And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
And they journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
And they journey from Succoth, and encamp in Etham, which is in the extremity of the wilderness;
And they removed from Succoth and encamped in Etham, which is at the end of the wilderness.
Numbers — Israel on the move — and Israel on the ground in rebellion. Two censuses bracket thirty-eight wilderness years; God's faithfulness holds where the people's does not.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices3
Then when the soul thinks it is ready, it sets out from Succoth and camps at Buthan [Etham]. Buthan means "valley." Now we have said that the stages refer to progress in the virtues. And a virtue is not acquired without training and hard work, nor is it tested as much in prosperity as in adversity. So the soul comes to a valley. For in valleys and in low places the struggle against the devil and the opposing powers takes place.
Origen of Alexandria· HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27:9, 253patristic
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.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
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, 1832evangelical
The verses this one reaches2
They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle.
The walk2
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Exodus 13:20They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
leads to
The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
