Exodus 13:20
in Exodus 13They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
KJV
And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
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This verse in Exodus 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd they took their journey from Succoth,.... On the second day, as Jarchi observes, from their coming out of Egypt, which was the sixteenth of Nisan: and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness which had its name from it, and was called the wilderness of Etham, Num 33:8. Etham is said to be eight miles from Succoth (s).
This site's exposition
encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness
Etham is named here for the first time in Scripture and it is the second stop on a route Numbers 33 later lists in full. Gill puts the move on the day after the going out, the sixteenth of Nisan, and reckons Etham some eight miles from Succoth. The name Succoth means booths, and Jacob had given that name to a different place at Genesis 33:17 after building shelters for his cattle.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
) they would have occasion for a guide; and a very good guide they had, one that was infinitely wise, kind, and faithful: The Lord went before them, the shechinah (or appearance of the divine Majesty, which was typical of Christ) or a previous manifestation of the eternal Word, which, in the fulness of time, was to be made flesh, and dwell among us.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Encamped in Etham - As for the reasons assigned on Exo 13:17, God would not lead the Israelites by the way of the Philistines’ country, he directed them towards the wilderness of Shur, Exo 15:22, upon the edge or extremity of which, next to Egypt, at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, lay Etham, which is the second place of encampment mentioned. See the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of Exodus. See Clarke’s note on Exo 40:38.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
encamped in Etham--This place is supposed by the most intelligent travellers to be the modern Ajrud, where is a watering-place, and which is the third stage of the pilgrim-caravans to Mecca. "It is remarkable that either of the different routes eastward from Heliopolis, or southward from Heroopolis, equally admit of Ajrud being Etham.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Etham - The house or “sanctuary of Tum” (the Sun God worshipped especially by that name in Lower Egypt), was in the immediate vicinity of Heliopolis, called by the Egyptians the fortress of Zar, or Zalu (i. e. of foreigners); the frontier city where the Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty reviewed their forces when about to enter upon a campaign on Syria. The name Pithom (see Exo 1:11) has precisely the same meaning with Etham, and may possibly be identified with it.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסְע֖וּ | vaiyisu | and they set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| מִסֻּכֹּ֑ת | misukot | from Succoth | H5523 → | |
| וַיַּחֲנ֣וּ | vaiyachanu | and they encamped | H2583 → | 143 times |
| בְאֵתָ֔ם | veetam | at Etham | H864 → | |
| בִּקְצֵ֖ה | biktzeh | on [the] edge of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃ | hamidbar | the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
וַיִּסְע֖וּand they set out
vaiyisuH5265 →146 times
מִסֻּכֹּ֑תfrom Succoth
misukotH5523 →
וַיַּחֲנ֣וּand they encamped
vaiyachanuH2583 →143 times
בְאֵתָ֔םat Etham
veetamH864 →
בִּקְצֵ֖הon [the] edge of
biktzehH7097 →97 times
הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃the wilderness
hamidbarH4057 →270 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 12:37The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
it leads to
- Numbers 1:46
And all those counted totaled 603,550.
- Exodus 38:26
a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.
- Numbers 33:3
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,
- Numbers 11:21
But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
- Numbers 33:5
The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
- Numbers 1:46
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.