Numbers 33

Numbers 33:1-49 The journey from Egypt to the steppes of Moab This itinerary includes some places mentioned elsewhere only in J E and others mentioned only in P ; and it is probable that it was compiled by someone who had both P and J E before him. It must therefore belong to a late stage of P . The itinerary may be divided into three sections. The first section (Numbers 33:5-15) contains the journey from Raamses in Egypt to the Wilderness of Sinai, which is related in Exodus 12:37 to Exodus 19:2; two of the names, however, Dophkah and Alush, are not mentioned in Exod. The route appears to have run not to the south of the Sinaitic peninsula, according to the ordinary view which is represented on most modern maps, but straight across the desert (the route still followed by pilgrims to Mecca) from the frontier of Egypt at the north of the western arm of the Red Sea to Elim (Numbers 33:9) at the northern point of the eastern arm, the Gulf of Aḳ ?aba; and thence to the Wilderness of Sinai in the region of Ḳ ?adesh. See note on Numbers 10:30. The second section (Numbers 33:16-36) consists of places visited between the Wilderness of Sinai and the Wilderness of Ẓ ?in (= Ḳ ?adesh), via Ezion-geber which was close to Elim or Eloth on the Gulf of Aḳ ?aba (1 Kings 9:26). This is probably a summary of the forty years’ wanderings. The Wilderness of Sinai, if not the same as the Wilderness of Ẓ ?in, is a closely adjacent region; and the names do not represent successive stages of one day’s march each, but are the names of places, all comparatively near to one another, at which the Israelites encamped for a longer or shorter time. At some of them they must have settled for years. (See prelim. note on ch. 20.) The third section (Numbers 33:37-49) contains the march, after the forty years were expired, straight to the borders of Moab, nothing being said of the circuit via the Gulf of Aḳ ?aba to avoid the Edomites. (See note on Numbers 21:10-11.) Very few of the names have been identified with any certainty, but the general route is clear from the mention of a few well-known places, such as Ezion-geber, at the northern extremity of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, Ḳ ?adesh, in the desert to the S. of Judah, Dibon-Gad, the same as Dibon (see on Numbers 21:30), Nebo, a few miles S. of Heshbon, the mountains of the Abarim (see on Numbers 21:11), and the steppes of Moab.

Numbers 33:38

38. See on Numbers 20:22.

Numbers 33:39

39. Aaron’s age is calculated by adding forty years to his age at the Exodus (Exodus 7:7).

Numbers 33:40

40. A fragmentary statement strangely inserted, perhaps originally as a marginal note by a scribe. See on Numbers 21:1-3.

Numbers 33:50-56

50–56. Commands with regard to the settlement in Canaan. With the exception of Num 33:54 the passage is derived from D . In it is enjoined the destruction of the Canaanite objects of worship, a command which is peculiarly characteristic of Deuteronomic portions of the Pentateuch; cf. Exodus 23:24; Exodus 23:31-33; Exodus 34:11-16, Deuteronomy 7:1-6; Deuteronomy 12:2 f. On the other hand Numbers 33:54 is an insertion by a writer of the P school. It deals with the division of the land by lot, and is expressed in the language and redundant style of P . It should be compared with Numbers 26:52-56.

Numbers 33:52

52. ye shall drive out] ye shall dispossess. The word δεֹ ?ψιω in this sense is very frequent in Deut. their figured stones] The literal meaning of the word seems to be ‘something to be looked at.’ It denotes the carved figures and symbols used in Canaanite idolatrous worship. Cf. Leviticus 26:1, Ezekiel 8:12. their high places] The Hebrews learnt from the Canaanites the practice of erecting altars and sanctuaries on hills and natural mounds, to which the technical term bβmτth was applied. But the word seems to have acquired a more general force, and to have been used for any sanctuaries, even in valleys and by the gates of cities (cf. Jeremiah 7:31, 2 Kings 23:8). In the present passage the word cannot refer to hills, for the Israelites are bidden to ‘demolish them.’ Some think that the bβmτth of later times may have been small artificial mounds, to represent the hills of the ancient worship; but there is no certain evidence of this.

Numbers 33:54

54. falleth to any man] The lots would not be cast for individuals, but, as the last sentence of the verse shews, for whole tribes, or at most for clans. The Heb. is obscurely expressed, but it may be rendered wheresoever the lot goeth forth for each, to that one shall it belong.

Numbers 33:55

55. as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides] Cf. Joshua 23:13, Ezekiel 28:24, and perhaps Judges 2:3.