Numbers 33:14
in Numbers 33They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they journeyed from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
KJV
And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
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This verse in Numbers 33
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rephidim--These three stations, in the great valleys of El Sheikh and Feiran, would be equivalent to four days' journey for such a host. Rephidim (Ex 17:6) was in Horeb, the burnt region--a generic name for a hot, mountainous country. [See on Ex 17:1.]
This site's exposition
and encamped in Dophkah
on Numbers 33:12-15
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now Raphidin [Rephidim] means "praise of judgment." Praise most justly follows toils, but what is the praise of? Judgment, it says. Therefore the soul becomes worthy of praise when it judges rightly, discerns rightly, that is, when it judges all things spiritually and is itself judged by no one.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim,.... Eight miles from Alush: where was no water for the people to drink; and they murmured, and a rock here was smitten by Moses at the command of God, and waters gushed out sufficient for them and their flocks, Exo 17:1.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Rephidim - Remarkable for the rebellion of the Israelites against Moses, because of the want of water, Exodus 17. Stat. 11.
The words behind it
10 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 |
| מֵאָל֑וּשׁ | mealush | from Alush | H442 → | |
| וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙ | vaiyachanu | and they encamped | H2583 → | 143 times |
| בִּרְפִידִ֔ם | birfidim | at Rephidim | H7508 → | |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָ֨יָה | hayah | it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֥ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מַ֛יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| לָעָ֖ם | laam | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃ | lishtot | to drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
וַיִּסְע֖וּand they set out
vaiyisuH5265 →146 times
מֵאָל֑וּשׁfrom Alush
mealushH442 →
וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙and they encamped
vaiyachanuH2583 →143 times
בִּרְפִידִ֔םat Rephidim
birfidimH7508 →
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָ֨יָהit belonged
hayahH1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֥םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
מַ֛יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
לָעָ֖םto the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃to drink
lishtotH8354 →217 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 19:2After they had set out from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
it leads to
- Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Exodus 17:1
Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
- Exodus 3:12
“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will…
- Exodus 17:8
After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
- Exodus 18:5
Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
- Exodus 3:1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:12.