Numbers 20:1
in Numbers 20In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
KJV
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Num. 20 and Num. 21 narrate the journey of the people from Kadesh round Mount Seir to the heights of Pisgah, near the Jordan, and the various incidents connected with that journey (compare Num 33:37-41). This formed the third and last stage of the progress of Israel from Sinai to Canaan, and took place in the fortieth year of the Exodus. The incidents are apparently not narrated in a strictly chronological order (see Num 21:1).
This site's exposition
Miriam died there, and was buried
Between the last verse of chapter 19 and this one sits most of the thirty-eight years the book never narrates, and Deuteronomy 2:14 is where they are counted. The camp is back at Kadesh, which is where the sentence of chapter 14 fell. Miriam is the first of the three whom Micah 6:4 names as sent before Israel to die, and Aaron is buried before this chapter ends. Exodus 2:4 has her watching the ark of bulrushes and Exodus 15:20 has her leading the women with a timbrel, and her death is given one line.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Next comes "And the Lord shall shake the desert of Kadesh." This still refers to the spirit of piety. The account in Numbers carefully explains this reference when it tells how the people of Israel came to Kadesh and were suffering from excessive thirst because …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Here dies Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, and as it should seem older than either of them. She must have been so if she was that sister that was set to watch Moses when he was put into the ark of bulrushes, Exod. ii.
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation,....
Here there is another Meribah. one place we met with before of that name, in the beginning of their march through the wilderness, which was so called because of the chiding of the children of Israel, Exod. xvii. And now we have another place, at the latter end of their march, which bears the same name for the same reason: This is the water of Meribah,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Between Nu 19:22 and Nu 20:1 there is a long and undescribed interval of thirty-seven years. the people abode in Kadesh--supposed to be what is now known as Ain-el-Weibeh, three springs surrounded by palms. It was their second arrival after an interval of thirty-eight years (De 2:14).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Then came the children of Israel, etc. - This was the first month of the fortieth year after their departure from Egypt. See Num 33:38, compared with Num 20:28 of this chapter, and Deu 1:3. The transactions of thirty-seven years Moses passes by, because he writes not as a historian but as a legislator; and gives us particularly an account of the laws, ordinances, and other occurrences of the first and last years of their peregrinations. The year now spoken of was the last of their journeyings; for from the going out of the spies, Numbers 13, unto this time, was about thirty-eight years, Deu 1:22, Deu 1:23; Deu 2:14. Desert of Zin - Calmet contends that this is not the same desert mentioned Exo 16:1, where Israel had their eighth encampment; that in Exodus being called in the original סין sin, this here צין tsin: but this is no positive proof, as letters of the same organ are frequently interchanged in all languages, and particularly in Hebrew. And Miriam died there - Miriam was certainly older than Moses. When he was an infant, exposed on the river Nile, she was entrusted by her parents to watch the conduct of Pharaoh’s daughter, and to manage a most delicate business, that required much address and prudence. See Exodus 2. It is supposed that she was at the time of her death one hundred and thirty years of age, having been at least ten years old at her brother’s birth. The Catholic writers represent her as a type of the Virgin Mary; as having preserved a perpetual virginity; as being legislatrix over the Israelitish women, as Moses was over the men; and as having a large portion of the spirit of prophecy. Eusebius says that her tomb was to be seen at Kadesh, near the city of Petra, in his time. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The entire community of Bnei Yisroel came to the wilderness of Tzin, in the first month.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ | vaiyavou | and they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָ֨עֵדָ֤ה | haedah | the congregation | H5712 → | 149 times |
| מִדְבַּר־ | midbar- | [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| צִן֙ | tzin | Zin | H6790 → | 10 times |
| בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ | bachodesh | in the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן | harishon | <the> first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and it remained | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּקָדֵ֑שׁ | bekadesh | in Kadesh | H6946 → | 18 times |
| וַתָּ֤מָת | vatamot | and she died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| שָׁם֙ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מִרְיָ֔ם | miryam | Miriam | H4813 → | 15 times |
| וַתִּקָּבֵ֖ר | vatikaver | and she was buried | H6912 → | 133 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
וַיָּבֹ֣אוּand they came
vaiyavouH935 →2568 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִ֠שְׂרָאֵלIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָ֨עֵדָ֤הthe congregation
haedahH5712 →149 times
מִדְבַּר־[the] wilderness of
midbar-H4057 →270 times
צִן֙Zin
tzinH6790 →10 times
בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁin the month
bachodeshH2320 →284 times
הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן<the> first
harishonH7223 →182 times
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁבand it remained
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
בְּקָדֵ֑שׁin Kadesh
bekadeshH6946 →18 times
וַתָּ֤מָתand she died
vatamotH4191 →839 times
שָׁם֙there
shamH8033 →834 times
מִרְיָ֔םMiriam
miryamH4813 →15 times
וַתִּקָּבֵ֖רand she was buried
vatikaverH6912 →133 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 15:20Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
it leads to
- Psalms 150:4
Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.
- 1 Samuel 18:6
As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and…
- Psalms 68:25
The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.
- Psalms 149:3
Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
- Judges 11:34
And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
- Psalms 150:4
Through
Numbers 13:21So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
it leads to
- Numbers 27:14
for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 27:14
Through
Numbers 27:14for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:37
The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
- Deuteronomy 32:51–52
For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.
- Deuteronomy 1:37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 28:8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.