Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 33

These are the journeys of the children of Israel ... — The word rendered journey appears to denote primarily the breaking up of the encampments, which lasted for very different periods, and which, during the prolonged wanderings in the wilderness, may have averaged a year in duration.

The list of the encampments is expressly said to have been written by Moses. It served as a permanent memorial, on the one hand, of the sin and rebellion of the nation, and on the other hand, of the faithfulness and long-suffering of God in leading and sustaining His people throughout their sojourn in the wilderness.

By the commandment of the Lord.— It does not clearly appear whether these words should be understood as referring to the record of the journeys of the Israelites, made by Moses in obedience to a Divine command, or as referring to the journeys themselves, undertaken in obedience to the Divine command.

And they departed ... — In these verses, the departure from Rameses, where the Israelites seem to have been gathered together before the exodus, is related as in Exodus 12:37.

The places of encampment from Succoth to the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 33:6–15) agree with those recorded in Exodus 13:20 (Succoth and Etham), Exodus 14:2 (Pi-hahiroth and Migdol), Exodus 15:22 (the wilderness, that is, of Shur), Exodus 15:23–27 (Marah and Elim), Exodus 16:1 (wilderness of Sin), and Exodus 17:1 (Rephidim).

However, there is no mention in Exodus of the station at the Red Sea (Numbers 33:10) or of the stations at Dophkah and Alush (Numbers 33:12–13).

The first two stations named after the departure from Sinai, namely, Kibroth-hattaavah, or the graves of lust, and Hazeroth, enclosures, agree with those found in Numbers 11:34-35. The next station named in this list is Rithmah.

Now, according to Numbers 12:16, the next encampment after Hazeroth was in the wilderness of Paran, from where Moses, in obedience to the Divine command, sent the spies to search out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:3).

If we compare these two accounts, and also consider that the Wady Abu Retemat is not far from Kadesh, it seems reasonable to infer that the encampment at Rithmah recorded in this chapter is the same as that at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, as recorded in Numbers 12:16. This inference is supported by the fact that, according to Robinson (I., p. 279), Wady Abu Retemat abounds with the retem, or broom, and near it there is a copious spring of water called Ain el Kudeirât.

If this inference is admitted, it is reasonable to conclude further that the seventeen places of encampment mentioned in Numbers 33:19-36 between Rithmah and Kadesh are those at which the Israelites pitched their camps during the thirty-eight years of wandering in the wilderness.

An apparent difficulty, however, arises with this supposition from a comparison of Numbers 33:30-33 of this chapter with Deuteronomy 10:6-7. In these verses of Deuteronomy, we find mention of four places that appear to be identical with those named in this chapter: namely, Beeroth of the children of Jaakan, Mosera, Gudgodah, and Jotbath. These correspond to Bene-jaakan, that is, the children of Jaakan (an abbreviation, probably, of Beeroth-bene-Jaakan, that is, the wells of the sons of Jaakan), Moseroth (the plural form of Mosera), Hor-hagidgad, that is, the cave of Gidgad or Gudgodah, and Jotbathah (an alternative form of Jotbath).

The apparent difficulty of the identification, however, arises from the fact that while in this chapter the Israelites are said to have journeyed from Moseroth to Bene-jaakan, they are represented in Deuteronomy 10:6 as having journeyed from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera.

It is evident, however, that in Deuteronomy 10:6-7, where the account is manifestly parenthetical, the reference is to the journeys of the Israelites after the final breaking up of the encampment at Kadesh, after the thirty-eight years of wandering in the wilderness. In contrast, if the supposition stated above is correct, the reference in this chapter is to the period of the wanderings in the wilderness after the first departure from Kadesh.

In this case, a change in the order of encampments presents no difficulty. This is because while the Israelites, at the later period, must in all probability have taken the most direct course open to them from Kadesh to Ezion-geber, it is not improbable to suppose that at the earlier period, while wandering in the wilderness, their places of encampment were determined less by geographical considerations and more by the particular advantages each spot offered for pasture and water.

Furthermore, it may be observed that if the supposition stated above is correct, it will account for the fact that while seventeen places of encampment between Rithmah and Ezion-geber are named in Numbers 33:19-35, no intermediate stations between Ezion-geber and Kadesh are mentioned in Numbers 33:36. This is likely because the same places of encampment, as may reasonably be inferred, were selected (if, indeed, any formal encampments were made during so hasty a journey) on the return to Kadesh as had been previously occupied on the journey from Kadesh to Ezion-geber, which is at the northern extremity of the Elanitic Gulf.

And they removed from Kadesh ... — See Numbers 20:22-29, and Notes.

And King Arad ... — See Numbers 21:1, and Note.