from the mourning of Israel for that sin, and the heavy punishment inflicted on the sinners.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Zalmonah and Punon fall between mount Hor and Oboth, which is the stretch where Numbers 21:4-9 sets the fiery serpents and the serpent of brass that John 3:14-15 takes up by name. The mountains of Abarim before Nebo at verse 47 is the ground where Moses will be shown the land and die, in Deuteronomy 34:1-5, and the list names the place without saying so. Abel-shittim at verse 49 is the Shittim of Numbers 25:1, where Israel joined itself unto Baal-peor. The record of the stages stops at the camp where the plague of chapter 25 fell.
D. Drive them out, or they become thorns in your eyes
1. (vv. 50-54)
Numbers 33:50
“The expulsion of the Canaanites and the destruction of their monuments of idolatry had been already enjoined (see the marginal references); and Num 33:54 is substantially a repetition from Exo. 26:53-55. But the solemn warning of Num 33:55-56 is new. A call for it had been furnished by their past transgressions in the matter of Baal-peor, and by their imperfect fulfillment, at the first, of Moses’ orders in the Midianite war.”
Numbers 33:51
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What was to be said, being what concerned the whole body of the people: when ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; near to which they now were, and Moses was about to leave them; and therefore it was the more necessary to give them some instructions and directions what they should do, when they were come into it.”
Numbers 33:52
“Drive out - Not by banishing, but by destroying them. Pictures - Which seem to have been stones curiously engraven, and set up for worship. High Places - Chapels, altars, groves, or other means of worship there set up.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:52
“Ye shall - destroy all their pictures - משכיתם maskiyotham, from שחה sachah, to be like, or resemble, either pictures, carved work, or embroidery, as far as these things were employed to exhibit the abominations of idolatry. Molten images צלמי מסכתם tsalmey massechotham, metallic talismanical figures, made under certain constellations, and supposed in consequence to be possessed of some extraordinary influences and virtues.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:53
“And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein,.... Turn them out of their cities, towns, and houses, and inhabit them: for I have given you the land to possess it; who had a right to dispose of it, and a better title they needed not desire than the Lord could and did make them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 33:53
“If they would keep themselves pure from the idols of Canaan, God would enrich them with the wealth of Canaan. Learn not their way, and then fear not their power. They were threatened that, if they spared either the idols or the idolaters, they should be beaten with their own rod and their sin would certainly be their punishment.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 33:54
“And ye shall divide the land by lot,.... What is said in this verse is the same with Num 26:53, where it has been explained; See Gill on Num 26:53; see Gill on Num 26:54; see Gill on Num 26:55; see Gill on Num 26:56.”
The order is given before Jordan is crossed and it names three things to be destroyed, their pictures, their molten images and their high places, so the shrines go with the images. Adam Clarke reads the word rendered pictures as carved or figured stones set up for worship. Verse 53 grounds the dispossession in a gift already made, for I have given you the land to possess it. Verse 54 holds two methods together, the lot deciding the place and the size of a tribe deciding the amount, which Numbers 26:53-56 had already set out.
2. (vv. 55-56)
Numbers 33:55
“Shall be pricks in your eyes - Under these metaphors, the continual mischief that should be done to them, both in soul and body, by these idolaters, is set forth in a very expressive manner. What can be more vexatious than a continual goading of each side, so that the attempt to avoid the one throws the body more forcibly on the other? And what can be more distressing than a continual pricking in the eye, harassing the mind, tormenting the body, and extinguishing the sight?”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 33:56
“Moreover, it shall come to pass,.... This being the case, they suffering the Canaanites to dwell among them, and they mingling with them, learning their works, and serving their gods: that I shall do unto you as I thought I should do unto them; deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, who should carry them captive into other lands.”
not drive out the inhabitants: Judges 2:1-3 quotes this warning back and reports the outcome, the nations left in the land becoming thorns in their sides and their gods a snare, and Judges 3:5-6 names the marriages that followed. Verse 56 turns the sentence around, so that what was purposed for the inhabitants falls on Israel instead. The record of the wandering closes with the terms of staying in the land.
This page carries no textual note on Numbers 33. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.